Earn Your Drip

Let me paint a quick picture. You’re watching your son play in his weekend tournament when a batter steps up to the plate, sporting his sweet new elbow guard. The pitch comes in, and the batter jumps out of the way to avoid being hit. What purpose did the elbow guard serve other than looking cool?

The big issue here is that there’s a proper way to react when a pitch is coming at you. Players should turn and tuck their head, rotate their shoulders, and shift their hips to expose the least fragile parts of their body to absorb the impact. In this process, the elbow can sometimes be left exposed—hence the need for an elbow guard.

The problem isn’t the elbow guard itself. The problem is that players aren’t being taught the right way to take a pitch. There’s a false sense of security that comes with wearing protective gear, which gives both players and coaches an excuse not to teach or learn the proper technique for getting hit by a pitch.

Every time a player jumps out of the way, you’ll hear a coach say, “Stay in there!” or “Wear it!” or “You’ve got that sweet new elbow guard—use it!” But here’s the thing: the player doesn’t know how. Believe it or not, you have to teach players how to get hit by a pitch correctly before you can expect them to “stay in there.”

This issue isn’t just about elbow guards—it extends to sliding mitts, eye black, ankle guards, towels in the back pocket, extra batting gloves, and sunglasses.

My solution? Make them earn their gear.

This can be fun for you and your players to come up with ideas on how to earn their next attachment. 

• If you want to wear a sliding mitt, you need to have 10 steals where you dive headfirst into the bag.
• If you want to wear an elbow guard, you need to take 3 hit-by-pitches while properly wearing it.
• If you want to wear an ankle guard, you need to foul off two balls off your ankle.
• If you want to wear eye black, then you can’t wear sunglasses—or vice versa.

It might surprise you as a coach, but I promise the kids will rise to the challenge to “unlock” their gear. Now, you get the best of both worlds—kids are learning and executing the right techniques while still getting to wear the accessories they want.