C.J. Stewart – Page 20

Believe. Change. Repeat.

September 6, 2023 by C.J. Stewart

Once you believe it, you can change. And belief comes from experience. The critical change construct that I have created for my life begins with conviction and ends with change.

Conviction
Connection
Consensus
Collaboration
Change

Starting with conviction allows me to get connected with others at the heart and then the head. Dealing with heart issues can cause hurt feelings and hurt feelings can lead to helpful friends.

I am suggesting that the experience of hurt can lead to change and our overcoming of the hurt can cause us to have strong belief in ourselves to do significant and extraordinary things.

According to Vinney (Smile) Chopra, there are five amazing benefits of believing in oneself:

You become more focused in life.
You begin to be an inspiration.
You’re contaminated with positivity.
You’ll come up with better decisions.
You’re happier.

It is true that hurting people hurts people. Let conviction lead the way to change and remember that experiences can lead to empowerment.

For more information, visit L.E.A.D. Center for Youth today. Also, check out our Digital Magazine.

C.J. Stewart has built a reputation as one of the leading professional hitting instructors in the country. He is a former professional baseball player in the Chicago Cubs organization and has also served as an associate scout for the Cincinnati Reds. As founder and CEO of Diamond Directors Player Development, C.J. has more than 22 years of player development experience and has built an impressive list of clients, including some of the top young prospects in baseball today. If your desire is to change your game for the better, C.J. Stewart has a proven system of development and a track record of success that can work for you.

How standing “TALL” increases your chance at success

August 30, 2023 by C.J. Stewart

“You gotta be “This tall” to even “Think” about getting on this ride because the final stop for this ride is skill.”

Before the word coach was used in sports, it was strictly used as a means of transportation. There was a horse, a coachman to stir the reins used to direct the horse, and the coach was where the passenger rested until they reached their destination.

T – Talent
A – Attitude
L – Listening
L – Leveling-up

Talent

Talent is what you do well.

Having God-given bat speed is talent. Being able to maintain that bat speed, making contact and driving the ball against varying pitch types, locations and speeds is skill.

Attitude

Attitude is how you act.

Having a good attitude when things are going well is one thing. Maintaining it when things are not going well is another thing.

Listen

Listening and hearing are not the same. Listening leads to understanding and when you understand something, you can do something.

What if you had an opportunity to be trained by the world’s greatest hitting coach for a week with a guarantee you could develop into one of the top hitters in America?

But what if your new hitting coach did not speak the same language as you? You could hear what he was saying, but you wouldn’t be able to understand.

As Alan Alda said, “Listening is being able to be changed by the other person.”

Leveling-up

To level up means to increase something in order to remove unfair treatment of others.

What do you call a person who has success and uses it to serve others? I call that person significant.

Remember: Skills pay the bills and significant people can change the life of struggling people.

Since talent is what you do well and habits are things you do well repeatedly without thought, skills are things you do well repeatedly without thought while under stress.

I challenge you to use fall baseball wisely so you can develop the skills you need to achieve your future goal because there are people whose lives are tied to your dreams.

For more information, visit L.E.A.D. Center for Youth today. Also, check out our Digital Magazine.

How to be athletic, submit and be humble

August 23, 2023 by C.J. Stewart

My coaching philosophy is that practice prepares you to perform and performance prepares you to practice. My four phase development strategy starts in August each year with a commitment to assessment to determine what does not work and what does work for three months.

This is how I do things and it works for me—those who I instruct to coach and the boys who are coached by my coaches.

I was on vacation with my family in July in Jamaica, where you have to drive on the left side of the road. That can be crazy.

It’s about what’s right in addition to who’s right.

It was my first time experiencing this and I was a bit uneasy. I had to trust the experience and expertise of the other driver. I had to submit and humble myself.

In our Assessment Phase for L.E.A.D. Center For Youth, we don’t teach; we use contests and competition to lead the learning for our players.

Being athletic is about being able to think critically at a high level to get things down that you’ve never done before or have little experience doing. I am convinced that coaches coach greatness out of our players more than we do to bring it out by spending too much time talking rather than allowing our players to figure things out.

Kinesthetic learners love the Assessment Phase because they are hands on. Visual and auditory learners struggle during this time but their dominant learning style is elevated during our Engagement Phase (November-January) when it is time to build habits and strength based on what works.

We do a lot of teaching during this time now that I have seen what they can and cannot do for three months.

This fall, I ask my players to do three things: be athletic, submit and be humble.

Athletic – being able to think critically at a high level to get things down that you’ve never done before or have little experience doing
Submit – yield to the authority or the will of another person
Humility – not thinking less than of myself but thinking of others more than myself

I want my players to get the best:

College baseball offers
MLB Signing Bonuses
NIL Deals in high school and college
Post athletic career transition

For more information, visit L.E.A.D. Center for Youth today. Also, check out our Digital Magazine.

Down the Bay

August 18, 2023 by C.J. Stewart

Baseball was the first sport invented by Americans which is why it is considered America’s Favorite Pastime. To play baseball was what it inextricably meant to be American. That’s why Rube Foster established the Negro Leagues. They played the game because they loved it and they wanted to be respected as Americans.

Hank Aaron was born in a poor Black section of Mobile, AL, called “Down the Bay.” He later moved to the middle-class Toulminville neighborhood when he was 8 years old. Before playing for the Milwaukee Braves, he established his hitting skills with the Indianapolis Clowns.

