As college baseball season ramps up, high school baseball players may find themselves asking how they can thrive at the college level. It's no secret that being a college baseball player is a difficult undertaking no matter what league or division you play in.  Here are several tips and tricks to help you throughout the process.

1. Lift

Like every other sport, in baseball it is important to get bigger, stronger, and faster to set yourself apart from other players. Lifting can help athletes with all aspects from their game, including hitting, fielding, and even injury prevention. Being physically strong can also be a separator in the recruiting process and if done correctly, can give you an edge.

2. Eat Right

To build strength and maintain health throughout the long, tough, grind of a baseball season, you have to eat right to be able to recover and stay at your best. Focus on a good balance of carbs, fats, and proteins to fuel your game and goals.

3. Sleep and train consistently

 Again, recovery is the single most important thing to be able to stay flexible and strong throughout the long college season and the best way to do that is to train consistently to maintain your condition. An important part of “training” also involves getting your 8-10 hours of quality sleep to recharge your batteries and allow your muscles to recover.

4. Hit, throw, and field year round

 About 6% of high school athletes will eventually end up playing a sport in college and only 2% will end up receiving some amount of athletic scholarship. That means as a college baseball player you're not only competing with players in your area, you're competing with players around the country, even around the world!  To set yourself apart, refine your craft when no one is watching and put in as much time as you can to achieve your goal of playing college baseball, and doing so at a high level.

5. Sprint!

Everyone says, mostly jokingly, that baseball players don't run… that is, until you need to stretch a single into a double, or beat out a ground ball, or score a winning run on a shallow fly to right field. Speed is essential for hitters and while you can't teach it, there are ways you can practice sprints to get as fast as possible.  Coaches love “the watch” (the stopwatch that is), and speed is one of the biggest separators that can allow you to be successful in the college game.

6. Mental game is just as important as physical game

Throughout the college baseball season and through the adversity you can face, whether you're in a slump or your team isn't playing well, you still have to show up every day and give it your best.  Positive self-talk, body language, and an optimistic attitude is what can set you apart and can also help get you out of a slump in school.

7. Work as hard in the classroom as you do on the field

Another separator that can help you be a good college baseball player is to perform well in the classroom.  If you perform well in the classroom, that shows that you're a disciplined person which will help you in other aspects of your collegiate experience. Plus, you can't play if you're academically ineligible so be sure to stay on top of your grades!

Being a college athlete in any sport is tough. But with the right amount of intention, college athletes can remember to take care of themselves while taking the necessary steps to be on top of their game.

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* Originally published on June 15, 2022, by Benjamin Reinisch