Two Types of Focus

“The on-deck circle is a workstation, you need to act like you are facing the pitcher when you’re in it.”

Jared Tiefenthaler, Co-Founder, Seam Readers

Ladies and gentleman, welcome to Seam Reader’s fifth blog of all time. We want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for your interest, questions, and support. Our blogs and videos this past month have reached people all over the world. It is humbling to know that so many folks out there are listening. Again, thank you so much!

Last week, we learned the first step in the Seam Reader’s Process. Anyone remember? That’s right, “Always Look Fast-ball, and Adjust to Everything Else.”

We also showed you in our writing and in a video of Pete Rose that he was also taught the same way. The best way to be mentally prepared to be the best hitter that you can be. You also learned how to adjust to everything else. That’s by not committing to swing when we step towards the ball. We also asked you to read that section a couple of times, so you would be clear because of its importance.

This week, we are going to talk about the second step in the Seam Reader’s Mental Process.  That is the ability to Hard-Focus on the pitcher’s release point.  The first time we are going to look for a release point is in the on-deck circle.  Seam Readers believe that there are two types of focus: soft-focus and hard-focus.  Soft-focus happens right after you have become comfortable in the batter’s box as you begin your pre-swing routine. Eyes, hands, body relaxed and soft-focused on maybe the pitcher’s hat, or jersey number. We say for baseball, you need to soft-focus on the pitcher’s hat because it should be easier to transfer the eyes to his release point when it is time.  For softball, the release point is mostly in the same spot. Somewhere close to the pitcher’s hip is a good place to start your soft-focus.

  When the pitchers get his or her sign, it is time to take your eyes, hands, and body to a heightened sense of hard-focus. The goal here is to be in this mode for no more than two to three seconds and find where he or she is releasing the pitch.  Hopefully, while you are in the on-deck circle, the hitter in front of you will see as many pitches as that pitcher has, so you will have a pretty good idea where each pitch is released from. We recommend that you repeat this process per pitch as needed. 

In conclusion, every step in the Seam Reader’s Process seems to have a progression of smaller steps that need to be done first in order for the main step to work effectively. Remember, every pitcher has a release point, and we need to be in hard-focus mode to be able to find it consistently. Have a great week! 

At Home Drill: The on-deck circle is a workstation. Here you need to find the pitchers release point. To train that skill and see as many different “arm slots” as possible work can be done outside of the circle and even outside of the field. This week have your player(s) watch some baseball or softball as fans. Whether it’s at home or in person, have them focus on the pitcher and really tell you where that ball is coming from. Where is the pitcher’s release point? Think of it as film study.