Measured Hitting Instruction
According to the publication Popular Science, "Hitting a baseball is the hardest skill to pull off in sports" as it is (scientifically speaking) "a unique blend of physics and neuroscience [which] makes the skill astronomically difficult." Now, take the hardest skill in sports and apply that with youth baseball players; it takes time, practice, and understanding of how to break down & teach to a young player what to do to be a good hitter.
At Lonestar Baseball Club, we use "old school" hitting fundamental techniques and combine them with "new school" optical technology including measuring Exit Speed, Total Spin, Spin Access, Launch Angle, and Exit Direction. One may say that gathering this intelligence is going "over the top," but what the data does show is what happens when a player makes contact with the ball (which is obviously the result of their bat path and overall hitting mechanics). More than anything, this helps pinpoint simple adjustments that can be made and then see results (when adjustments are made) of better back spin (which produces line drives as opposed to top spin which produces ground balls). This is just one application of using software to get feedback from this type of swing analysis. With all of this intelligence, we can track and make necessary adjustments, but again there's a balance of using the "new school" software with traditional (old school) hitting fundamentals.
From a development standpoint, the main question (as instructors) is "why would you guess when you can assess (with measurements)?" Lonestar Baseball will incorporate these measurements into hitting fundamentals and (by putting it all together) make every hitting session a learning session and overall produce greater results.
Intentional Pitching & Catching Instruction
Both the pitcher and catcher in the game of baseball are crucial positions in the game and require a lot of specialized instruction. This goes without saying, but there really is an incredible learning curve for young players to go from coach pitch and then into kid pitch, mastering these crucial positions. It takes intentional instruction and a focus on good technique (along with reps) to get players more competent in learning these positions.
Pitching Instruction
As mentioned in our Hitting Instruction section, Lonestar Baseball subscribes to teaching "old school" pitching fundamentals, but also in leveraging "new school" software to help give measurements on the following areas:
12 Key Metrics - Backward Extension, Forward Extension, Arm Slot, Breaking Force Direction, Lift Force, Speed, Total Spin, Riflespin, Backspin, Sidespin, Vertical Movement and Horizontal Movement
These metrics again help with instructing pitchers in terms of looking at technique (especially with regards to extension when teaching young pitchers) and reinforcing pitching concepts that produce better overall Intentional Pitching & Catching Instruction results. However, again, pitchers must learn fundamental mechanics, and that will be a primary focus in the instruction given with gaining valuable feedback from the pitching metrics analysis.
Catching Instruction
With young players that play the Catcher's position, there are many different fundamentals that are necessary to learn and improve upon. Lonestar focuses around catching fundamentals, but also pinpoints tangible tips to help improve footwork situational focus, and pitch framing.
Catching can be physically demanding so it's important that young catchers learn how to move with catcher's gear on, how to minimize pressure on their lower body, and proper throwing technique when throwing to fielders (to help preserve their throwing arm).
Comprehensive Baserunning Instruction
Baserunning instruction is somewhat of a lost art within many baseball organizations when it is such an important aspect of the game. At Lonestar Baseball, there will be practices specifically designed to work on baserunning & sliding technique, conditioning, and situational baserunning.
At our Field of Dreams, we'll have bases set up for baserunning stations to work on reading pick offs, proper takeoff technique, and sliding fundamentals.
Focused Fielding & Throwing Fundamentals
Very simply, the 6 "F's" of Fielding (Feet, Field, Funnel, Feet, Fire, & Follow) set the baseline of what good fielding instruction should be. Fielding instruction is vitally important for young players to work with coaches that can demonstrate the "right" way to field the baseball (whether it be working through a grounder or centering up a pop up to make the catch) and then get reps that are supervised with a focus on
proper fielding technique.
Another focus of Lonestar Baseball is built around the 3 B's of Fielding (a player must): 1) play the Baseball hit to them, 2) cover a Base, or 3) Back up another fielder. Part of understanding how to run an efficient fielding practice is having practice stations that are formulated to work on these aspects of fielding and throwing.
The Field of Dreams is built for instructional fielding and fungo where our players get to learn the comprehensive skillset of being a complete fielder no matter which position they're playing.