Dr. Yessis Sports Training Blog

All teams that play the Yankees and non Yankee fans will probably give a resounding yes to this question. At the same time, they will also ask how you can beat them when they have so much money to buy the best athletes.

The answer is very simple; train the players to perform better. This is not a “well duh” response mainly because most people believe that this is already being done. But it is not, and can be proven very easily.

All baseball teams have player development programs which lulls you into thinking that they actually improve player performance. But these programs, witnessed in the minor leagues and to a good extent in the major leagues, consists essentially of more playing not athlete development.

The confusion lies in what is meant by player development. Baseball teams believe that the athlete is already developed maximally in regard to his technical and physical abilities. Thus, they consider player development as improving the players’ strategy of play.

This means learning when to swing, what pitches to throw, what to do in different situations and so on. These are learned through constant verbal reinforcement and more playing. What they fail to realize is that the player must constantly refine and improve his technical and physical abilities.

The strategy is of course needed if it is effective, because in many, if not, most situations, it is not. It is based on probability odds which can be used to advantage sometimes but it cannot be counted on. What can be counted on is the player’s ability to execute the needed skills — if he has been trained to have reliable execution of the skill.

In other words, the athlete is trained to the point where he can reproduce the exact skill time and time again. This is what will allow him to execute as needed when needed. This is what is known as reliability of performance. You know that the athlete will be able to reproduce what is needed.

To do this requires a high level of specialization and expertise. The teams must have an expert who is able to scientifically analyze technique and related physical abilities. In addition, he must be able to combine these two factors into specialized exercises that will allow the player to execute his skills more effectively and reliably, resulting in more wins.

I will look more closely at what is entailed in doing this in future blogs. In the interim I strongly recommend reading Build a Better Athlete. It shows how you can improve player performance through improved technical and physical abilities.