Ahh, the dreaded “S-word”.  The only thing worse than someone asking you how you are handling your slump is hearing someone from the stands yell “YOU’RE DUE!”.  Every player on the field roughly translates this phrase into “you haven’t had a hit in so long that by mere matters of CHANCE and LUCK you are bound to get a hit soon and I really hope it is this at bat”. 
No matter how skilled you are, everyone will go through some tough stretches.  If it has been a while since your last hit or you know someone who is struggling, here are some ideas to help shorten the slumps and lengthen the streaks.
Rule #1: Before you get stressed out about your “slump”, make sure you are actually in one.

• 0 for 4 is not a slump.
• 0 for 12 may not even be a slump if you are hitting ball hard (see “change the way you measure success” below).
• A slump is a prolonged stretch of plate appearances where you are not making solid contact or struggling to make consistent contact.
• You will know you are in a slump because it consumes you…you think about it all the time and it changes the way you feel about the game.  All of a sudden you don’t look forward to your next at bat.  Or you hope there aren’t 2 outs when you get to the plate.

Rule #2: Never become satisfied with just making contact.

• When your slump includes a lot of strikeouts, hitters have a tendency to have only one goal during an at bat: MAKE CONTACT.  When this happens bat speed goes way down and hitters have a tough time catching up to fastballs.  This will obviously lead to more strikeouts, but it will also force the hitter to start swinging earlier putting them farther out in front of off-speed pitches.  This vicious cycle can continue until all ability to make contact is lost.
• Try to swing your way out of your slump.  Pick out some fastballs in the strikezone and be aggresive.  Aggression can make up for a lot of swing faults.

REMEMBER:

• More effort ≠ more results.  The term pressing is often associated with slumps because struggling hitters take extra BP, watch hours of video, start chasing bad pitches, or contemplate sacrificing a live chicken (movie reference: Major League).  When hitters hit until they are tired and take hundreds of extra reps, bad habits can form simply out of fatigue.
• Coaches naturally work more with hitters who are struggling and hitters in slumps tend to seek more advice.  But, remember that because you are not picking up hits doesn’t always mean that your mechanics are to blame.  Changing your swing and working through drill after drill can sometimes prolong a slump because hitters become more mechanical at the plate.
• Try your best to manage your emotions when you are struggling.  Remember that your teammates don’t want to hear you go on and on about how the Baseball Gods have it out for you or why you really should be 2 for your last 15 instead of 0 for 15.  If your team wins and you don’t get any hits, don’t drag the momentum of the team down by dwelling on everything in the game that didn’t go well for you personally.

POTENTIAL CAUSES FOR SLUMPS:
1. Something has gone awry in your mechanics: As I mentioned earlier, in the middle of a season hitters want to avoid getting really technical and breaking down their swing.  That is the reason why we tend not to show our young hitters any slow motion video of themselves during the season.  As a coaching staff we will use this tool, but we don’t allow the hitters to see their swings unless it is at full speed.  In addition, try not to “tinker” with your swing.  Tinkering is defined as grasping at small, random changes just to do something differently.  Here is the approach I suggest  players take if they believe they are in a slump due to a mechanical flaw:

• First, grab a tee and work on hitting pitches down the middle back over the pitchers head.  If you put in a lot of work over the off-season you should have a good idea what your baseline swing mechanics feel like.  Over the course of a year wide stances tend to get wider, open stances tend to get more open, and small hitting flaws become more exaggerated.  By using basic tee work hitters should be able to “reset” their mechanics to a time when they were more.
• Next, select a few full speed drills that will help you simplify.  A couple that I use on a regular basis are:
  1. Overhand front toss – This is essentially regular overhand BP, but at a closer distance.  Pitch velocity can go down, of course, but giving the hitter a little less time will eliminate a lot of extra movements and force them to think about being on time to see the pitch out of the hand.  MAKE SURE the velocity is not so high that the hitter has to guess as to whether to swing or not.
  2. Rapid fire front toss – This is set up just like front toss.  The tosser will have 4 balls in hand ready to throw and will feed the hitter a ball just as his/her hands are getting back to a set position.  It is important that the hitter does not rush their swing.  Allow the hitter to finish every swing completely and the feeders job is to increase the tempo of the hitter between swings.  As with the first drill, increasing tempo will eliminate a lot of extra movement.

2. Emotional overload: Whether it is on the field (disputes with coaches, difficulty with teammates) or off the field (boyfriend/girlfriend, fights with parents, money issues), highly stressful situations always have the potential to disrupt performance for extended periods of time.  Try to have a plan to transition from your everyday life to what you are doing on the field.  Take some time to clear your head and leave all of the off-field distractions off the field.
3. Physical breakdown: step back and take a look at your workload.  Determine whether you are over training.  Take a close look at how much sleep you are getting, what your nutrition/hydration looks like, and whether any of these areas could be improved to help you on the field.

