Introducing Coach Karl Schilling. Coach Schilling has over 25 years experience in the great game of baseball. He has been involved at all levels, International, Professional, College & High School. Coach Schilling presently owns and operates Power Zone Training Inc., where he is committed to the continuing development of skills through the use of proper fundamentals and repetition.

Baseball, the grand OLE game takes on many of the unique facets of our educational experience. KNOWLEDGE is POWER! In order for you to become a skilled player you must first start with knowledge, from this starting point
you can then turn specific knowledge into a work ethic and ultimately develop skills.

At Power Zone Training our mission is to develop skill sets through the use of proper fundamentals and repetitions. The MPH program was developed for this specific reason. Over the coming weeks I will expose to you tips and points of view from this program and explain how it will greatly enhance your baseball abilities.

The most difficult task you (all of us) face is to decipher good advice from bad advice. On baseball fields all over the U.S. young players, youth ball, H.S. even College level players receive bad advice on a daily basis. Now please understand I am not taking shots at programs, there are many who have used proper techniques and are developing players properly, these programs are however in a small minority.

The reason young players are not reaching their true potential and developing excellent skill levels is simply bad advice due to lack of knowledge. The MPH starting premise is that hitting and pitching are advanced skills, not basic to the game. Unfortunately coaches all around you consider the basic skills of baseball to be running, throwing, fielding, pitching and hitting. I repeat hitting and pitching are advanced skills and must be treated as such.

The three components to an advanced skill such as hitting, are mechanics, physical conditioning (sport specific) and mental training (philosophy, belief system, overall approach). Few young players are ever exposed to this type of education in baseball. This is understood in Professional baseball and concentrated on. So young players are usually doomed to fail in skills development simply because of a lack of knowledge.

Common mistakes and bad advice in coaching/teaching. Common fallacy #1 "throw your hands to the ball". You have probably heard this from youth coaches, High School coaches and college coaches.

The problem with most bad advice is it sounds proper. Part time well meaning coaches take it on as part of their philosophy with little or no research or validation. Players trust their coaches (after all coaches are coaches because they know what they are doing). Players don’t ask for credentials or proof, they simply internalize any and all information received from a coach.

How do I know this? Well I’m a professional instructor whose son is a pro prospect. In his Junior season (last season) he was coming off a highly successful sophomore year, power number’s, high average etc.. You would think (I did), that he has been around proper training and he has developed a sound approach to hitting. But early last season his H.S. coach suggested some changes to his stance and other components of his approach. He listened and did exactly what the coach told him. He suffered through his worst season ever. I tell you this to awaken you to the fact that if this player who should know better will take bad advice as easily as good advice (authority carries much responsibility).

Throwing your hands to the ball may cause you to loop your bat. Looping takes the bat head away from the path of the ball and hitting area. The loop is one of the most common swing problems and exists from improper mechanical training. Bad advice simply reinforces the problem. Try it yourself. Get a tee put a ball on it and start your hands in a direction towards the ball. As your swing is completed you will see that the contact area is the label or lower. It is best to use a wooden bat for this test.

Next time I’ll show you what your hands really need to do to prevent looping.

Great talking with you. I look forward to your questions and comments.