Carlos Delgdo Is Seeing the Ball Great
June 15th I had the great pleasure of hearing from a former client, an all-star player, call me and ask for a refresher on the “visual side of the game” and that he wanted to bring his buddy along as well.
On June 16th the New York Mets had just fired their manager and many people and press were calling for a new 1st baseman. The bloggers, sports talk hosts and sportswriters universally were saying that Carlos Delgado was finished, he was to old, slow hands.
New York Mets Beltran and Delgado came to our training center in San Juan Capistrano, Ca. (JSerra High School).
Beltran began immediately to tell me how he continues to use his training and that the previous night he saw the ball so well he hit it out twice against the Los Angeles Angels. He shared with me how the SlowtheGameDown training has helped him so much that he wanted me to help his struggling teammate fellow New York Met Delgado.
I told Delgado, “you know how to swing a bat. You have been doing this for 22 professional seasons. What you are not doing is using your eyes properly to allow your natural ability to shine.”
We spent the next 3 hours discussing how to properly train his eyes and more importantly how to see the ball better (early and deep). I told him not to expect immediate cure but to work on his visual skills and concepts and he will see a drastic change.
In July the big slugger is hitting .357 with 8 doubles, 9 homeruns, and 24 RBIs. He also has a sterling .461 OBP for the month with a .714 slugging percentage. That equates to an OPS of 1.159. He had less strike outs and more base on balls. He has gone from the goat of New York to the Resurrected King.
RESULTS
These results are not uncommon of athletes who train and trust their visual system. We have had miracuolus results with various players at all levels. I have seen player go froma .250 to .300 avg. I have seen players almost hit .400 ( George Brett in the majors and Rick Short in the minors) when they trust what they see. It does not happen by accident. Like Delgado these guys trainied and began usg their eyes as a tool.
Here are some quotes by Carlos and others.
“I haven’t changed my mechanics. I have been working on seeing the ball better. And, I am seeing the ball really well.” He told Joe Morgan of ESPN Sunday night baseball.
“Timing is so important to baseball and Delgado’s timing was disrupted by not seeing the ball very well.” Now that he has a plan on how to see the ball early and SlowThe GameDown his mechanics and more importantly his timing have returned.
“As a hitter, you want to see the ball and you want to get ready before they throw the ball, and that’s what I’m trying to do,” Delgado said. “You start early, you see the ball, you start re
cognizing strikes, you stay behind the ball, you can drive it to the opposite field, you can pull it, you can do anything.”
”I’m feeling pretty comfortable,” Delgado said of his current turn-around. “My timing feels a lot better, and that lets you see the ball better and stay behind it.”
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