Bradley Hallock

Field Experience Journal of Observing Coach Ben Berg of Concordia Baseball

● February 13th, 2024. 5:45 - 8:15 (2.5 hours)

○ Observed a live at bats practice including some of the varsity players and
then the JV hitters. It was split into two groups over the course of the 2.5
hours with the first group being primarily varsity hitters and the second
group consisting of JV hitters.
○ Coach Berg organized the warm up work prior to the at bats starting,
which included throwing batting practice in the cages as the hitters started
to get ready to face live arms. Coach Berg allowed the hitters to dictate
what they wanted from the batting practice rounds (whether they wanted
to hit off a certain pitch or to hit off a certain location of the plate that they
were working on, etc.)
○ The varsity group of hitters were more willing to come up to Coach Berg
after their at bats and get his thoughts on what he had seen. Most of the
time Coach Berg would respond back with questions on what their
approaches were and what pitches they were looking to hit. After that,
Coach Berg would emphasize what their skill set was and how they should
look to hit in accordance with their skill set.
○ I found it interesting that the JV group of hitters were less likely to go up to
Coach Berg themselves, and instead he had to initiate the conversation
about their at bats.
○ During at bats, Coach Berg would emphasize the positives that occurred
such as when a hitter would lay off a pitch out of the zone or put a good
swing on a hittable pitch. Whenever a poor swing decision was made,
Coach Berg didn’t act condescending or disapproving, but instead made
an emphasis for the hitter to take on the “so what, move onto the next
pitch” attitude.
● February 14th, 2024. 5:15 - 6:45 pm (1.5 hours)
○ Observed an infield practice with the JV infielders in the fieldhouse.
○ The practice was more of a heavy throwing day so Coach Berg told the
infielders to get whatever prep work and arm care drills they needed to do
to get ready to long toss as best they could in the fieldhouse. Then he let
the infielders work through their long toss progression on their own.
○ After playing long toss, the infielders went into their groundball drill work
beginning with short-hop/glove work. Coach Berg emphasized the use of
the hands by taking out footwork so that the fielders were either on their
knees or prepositioned on their feet so that they were only focused on
securing the short hop.
 ○ Coach Berg was vocal about the purpose of the drills so that the infielders
could understand why they were doing what they were doing and so that
they could do it properly.
○ After short hop drills, the infielders progressed into standard groundball
work where they went through different situations such as infield in, double
plays, infield deep (making longer throws), etc.
● February 27th, 2024. 6:00-7:30 pm (1.5 hours)
○ Observed how Coach Berg worked with the JV hitters while they were
doing live at bats against JV pitchers
○ I noticed how Coach Berg for the most part didn’t tell hitters what he
thought they were doing wrong when at bats would go the way that hitters
wanted it to. Instead, he would ask them what they felt and what they were
attempting to do with their approach against that specific pitcher, and
would then use that information to help guide them towards having a
better outcome.
○ I find it to be an interesting and effective coaching method because it
allows the hitter to take a step back and think about what happened and
how they could come up with a solution on their own that made sense to
them, rather than Coach Berg just immediately criticizing them and leaving
them questioning what to do.
○ Also observed how during the at bats, anything that Coach Berg said was
positive and meant to help build the hitters’ confidence up in the midst of
competing.
● March 12th, 2024. 5:00-6:30 pm (1.5 hours)
○ Observed Coach Berg running the JV practice that was primarily centered
around hitting as they warmed up and then took on-field batting practice
○ I noticed how Coach Berg had a practice plan prepared and sent out
beforehand that outlined exactly when each segment of practice would
start and how the practice was going to be run. The players were able to
get there early and get any extra stretching or prep work done before the
official practice started as well. This also helped ensure each guy knew
where they were supposed to be ahead of time rather than finding out at
the field.
○ Coach Berg also talked to each guy about their swings throughout the
rounds and helped them set an external target within their round in order
to help them get a better swing off. This is a different approach than some
coaches where they will focus on the mechanical side of hitting rather than
the result. By focusing on external targets, it helped the hitters’ bodies to
self-organize in order to produce that specific outcome
● March 21st, 2024. 3:45-6:15 (2.5 hours)
 ○ Observed Coach Berg run a defensive focused practice with the JV
players.
○ Coach Berg had them do the team established warm up and then
whatever they needed to get ready for heavy throwing. He emphasized
how that day would be the day to long toss and have lots of throwing in
order to improve arm strength and accuracy. The previous day had been
more of a light to moderate intensity day throwing wise, and the day after
would be a light throwing day so that the arm could recover.
○ The practice was well thought out in the sense that it wouldn’t be
overtaxing on the body as they had prepared for the heavy day of throwing
leading into yet, so they could get the most out of the time that they had
for defense.
○ After the throwing, they went into more focused drill work where Coach
Berg helped guys to work through the ball when fielding a ground ball. He
helped them by demonstrating and explaining the purpose behind the
drills.
○ After drill work, they took just mass ground balls where the point is to get
the players as many reps as possible with different situations. Any time
that a player would make a mistake, Coach Berg would reinforce what
they did right and then offer the solution to what they had done wrong.
● March 25th, 2024. 6:45-8:15 (1.5 hours)
○ Observed a hitting practice for the JV team where the focus was on
competition
○ Coach Berg led the hitters through drill work. Worked one on one with
guys and offered them some specific drills to help them with a flaw in their
swing.
○ Noticed how the drills were designed to fit the individual needs of the
hitter, rather than being the same drill for each guy no matter what the
inefficiencies of their swings are.
○ Another standout part of the practice was how the attitude towards the
practice switched after drill work and they went into a competition mode off
of the machine where the swing itself didn’t matter, but could the guys go
and compete to hit the ball hard.
○ Took note that there wasn’t too many critiques about the swing itself
during the competition stage of the practice, instead he would get guys to
focus on doing what they could to help their team win.
● April 9th, 2024. 11:00 am - 12:15pm ; 3:30pm - 4:15pm (2 hours)
○ The first session of the day was a hitting practice while the second session
was a light defensive practice.
 ○ Noticed how Coach Berg used the day more so as a feel good day. There
wasn’t as much of a focus of getting as many high intent swings in as
possible, but rather the hitting practice was used to get the guys get their
work in without being hyperfocused on one aspect.
○ Coach Berg took more of a backseat role and offered advice if guys asked
for it but other than that, he let the hitters feel out their swing and do drills
that made them feel more confident in their swing. Coach Berg purposely
made the practice to not be as challenging of a day, rather more of one to
instill confidence into the hitter.
○ The defensive practice was run in the same manner where it was just to
get the body moving and to keep the arm healthy with some light throwing.
○ Noticed how it allowed guys to just enjoy the practice and get better on
their own.
● April 10th, 2024. 4:45 - 6:45pm (2 hours)
○ Observed a full practice involving defense and then hitting on the field
immediately afterwards.
○ This experience was the opposite of the day before. There was more of an
intent based process to the practice plan where Coach Berg highlighted
specific aspects of the players’ game that they needed to improve.
○ The hitting portion of the practice had specific situations in each round of
hitting that represent game situations
○ The players seemed more focused and intentful with their swings as they
were trying to accomplish specific tasks set by Coach Berg.
○ Coach Berg made himself more “active” in this practice by watching each
guy’s swing and offering advice/feedback when he felt necessary.