Quick quiz…

 

a.) Who went 0-20 in 1960?

b.) Who went 0-24 in 1965?

c.) Who began the 1955 season 0-24?

d.) Who went 1-23 in 1978?

e.) Who went 0-32 in 2004?

f.) Who went 5-25 in the 1945 World Series?

g.) What do they all have in common?

 

 

Answers…

 

a.) Mickey Mantle

b.) Willie Mays

c.) Roy Campanella

d.) Mike Schmidt

e.) Derek Jeter

f.) Ted Williams

g.) They either are, or will be Hall of Famers.

 

How did some of the greatest players to ever set foot on the planet end up in such incredible funks?  The real answer is probably not mechanical (although that is the first place most of us look).  The real answer probably has two components 1.) small sample size and 2.) mental.


Small Sample Size
Batting Average is an antiquated statistic and doesn’t tell the whole story, but I will use it here because of its simplicity.

 

After roughly 20 plate appearances in 2016 here are the current MLB leaders in batting average:

 



Dexter Fowler, CHC
.526


DJ LeMahieu, COL
.526


Yasiel Puig, LAD
.455


Matt Kemp, SD
.429


Jean Segura, ARI
.423



 

Nobody in their right minds believes that any of these players will maintain this level of success throughout the year. Not a single one of those players has a career average within .250 points of their current average, and not a single one of them will maintain their average for more than a few more games.  At the end of the season, the familiar names will replace many these players at the top of the list.  But when a player is struggling through an 0-20, people question their ability and assume they must not be a very good hitter.

 

Why?  Because almost anything can happen in small sample sizes.  To hit .600 over a few games, you need good breaks.  Every ground ball you hit must have eyes, every bloop you hit has to fall, and every ball you hit hard has to find an opening.

 

Likewise, over a small sample, to go 0-20, every ground ball has to be gobbled up, every bloop gets caught, and every ball you hit hard goes right to someone.

 

Many players do not understand the concept of small sample sizes, and it causes them to press and become frustrated when an 0-10 pops up during their season.  In reality, it’s probably just a random series of events that they will overcome as they get more at bats.

 
5 Hitting Drills
 

 

Coaches can contribute to this problem greatly, by having knee jerk reactions to this player who goes 0-10.  Dropping them in the line-up, or pulling them all together when your eyes tell you they are clearly better than the current results they are having, will compound this problem.

 

Trust what you see, not always what the numbers tell you over a small sample (especially batting average!), and give players a chance to get more at bats before making decisions based on randomness.

 

 
5 Hitting Drills
 
How coaches and players can attack slumps through the mental game
 

1.) Acknowledge the slump, but don’t be consumed by it:

When a player is 0-15, it is the 2000 pound elephant in the room.  Everyone knows they aren’t getting results, and they should acknowledge they are going through a rough patch.  Then all talk of batting average stops there.  If the slump continues, there should be no focus on the batting average of the player.

 

2.) Focus on the process, not the results:

If the focus is on the 0-15, it will consume the player, and it will be more difficult for them to come out of their slump.  Encourage them to focus on every single pitch, not what has happened in the past.  That 0-15 has already happened and cannot change.  The player has no control over the next 15 at bats, all they can control is the current pitch.

 

Their focus should be solely on winning every single pitch, getting a good pitch to hit, and hitting it hard.  If they are able to do that,