I had the pleasure of meeting the late Bill Bartholomay on December 18, 2016, along with John Schuerholz. Mr. Bartholomay told me that as one of the conditions of Hank Aaron coming to Atlanta with the Braves and proving that we were in fact a city “Too Busy To Hate,” he had to be allowed to live anywhere of his choosing in the city. Mr. Aaron chose to live in the middle-class Southwest Atlanta Cascade Community until his death. Ambassador Andrew Young once said of Hank Aaron, “Aaron’s work on the baseball field and being the face of baseball in the Deep South was a form of civil rights activism, showing that achievements can be made if the playing field were equal.”

As I sat in the stands watching the re-branded Hank Aaron Invitational, I thought about the life that Mr. Aaron lived as a Black child trying to become one the greatest baseball players of all time. He lived a life of poverty and middle-class as a child and upper middle-class as an adult.

I am of the belief that the number of African-Americans in baseball will not substantially increase until there are increased resources and exposure for Black youth that are living at and below the poverty level. Whether they know it or not, low, middle and upper-middle class Black youth must receive the benefit of the doubt, respect, and trust in order to gain access to the ranks of becoming a collegiate Power Five and/or professional baseball player.

That is why the Hank Aaron Invitational is so vital. Legacy is what you leave in people. Although Mr. Aaron is no longer with us, his name still carries weight and benefits some of the best young African-American players that are among us.

Scenes from the Hank Aaron Classic at Truist Park on July 30, 2023. Photo by Matthew Grimes Jr./Atlanta Braves

C.J. asked Austin Phillips from Fort Worth, TX, a young man who he mentors and a player in the Hank Aaron Invitational, to share his thoughts on what he experienced: What does it mean to you to be chosen as one of the top 44 participants for the Hank Aaron Invitational?

“It means a lot to me. Being able to come out here to represent the best version of myself, and to also represent my family and the state of Texas is amazing. It is also a great opportunity to learn more about the great Hank Aaron, MLK and the history of Atlanta.”

Hank Aaron was born into poverty and then moved into a middle class community at the age of eight. We know that baseball afforded him an upper class lifestyle. Is there a difference of baseball talent that you’ve seen among players from each of these three socioeconomic classes?

“I wouldn’t say there’s a difference in talent, but I will say there is a difference in access to information and skill training.”

What are some places that you visited while in Atlanta for the Hank Aaron Invitational?

“We got to visit the great MLK birth home, MLK’s church, this delicious restaurant called Paschal’s and one of the nicest fields I’ve been on—Truist Park. If I could, I would visit all these spots again.”

What place did you visit that inspired you the most?

“The place that inspired me the most was definitely Truist Park. Getting to play on a Big League field showed me how much I really enjoyed the game and that one day I want to be able to travel to all sorts of fields to play the game that I love.”

Now that the Hank Aaron Invitational is over, what are your top three specific baseball goals for the next three years?

“One of my goals is to get drafted. Another one is to influence other young Black players to play baseball cause not a lot of us are playing. The last one is to make All-State for my high school baseball season.”

Why—and how—ASSESS-ing is the way forward

August 16, 2023 by C.J. Stewart

Assessment before teaching is like a baby learning to walk before running. With more than 25 years of experience developing some of baseball’s top players, I have learned a lot of great lessons the hard way.

I’ve wasted time throwing batting practice to hitters who couldn’t take two consecutive good swings using a tee.

I’ve talked too much to hitters who are dominant visual learners.

I have operated my business on the trite “hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard” mantra because I didn’t have a proven coaching philosophy or methodology.

I am no longer that rookie “faking it until I make it coach.”

My coaching philosophy is that practice prepares you for performance and performance prepares you for practice. My time tested and true A.T.B.A.T.S. Methodology starts with a thorough assessment of my hitters ensuring that I tap into their mind, body and soul.

As I was recently on a flight at 30,000 feet, I started thinking about the word assess. The word has been on my mind because L.E.A.D. Center For Youth is now partnering with Minority Baseball Prospects (MBP), which will help us win championships on the diamond and continue helping our boys win at the game of life.

On Sunday, Aug. 20, 2023, LEAD is sponsoring 100 slots for baseball players in Atlanta Public Schools (2024-2028 classes) to get evaluated by MBP’s proprietary, signature Swaggy Chain rating system. Select baseball players will be invited to join LEAD’s Ambassador Program which includes year round baseball training, development and competition as well as college and career support, all at no-cost to families.

I struggle with ADHD and I am high functioning. Because of this, acronyms are a Godsend for me.

A – Adaptable
S – Sluggish
S – Safe
E – Energetic
S – Stress-conqueror
S – Skilled

“Success is not for those who want it, nor those who need it, but for those who are utterly determined to seize it–whatever it takes.” — Darren Hardy

People that want to become Major League Citizens in Atlanta and/or Major League Baseball Players must be adaptable rather than being sluggish and playing it safe. Their energy needs to be on 100% especially when there is stress because skills pay the bills.

“Words are potent weapons for all causes, good or bad.” — Manly Hall

adaptable – The ability to adjust to new conditions.
sluggish – Slow moving oftentimes as a result of lack confidence in your ability to do something.
“playing it safe” – To be careful and not take risks to avoid failure.
energy – The strength required for sustained physical, emotional and/or mental activity.
stress – There are two types of stress, eustress and distress. Eustress is moderate or normal psychological stress and interpreted as being beneficial. Distress is extreme anxiety, sorrow, or pain and is interpreted as being detrimental.
skills – Talent is what you do well and habits are things that you do well repeatedly without thought. Skills are things that you do well repeatedly without thought while under stress.

For more information, visit L.E.A.D. Center for Youth today. Also, check out our Digital Magazine.

Talent

Attitude

Listen

Leveling-up

L.E.A.D., Inc. | L.E.A.D. Center For Youth