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Finding The Right Fit

December 7, 2012 | 0 Comments

 By Eno Sarris

Finding the right place to play college baseball is not just about finding a good slot on the depth chart. The coaching staff is worth inspecting, too.

I recently wrote a piece for The Hardball Times Annual about The Stanford Swing: Supposedly the excellent baseball program in Palo Alto is teaching its kids a swing that doesn’t translate well to the professional leagues, so I investigated. Without revealing the conclusions — I wouldn’t mind if you bought the annual, after all — you could say that the school definitely has a unique philosophy when it comes to hitting.

If your swing didn’t line up with some of the things Stanford’s program teaches, it might make sense to think long and hard about the fit when it comes to the actual mechanics of playing the game. Most schools have philosophies when it comes to pitching and specific pitches, too. And you may not get all the information from the school itself — ask about these things, sure, but then see if you can find a knowledgeable person from outside that program to tell you their appraisal. Some focus on the feet at the plate, some want quiet hands, some want their pitchers to avoid the cutter, and some preach ground balls. Every school has a quirk that comes from the coaching staff and is designed to make them more competitive in the college game.

Of course, making a fit between a student-athlete and a college program is a delicate dance. It isn’t just about depth charts, and it isn’t just about the mechanics that the coaching staff prefers, either. And that’s why you get plenty of different-looking swings coming out of Stanford University. Look at Carlos Quentin or Ryan Garko or John Mayberry, for example, and they’ve all got distinct-looking swings. Stanford is no factory, and the different players that have come through it all had their own reasons for attending the school.

There are other ways to find a fit. Successful players in the past may have decided during the recruitment process that they preferred the exposure the Stanford program provided. Since the Pac-12 television channel shows Stanford games, and the program manages to advance to the Super Regionals most years in the College World Series, there are a lot of chances for player to demonstrate his abilities publicly. Or maybe they wanted a better backup plan — a background in Stanford academics provides many options for a baseball player that didn’t make it professionally in the sport. Proximity to family and cost of attending are also important facets involved in your choice of college.

But, even when it comes to the baseball aspects of choosing a program, it’s important to think all the way down to the hitting drills. Does your approach fit the program you’re looking at? How will your swing, or your pitching motion, look on their diamond?

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