A few years ago while giving lessons to young students around 10-14 years old, I noticed a funny thing.  When a student seemed to be wandering or not really “locked in”, I had a habit of saying “Focus Daniel Son!” in a corny Chinese voice.  Kids would just look at me with a peculiar look and keep moving on.  Then a kid asked me, “What do you mean when you say that?  Why are you calling me Daniel?”  I came to realize that I was teaching a generation of kids who had no knowledge of the move “Karate Kid”.  I guess I just can’t accept the fact that it was 25 years ago since that movie aired!  Back in my early days of coaching, the wax-on, wax-off was a main-stay in my teaching arsenal. 

So I just wanted to let everyone know, if you have a young boy and he hasn’t seen the Karate Kid, Please rent it, sit as a family and enjoy it.  The wax-on, wax-off episode was really special and can really help a young athlete put into perspective the hard work, the enormous amount of “repetition” that goes in to training for any sport.  But when training for hitting, this is especially true.

So I just wanted to share that and hope that this great family move doesn’t fall through the cracks while a generation of young athletes miss out on it.

 

Coach Ganz

Follow Coach Ganz at www.twitter.com/hitking

Just wanted to remind our families that your young players do need some down-time. Late July and August is a great time to let them rest their bodies, especially if they are going to be playing fall-ball. They are probably just coming off of their summer season, and they should get a chance to rest their bodies. That doesn’t mean they can’t take some swings or throw a little bit, but they should get some rest before starting another season. For those of you in northern states, you might be thinking that they will get plenty of rest in the winter, but make sure you take into account any winter indoor training programs they will be a part of. Many might play football in the winter. So just be aware and talk to them. If they need to re-charge the batteries…let them!
Coach Ganz