WAYS TO BREAK OUT OF THE SLUMP
Maintain confidence.  I know, easier said than done.  But here are a few ways to try to keep positive:
1. Keep a log book each day you practice or play.  That way, when you are struggling at the plate you can read about some of the things you did  and how you felt when you were going well at the plate.  What did your preparation look like?  What pitches were you hitting?  What key components of you mechanics did you have control over?
2. Try to be in the moment.  Remember that your previous at bats have little to no impact on your current at bat so try not to carry that 0 for 16 with you to the plate.
3. Check your body language.  Walk the walk of confidence and never let your opponent see you defeated.  Not only will you feel better, but you won’t give your opponents any reason to think you are vulnerable.
4. Monitor your self talk (what you say to yourself in your head) more closely.  When players are going through rough times they tend to talk more negatively to themselves.  The saying goes “Garbage In, Garbage Out”.  Talk to yourself confidently and you will have a greater chance for success.
5. Remember that everything related to your slump is in your control.  When you believe you are a victim of bad luck, bad umpiring, or the wrath of the Baseball Gods you begin to lose control and slumps tend to snowball.
6. Change the way you measure success.  If you are focused only on getting hits, then you will be disappointed 60-70% of the time.  Try to look at some different aspects of your at bats to see more success in every plate appearance.  For example, in addition to getting a hit, players should view the following results as a quality AB:

• A walk or getting hit by a pitch.
• A sacrifice fly or a sacrifice bunt.
• Hitting a hard line drive.
• Seeing 6 or more pitches in the AB.  Seeing more pitches drives opposing pitch counts up and will force them into the bullpen sooner.  Making pitchers work harder each inning is a consistently effective offensive approach.
• Getting yourself into multiple “hitters counts” per at bat.  A hitters count would be a 1-0, 2-0, 2-1, 3-1 count.  If a hitter consistently puts themselves into hitters counts they will see more pitches to drive.  Hits tend to follow.

Slow it down. Often times the game seems to move faster when players are struggling and begin to press.  Don’t try to do too much.  Try to focus slowing your breathing and seeing the ball better.  It might help to stand in while your teammates throw their bullpen sessions so you can track the ball without worrying about swinging the bat.
Vision training. Get your eyes checked yearly and NEVER take your vision for granted.  If you can’t see the ball it will be impossible to hit it.  Make tracking a focus during your BP sessions.  Some hitters also do specific vision training drills on a regular basis.  Whether this improves their ability to track the ball or just makes a psychological difference doesn’t really matter…as long as it helps!
Rest more. Think about getting more sleep when you are struggling at the plate.  Sleeping more will help your vision and help to clear your head.

Some information in this article has been adapted from the book “Heart & Hustle” by former big leaguer Frank Catalanotto.  This is a great resource for any player and I recommend you pick up this book.

Have you seen these scouts around the ballpark?  Did you see coaches and evaluators around the park so far this spring?  My guess is that you didn’t notice these evaluators while you were on the field.  A lot of the time these scouts don’t want to be seen.  Unless they pull out their radar gun, they want to blend in to get a look at a player’s true personality.  What is he like around his teammates, how does he speak to his parents, and how does he interact with his coaches?  While coaching in a recent tournament I got a call from a college coach while I was at our team hotel.  The coach asked me what time we planned to be at the ball park.
“We will arrive at 2pm” I answered.
“Good…I will be there at 1:45 so I can see the players walk off the bus.”
He was there to see us arrive at the diamond, but I didn’t see him until he came up to me 20 minutes before game time to confirm our starting line-up.  He saw what the players were wearing when they got off the bus, who carried the equipment, how they warmed up, what players did when they weren’t hitting in the cages, and if their parents hand-delivered snacks and drinks to them. 
“True character is what you do when you think no one is watching”
Coaches who are looking at taking players to the “next level” are all making significant investments.  The next level might be professional baseball, college baseball, or making a travel team, but the coach needs to be comfortable that they are getting the type of person that will fit into their program.  Obviously players need to have the skill set to compete at the next level, but the second criteria for most coaches is strength of character.
Remember that scouts and evaluators show up to the diamond with a list of players they are watching, but that doesn’t mean that someone else can’t impress them.  Here are a few reminders for players to ensure the best side of your character shows through at the critical moments of evaluation:

• Play hard all the time, not just in evaluation situations. 
  • Run out every ground ball, sprint out to your position, dive back to first, and layout for every ground ball. 
  • If you play hard all the time you won’t have to be a different player during evaluations.
• Carry your own bag. 
  • Don’t have your parents carry your baseball bag.
  • Independence is an important factor for success at the next level.
• Be a good teammate.
  • Carry the team equipment and clean up the dugout after games.
  • Bring your teammates glove and hat when they are left on base. 
  • Play catch with your outfielder between innings when you are on the bench. 
  • Use positive language with your teammates.
• Come prepared.
  • Bring a healthy lunch so you don’t have to line up at the concession for a hamburger between games of a double header.
  • Have water/Gatorade packed so your parents don’t have to run around to keep you hydrated.
  • Have all of your equipment with you.
  • Bring sleeves and a jacket when it is cold and sunglasses when it is sunny.
• Dress for success
  • If you come dressed in your uniform wear running shoes or turfs (no flip-flops).
  • If you come to the park in street clothes, don’t change in the dugout if at all possible.
  • While wearing your uniform, always keep your jersey tucked in and your hat on forward.