What is Training with Intent?

It’s about that time of year when baseball begins to drag – summer ball starts to feel more like an obligation than just having fun with your friends. And the idea of fall ball? That just makes you want to fall right back on your couch. If this sounds like you or your athlete, you should start training with intent.

Training with intent goes beyond doing the motions – it optimizes training by valuing quality work over a large quantity of work.

Take an issue many players are debating right now: whether to keep pushing themselves to play more baseball or take a break to reset before fall ball. Using the logic of intentional training, rest and recovery is more beneficial than excess practices and games. By resting, athletes are able to prevent physical burnout and injuries that might have occurred if they were to continue playing. Plus, resting after playing for a long period of time prevents mental burnout from the game. Taking a break from baseball - even just a week - can make athletes miss playing and subsequently further an athlete’s love for the game.

Another important factor in training with intent is doing fewer yet quality reps, focusing on just one or two cues at a time. For instance, you might opt to take 30 swings instead of 100 with the sole focus of driving your hips during those swings. Intentional training requires a process over outcome mindset, which is another method we employ at 5 Tool. In order to build additional skills, we help athletes build a strong base, which sometimes means breaking things down before building back up. We believe progress isn’t linear, but that doesn’t mean progress isn’t made. Breaking things down to fine-tune a hitter’s approach, for example, may then translate to an increased batting average.

With our expert instructors at 5 Tool, we are able to offer quality instruction in our lessons to correct bad habits right there in the lesson. As athletes themselves, our coaches understand just because it feels right doesn’t mean it is!

Finally, training with intent means looking at your approach holistically. Taking 1,000 swings just to swing won’t make you a stronger, faster, baseball player. Pairing fewer, quality swings with strength, mobility, and mindset work keeps in mind the all skills involved in the game, not just the physical baseball-specific ones. Training in many different facets will grow athletes in directions, so as a whole, they are a better player.

The training with intent approach is something that anyone can attempt, but 5 Tool recognizes all players are different. That’s why we have 1:1 coaching that will identify what you need to prioritize in your intentional training. Book a session with us today under the ‘Services’ tab to experience our customized training approach.