Alright, let’s talk baseball. Specifically, how I actually used those St Augustine drills this season to try and stop sucking quite so much at the plate and in the field. No magic, just doing the work.
Starting Point: A Complete Mess
Honest truth? Felt like garbage stepping into the batter’s box earlier this year. Timing was totally off. Every pitch looked fast, even the slow ones. And fielding grounders? Forget it. Either booting it or watching it sail past me. Needed something concrete, step-by-step, not just vague tips. That’s when I dug into St Augustine’s approach, focusing on feel rather than just mechanics.
The Hitting Grind
First thing was admitting tee work was boring but non-negotiable. Every single day, religiously:
- High Tee Drills: Set the tee up at chest level, ball way out front. Only goal? Swing level, hard, and hit line drives straight back up the middle into the net. Forget pulling it. Just crush it straight. Felt awkward at first, like I was reaching way too far. Did it anyway. Focused on keeping my hands inside the ball, not casting out. Started maybe 50 swings a session.
- Soft Toss from the side. Simple: tosser kneels off to my front side, flips the ball in easy. My job? See it early, track it all the way in, and hit sharp grounders or low liners. Sounds dumb, but forcing myself to watch the ball hit the bat changed everything. Stopped guessing location. Started recognizing spin sooner. Did sets of 20 good contacts from both left and right toss positions.
- Front Toss Live Feeling: Moved up to someone softly tossing overhand from about 15-20 feet away, slightly behind a screen. Simulates a pitch arc way better. Key here was trusting my load and timing. No big stride, just a smooth weight shift forward and drive. Had to remind myself constantly: stay back until the ball’s almost there, then quick hands through the zone. Took buckets and buckets of these to stop lunging.
Fielding Fundamentals – No Shortcuts
Got tired of being a defensive liability. Went back to absolute basics on dirt. Found a wall and just worked:
- Short Hop Wall Work: Standing maybe 10 feet from a brick wall. Toss the ball underhand so it bounces hard right in front of me, creating a nasty short hop. Squared up, butt down, glove in the dirt early. Learned to attack the hop, not let it play me. Soft hands? Nah. More like strong wrists and firm funnel. Missed a ton. Got whacked in the shins a bunch. Kept going until I wasn’t afraid of the bad hop. Did sets of 25 good catches each side.
- Repetitive Ground Balls: Had a buddy hit or roll me ball after ball after ball. Focused purely on footwork first. Ball to my right? Shuffle step, don’t cross over. Ball left? Drop step hard, get low. Fielding position every single time before the ball even got to me. Sounds robotic, but the feel came after the footwork became automatic. Hundreds of these.
What Actually Changed
It wasn’t overnight, that’s for dang sure. But sticking to these St Augustine staples daily? Actual results started showing after a few weeks. Hitting:
- Stopped chasing junk way outside. Recognized spin earlier.
- Started driving the ball back up the middle more consistently.
- Felt quicker to the inside pitch.
Fielding:
- Way fewer errors on routine grounders. Confidence shot up.
- Learned to attack bad hops instead of freezing.
- Footwork became second nature, so my hands could focus on the catch.
The key for me wasn’t finding some secret technique. It was committing to the boring, fundamental reps from St Augustine’s system. Doing the tee work. Taking the grounders. Building that feel step-by-step. You want to improve fast this season? It’s there, but you gotta put the damn work in. No app, no fancy gadget replaces the repetition.
