FOCUS: Strengthen Our Weaknesses

Again, its all in the title. It is so easy for us as athletes, professionals, parents, teachers, trainers, humans...to go in the direction of our strengths and/or stay in our comfort zone. The easiest way to associate this concept is by starting in the gym. At the gym we all have our basic routines, give or take depending on the experience of the person training. Comfort zone and working out are two concepts that don't go well together....we should always be expanding the zone that we feel comfortable in and have this thought process top of mind, before, during, and after our workout.

Whether we are a gym rat or a rookie that feels lost amongst all the machines, we often gravitate immediately towards what makes us feel comfortable, be it hopping on the bike, walking or jogging on the treadmill, or maybe starting with our normal EVEryday stretch routine. All of these things are great and they should stay prevalent in our routine, but in order to keep getting better everyday we must not let the comfort of these beginning workouts allow us to get complacent. Consciousness of this aspect of working out is crucial. When we continually maintain our focus only on what makes us feel comfortable it is very difficult to truly excel, be excellent, and ultimately...accelerate like an EVEryday Champ.

Simply by making an effort to step in the direction of our weaknesses even if it just mentally, we will quickly see ourselves begin to conquer and achieve things we absolutely knew we couldn't do or things that we knew that we weren't good at. It all starts with laying the foundation...the mental process of how we decide to go about our business in the gym.

So, next time you are throwing your bullpen and all you want to do is work on the pitches that you throw the best...do it. Work on them and continue to master your strengths...but DO NOT avoid your weaknesses...ATTACK THEM until they become strengths.

Thanks for reading,
Isaac

European baseball

I am now in the Czech Republic playing baseball. I have been here just over a month and it is quite an experience to be here playing the game that I love. Many people are not aware that there are places to play baseball through out Europe if you know the right people. Through out my career I have been lucky enough to play with many different guys that have played all over the world, and I was able to connect with one of them in order to get me the opportunity to come out to the Czech and play this summer.

European baseball is different to say the least. I am big on staying focused on getting better EVEryday and never slowing down or halting my progress. Regardless of where my career takes me I always try to keep this state of mind at the forefront of all that I do, whether it is baseball or anything else I set out to accomplish, getting better is a rooted way of thinking for me and its evolution in my life continues to strengthen me as a person. With that said, it is tough out here to stay on the normal grind that I would in the states. That is because here in Czech we only play on the weekends, usually just one double header, and then we practice a couple times a week. You see, out here in Europe, or at least Czech, they love baseball but from what I have gathered in my experience thus far is that it is not about being a professional baseball player(they don't get paid to play here, only the imports get paid), it is about playing and trying to be the best team in the country. There are only 8 teams in the whole country! It almost feels like it is more for pride than anything else.

As you may be able to imagine, the level of competition out here is not even close to that of the states. It is easy to see why considering the circumstances of the frequency of practice and games; they just don't play as much here so they improve their game at a much slower pace. There are still a couple pretty decent players around the league, but the majority of the guys here wouldn't be able to even sniff making an independent ball club in the states let alone get an affiliated job. Nevertheless, this experience is great and I am very thankful to be here. I feel quite fortunate to have gotten this opportunity to come to the Czech Republic and get a taste of what European Baseball is about. It is not exactly the same level of play in all countries out here, but the model of play as well as the scheduling are similar throughout the baseball playing countries of Europe.

In this blog, I always try to come back to and write about "Being a Better Pitcher"  as well as a better person. I enjoy sharing how my state of mind evolves in real time as I see new places and experience this game in different capacities. I aspire to give back to young players that want to continue playing the game for as long as they can and use it to experience more of the world. Baseball has been a means of travel currency for me over my now 6 pro seasons playing the game, and I plan on continuing to use it to help me soak up the world. There is so much more in this world to offer us baseball players that goes far beyond just making it to the big leagues. The big leagues is still my pinnacle and it is still where I would like to be someday, but given my circumstances in my career I have allowed myself to detach from making every possible decision I can in order to fulfill that goal. My new goal is to use baseball to help me expand my global knowledge, culture, diversity, and experience. My heart told me it was right to leave the Atlantic League in order to pursue this opportunity and it has yet to waiver.

I love this game and I love the intangibles that it has provided me in my life. Even with all that I have had to sacrifice in order to keep playing, everything I have worked for to get to this point has been so worth it and I am full of gratitude for the universe. It continues to watch over me so I will continue to give back to it and for that I will continue to do all that I can to give back to young players so they can get better and hopefully get to experience some of the things the world has shown me.

Til next time, thanks for reading.

Respectfully,
Isaac Hess

Staying positive

Baseball is a very humbling game. It can be very difficult to remain positive at times. I have been struggling this season, but I am keeping perspective and I know that it is a long season. Baseball and pitching is a roller coaster through out a season at times and the key is to stay positive and not let one game get you too high or too low.

The main thing to remember about this game is that it is a marathon and not a sprint. There will be inevitable ups and downs and your main priority needs to be to stay focused and have a short memory when it comes to your last outing. Build off of every pitch and every game. This is easier said than done but when it comes down to the ability to adapt this marathon attitude will benefit you through out your career.

Get better EVEryday.

-Isaac

The value of drinking water for pitchers/athletes

Dehydration, be it minor or major is a factor that constantly affects athletes. It is another fact which I feel is a very overlooked aspect of fitness and performance in sports. Baseball players are some of the worst about this. We often have an array of sodas and sugary juices available in our locker rooms so that is what many of the guys opt for. This is not good!

We should always aim to be drinking at least 90% of the liquid we ingest in the form of good quality WATER! So many parents raise their kids to drink sugary drinks from a young age...please stop doing this parents! You are conditioning us to reach for the soda and be used to its sugary highs and lows. If you can get your young athletes to crave water over soda or even Gatorade, you will help give them an edge. I can tell you that I drink about 1 soda every 3 months just to remind myself how sugary it is...I have taught myself to actually crave Water though!

Over hydration of the body is proper hydration of the body. It is very very hard to drink too much water! I dare you to try! On the other hand, if you can get your young pitchers and athletes to GET IN THE EVERYDAY STATE OF MIND to reach for water, you will help them to make their blood cleaner an their bodies stronger.

Moral of the story...Ditch the soda! Reach for the water! And if you think to yourself..."but water has no flavor!" then just keep it in perspective and think about how many people in the world don't even have access to water on a regular basis. #WeAreSoLucky!

Thanks for reading and getting better EVEryday!