Wise Elders
April 16, 2009I was reading an article in the USA Today about veteran players mentoring young guys and there was an interesting segment on the relationship between Omar Vizquel and Elvis Andrus. I guess Vizquel was brought over to the Rangers to show Andrus the finer points of playing shortstop and provide some veteran presence.
So in the article, this is what Andrus says he’s learned from Omar. “It’s mostly about how to anticipate plays, little things about my footwork. He tells me 80% of the game is preparation. Try to simplify everything – see it, move your feet, throw to first base.”
Fantastic. It’s exactly what I always harp on…anticipation and simplicity. I love to hear it from other sources, and this time it comes from Omar Vizquel, a future Hall of Famer. If you have the ability to see action and imagine the possibilities before they happen, you’ll be ten steps ahead of the competition and maximize your God given talent.
It’s really not an option. All good big leaguers do it consistently. The simple fact is, God didn’t create a good enough athlete to compete at that level without anticipation. Get your thinking done early, prepare, anticipate, then just play and react in the game.
The other point is – make things as simple as possible. Get rid of all excess movement and get the most out of the least movement. Go from point A to point B to get it done. Going from point A to B to C to get it done is too slow to compete at the highest level and will eventually leave you by the wayside…regardless of how superior an athlete you might be. Good luck.
If I took the necessary steps would you be willing to come to Cambodia and teach…they do have a team(or did, I’ll look into it, but it wasn’t very organized). The players had a real enthusiasm for the game, but little to no foundation. I know MLB has done work with them, but I’d like see what a week or two with them could do. Let me know what you think. Snatch the pebble from my hand.