Written by: Dustin Pettenati of AMAA Sports
Steve Overby and his son Joseph have made it their life goals to bring not only the ability to bat, but the ability to deal with your successes and failures through baseball. Teaching the physical and mental portion of batting that allows students to climb up the ranks and get better than would have been possible if they had just focused on the physical portion of baseball.
At Overby hitting center, you will notice that it’s not like most other hitting facilities. Other hitting instructors focus on “hitting” the ball, which is okay, but what Steve Overby teaches is much more than just hitting. He teaches the mind set of hitting as well as the basic fundamentals of hitting. When you go to his camps or individual lessons, he will be teaching you how to get every thought out of your head before you go up to bat, pitching, and/or fielding. That process is called “centering”. This is where you breathe in your noise and out of your mouth, and you do that until your vision gets a little blurry. When that happens oxygen has reached your brain and has calmed your brain down with thoughts and anything else that is in your head.
The steps to master this process takes a while! I (Michael Johnson) have been going for four years now and I just mastered his hitting process a year ago. It takes dedication and love to the game you play! But over time it’s worth it, Steve creates college hitters, I am one of them!
His lessons take 30-45 minutes every time you show up. He likes to see players once or twice a week, and that way the kids can work on what he teaches quicker. Another thing that Steve and his son Joseph teach will be shadow swings. Shadow swings are the biggest help because they teach you to practice when you are not with them. A shadow swing is when you take what they teach, straight line to the ball, and you do that without a bat in your hand about 50 times each day. It will improve your memory on how to get to the ball when you are hitting. Overby hitting center makes good hitters, into great hitters and they will be able to do most things that most other hitters can’t. They do a wonderful job with that!
