Melissa Kantor once said, “Time does not care how precious it is, how hard you are working not to squander it. Time passes.” It is May and the temperature is starting to rise in Hotlanta.

May-July is the Maintenance Phase for my hitters. They’ve earned it.

As summer baseball gets into full swing, hitters want a lot of hits and they want to get them in bunches. Don’t deal with the maybe aspect. Maintain skills as a fact.

The ultimate goal for hitters is to get hits. But there are seven parts of the swing and it takes 3,000 reps to build a habit for a total of 21,000 reps. It takes another 21,000 to convert the habit to a skill and another 21,000 to maintain those skills throughout the summer.

1. Stance/Load
2. Timing
3. Tempo
4. Tracking
5. Approach
6. Contact
7. Extension/Finish

Over my 20-plus years of coaching, I teach my hitters that productive at-bats is a key to getting a lot of hits.

A productive at-bats consists of:

• Seeing at least six pitches regardless of the outcome
• Drawing a walk
• Hitting the ball hard somewhere regardless of the outcome
• Executing an offensive strategy, i.e., advancing a runner, hit and run, etc.

If you can have a productive at-bat 50% of the time, you should expect to get hits 30-40% of the time. We don’t have time for maybe.

Let’s go!

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.

Self-efficacy is commonly defined as the belief in one’s capabilities to achieve a goal or an outcome. As a result of having self-efficacy, you can be assured your positive thoughts will be converted to positive action.

American futurist Joel Arthur Barker once said, “Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world.”

• What do you dream about?
• What do you worry about?
• What brings you joy?

To make your dreams come true, it is going to take more than prayer, love and hope.

I would argue that it takes discernment, self-efficacy, action and support, among many things.

Kelli Stewart is a great model of self-efficacy.

As we close out the month of April, I pray this month was able to bring showers of discernment, grit, focus, and self-efficacy upon you.

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.

It is April. The flowers are blooming. The rain showers will fall. And it’s spring. But there is something else special about this month. April is the final month my hitters focus on converting their habits to skills.

There are four things I pray rains down on baseball players of all ages and skill levels throughout the world this month:

1. Discernment
2. Grit
3. Focus
4. Self-efficacy

Grit is the relentless pursuit of purpose. It is a mental skill that can only be developed by doing things that are tough. It is necessary because, as we know, “skills pay the bills.”

So many hitters seemingly had productive winter workouts and came into the spring with high expectations. Some are meeting these goals, while others are struggling to the point of wanting to quit playing baseball altogether.

It is that struggle that helps you develop grit. Since grit is the relentless pursuit of purpose, it is important we have a specific purpose for life in general and baseball specifically.

• What is your life purpose?
• What is your reason for playing baseball?

My reason for coaching is to help diamond sport athletes become the best version of themselves.

Before the word coach was used in sports, it was only used as a means of transportation. There was a horse, a coachman to stir the horse, and the coach was the place where passengers rested until they arrived at their destination.

Life is a bumpy ride and grit is the fuel. The let-downs and disappointments in my life are the things that have caused me to develop the grit required for me to move from being an ordinary person to an extraordinary person on a mission for God.

Grit is the thing that moves athletes from just possessing talent, to having strong habits, to being skilled.

Get grit so you don’t quit.

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.