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Why you must do more than just look the part

June 22, 2022 by C.J. Stewart

Amit Kalantri once said, “Schooling doesn’t assure employment but skill does.”

At age 14, I was 6 feet and about 175 pounds. I was really fast, had a good arm and above average bat speed.

I was sure I would become a Major Leaguer because everybody told me how much talent I had. But I had to find out the hard way that talent is the floor and skill is the ceiling.

Talent is doing things well, while a habit is doing things well repeatedly without thought. Skills are doing things well without thought while under stress.

As I attend Travel Baseball tournaments this summer, I see a lot of talented players who look the part. But the sign of any adversity causes them to be paralyzed at the plate.

The best way to convert talent to a habit is getting tens of thousands of reps.

There are seven parts of the swing and it takes 3,000 reps to build a habit:

Stance/Load
Timing
Tempo
Tracking
Approach
Contact
Extension/Finish

That’s 21,000 reps.

Habits are built with a lot of practice. Skills are developed when you practice under pressure. I refer to this as training. Practicing and training are not the same thing.

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.

Tilling, planting and harvesting the seeds you sow

June 1, 2022 by C.J. Stewart

Robert Louis Stevenson once said, “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.”

May through July are the months my hitters focus on maintaining skills. These months are harvesting time. Before you can reap a harvest, you must first till the ground, plant the seeds and nurture the crops for weeds.

The calendar year starts in August and ends in July. This is the time we try new things to determine what doesn’t work and what does work.

November-January is when we build strength and habits based on what works.

February-April is the conversion phase converting habits to skills.

How do you define skills?

Talent is doing things well. A habit is doing things well repeatedly without thought. Skills are doing things well without thought while under stress.

If you are not playing under cruise control this summer, you need to reevaluate your development strategy so that you can experience the joy of reaping what you sow.

To help keep your skills sharp, we have introduced a new type of Skill Build—our Virtual Skill Build—where I can help you develop hitting skills anytime, anywhere using anything.

Remember: Intelligence tops being smart.

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

Do you have a plan for fear?

May 18, 2022 by C.J. Stewart

Maybe’s are used to indicate uncertainty or possibility. It is not a winning strategy. I have to remind myself of that regularly, especially when I am fearful of doing something.

Chanakya once said, “As soon as the fear approaches, attack and destroy it.” Courage is the belief that you can get things done when you are fearful. I remember the fear I felt during all of my first at-bats in baseball—from Little League with the Cascade Youth Organization (CYO) Braves to the pros with the Cubs.

It was when I would respond with courage that I experienced success.

Courage does not remove fear. It simply tells you how to respond.

How do you respond to fear?

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

Why respect is better than being popular — and why that should matter to you

March 30, 2022 by C.J. Stewart

According to Wikipedia, respect—also called esteem—is a positive feeling or action shown toward someone or something considered important, or held in high esteem or regard. It conveys a sense of admiration for good or valuable qualities.

Is respect earned or should it be automatically given to people when you first meet them? Should being disrespected cause you in turn to be disrespectful toward others?

As a young baseball coach, I oftentimes was very disrespectful toward my players and their parents. My coaching strategy was to use fear to get my players and parents to do what I wanted them to do so that we could win games.

In most cases, it worked and we won a lot of games. But in all cases, I was not respected.

There are millions of boys who aspire to play Major League Baseball for the fame, fortune, and or fulfillment of purpose. Trying to accomplish that goal can expose the bad sides of people because it is a competitive process to be among the best in baseball.

As Babe Didrikson Zaharia once said, “If you win through bad sportsmanship that’s no real victory.”

Respect is such an important part of achieving personal goals, winning baseball games and winning at the game of life because respect leads to trust. And when people can trust you, they will advocate for you.

Coaching is one thing and advocacy is another I would argue supersedes coaching. Because what good is good coaching if you don’t have the right person saying the right things about you to the right person at the right time.

And what good can be said about or do for a person that is disrespectful.

Listen to the good doctor, aka, Julius “Dr. J.” Erving: “I firmly believe that respect is a lot more important, and a lot greater, than popularity.”

Remember: Intelligence tops being smart.

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

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