Troy Silva is the author of the #1 bestselling book on Amazon & iTunes for coaching baseball - 9 Innings of Hitting. Troy spends his days coaching baseball at Rijo Athletics in the Seattle area. Troy has spent his life playing and coaching baseball, including being drafted by the Cleveland Indians in 1997 and playing 6 years of professional baseball. Troy is married and has 3 beautiful children.




Book: 9 Innings of Hitting

Twitter: @TroyPSilva

Facebook: /Rijo-Athletics-Baseball-Softball-49661522946

Websites: rijoathletics.com ; rijobaseball.tv


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Quote
'Hitters have to be smart enough to have a  good approach and dumb enough to get in there and hit.'
Pretty swings vs. developing consistent swings in players

Swing instruction is different than hitting instruction - you need someone to develop the concept of hitting. It starts with the swing, but that's just the first step in the process of hitting.

Each individual has different needs

Early on while Troy was coaching - he realized that kids weren't necessarily getting better, they were just looking better. He was trying to teach them all one way to swing, instead of working with each individual's strengths.

Mental Toughness

There is a huge difference between expecting to hit the ball vs. trying to hit the ball
Mental approach actually has a physical effect on batspeed

Mental approach - how do you not overthink when at the plate?

'Hitters have to be smart enough to have a  good approach and dumb enough to get in there and hit.'
'Free hitters up to be athletic and just get in there and compete'
Quiet the mind - it's ok to be thinking about 1 thing while at bat - just don't start complicating it by thinking of 5 or 10 different things you need to do

Teaching progression

A great start is just to have kids watch their favorite big-leaguer and copy what they are seeing.
Start with mechanics. Then it comes down to the individual and what they need to become a productive hitter. Great progression chart in the book 9 Innings of Hitting

Should we teach the ‘oppo first’ approach when setting up our batting practices?

You should learn power first and how to swing hard BEFORE learning how to hit to the opposite field

HIT - Honor, Integrity, Truth

As a Christian, Troy uses baseball to be a light in a dark world.
As a coach your job is to be a mentor and positive influence in these young peoples' lives.

The One that got away

Being drafted as a pitcher was really tough for Troy

Best borrowed/stolen idea

Ed Sheft - Mental toughness - You have to know you are better than your competitor

Favorite coaching/leadership quote/book

Personal experience is the best teacher

Rijo Athletics and 9 Innings of Hitting

Online video hitting/fielding portal with over 300 videos: rijobaseball.tv
Book by Jose Rijo: Creating Winning Relationships through Sports

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