Improving coaching and hitting a baseball by modeling expert behavior
Our knowledge is increasing at an ever increasing rate and that impacts every field of endeavor. Education and coaching are no different. I recently discovered a body of research that has been going on for decades, but yetthe potential of the research has not yet been fully developed in any of a variety of fields. The body of research is an a field called behavioral modeling.
Coaches are interested in helping others develop specific skills. The skills are often difficult to teach. In sports coaching we are trying to break down the physical act and train others to duplicate that act. Coaches and educators are essentially professional communicators, yet we are never taught communication skills. In coaching sports often well meaning coaches simply parrot what they were taught primarily because they don't have the knowledge necessary to properly teach a specific sport related skill. Even at the professional level experts often don't know the actual process. I once attended a clinic put on by the Boston Red Sox coaches for Babe Ruth coaches and on several questions the hitting coach, who had be an excellent major league hitter, said he didn't know but he thinks he did... Often what was taught to coaches when they were players or when they attended clinics was information that was not really built by studying the best and the best often don't know what they are really doing.
Recently I learned more about behavior modeling. The field has developed from another field called NLP. NLP apparently has been around for over 30 years, but really offers some exciting possibilities for those of us involved in education and coaching.
The premise is that any human skill can be broken down, modeled, and taught to others. What is apparently new is our ability to determine exactly what experts do at the unconscious level that makes them an expert. One such story I learned about was what Tony Robbins, Wyatt Woodsmall, and others did for the U. S. Army's pistol shooting training program. By going through a process of modeling the best shooters in the world they were able to synthesize what the best shooters did and teach others. They were able to cut the training time in half and improve the success rate of the trainees. The potential of these techniques for business, education, and sports I think is dramatic.
I had the opportunity to learn about this from Charles Barnard who studied with and was trained by both Robbins and Woodsmall. He used modeling techniques to create an audio program designed to improve the consistent performance of hitters. He states that "while the model is not as thorough as I would have liked due to not have direct access to those who make up the model, it still represents a significant break through over any program on the market today." He emphasized that the audio program he developed is designed to significantly impact the psychological aspects and indirectly the mechanics of hitting.
I was excited enough about what I learned that I wanted to try the program and have my son try it. I still play in a men's baseball league and coach so I wanted to see results. I must say in the short time it has been I believe he has developed a program that really does what it says. Simply by listening to this tape for ten minutes most every day my son and I found that our performance has improved. My son has never started the season out this well. I also know I am more calm, focused, and can see the ball better than I ever remember. My son has had the same experiences. I know it is early but because of my experiences and the results I would highly suggest others become part of the research he is running. I am getting my son's team involved.
I do think this can help improve the consistency of hitting. I think there can be more improvement by developing hitting mechanics, but I also agree with the developer that there are already some good programs to help improve hitting mechanics. You should visit physical-education-institute and go to the the coaching link then the coaching baseball link. On that page on the right side you will see a link for The Hitting Zone. I highly recommend checking that page out and consider getting involved in the research he is conducting as I am having my team do.
Our knowledge is increasing at an ever increasing rate and that impacts every field of endeavor. Education and coaching are no different. I recently discovered a body of research that has been going on for decades, but yetthe potential of the research has not yet been fully developed in any of a variety of fields. The body of research is an a field called behavioral modeling.
Coaches are interested in helping others develop specific skills. The skills are often difficult to teach. In sports coaching we are trying to break down the physical act and train others to duplicate that act. Coaches and educators are essentially professional communicators, yet we are never taught communication skills. In coaching sports often well meaning coaches simply parrot what they were taught primarily because they don't have the knowledge necessary to properly teach a specific sport related skill. Even at the professional level experts often don't know the actual process. I once attended a clinic put on by the Boston Red Sox coaches for Babe Ruth coaches and on several questions the hitting coach, who had be an excellent major league hitter, said he didn't know but he thinks he did... Often what was taught to coaches when they were players or when they attended clinics was information that was not really built by studying the best and the best often don't know what they are really doing.
Recently I learned more about behavior modeling. The field has developed from another field called NLP. NLP apparently has been around for over 30 years, but really offers some exciting possibilities for those of us involved in education and coaching.
The premise is that any human skill can be broken down, modeled, and taught to others. What is apparently new is our ability to determine exactly what experts do at the unconscious level that makes them an expert. One such story I learned about was what Tony Robbins, Wyatt Woodsmall, and others did for the U. S. Army's pistol shooting training program. By going through a process of modeling the best shooters in the world they were able to synthesize what the best shooters did and teach others. They were able to cut the training time in half and improve the success rate of the trainees. The potential of these techniques for business, education, and sports I think is dramatic.
I had the opportunity to learn about this from Charles Barnard who studied with and was trained by both Robbins and Woodsmall. He used modeling techniques to create an audio program designed to improve the consistent performance of hitters. He states that "while the model is not as thorough as I would have liked due to not have direct access to those who make up the model, it still represents a significant break through over any program on the market today." He emphasized that the audio program he developed is designed to significantly impact the psychological aspects and indirectly the mechanics of hitting.
I was excited enough about what I learned that I wanted to try the program and have my son try it. I still play in a men's baseball league and coach so I wanted to see results. I must say in the short time it has been I believe he has developed a program that really does what it says. Simply by listening to this tape for ten minutes most every day my son and I found that our performance has improved. My son has never started the season out this well. I also know I am more calm, focused, and can see the ball better than I ever remember. My son has had the same experiences. I know it is early but because of my experiences and the results I would highly suggest others become part of the research he is running. I am getting my son's team involved.
I do think this can help improve the consistency of hitting. I think there can be more improvement by developing hitting mechanics, but I also agree with the developer that there are already some good programs to help improve hitting mechanics. You should visit physical-education-institute and go to the the coaching link then the coaching baseball link. On that page on the right side you will see a link for The Hitting Zone. I highly recommend checking that page out and consider getting involved in the research he is conducting as I am having my team do.
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