Yogi: You can't think and hit at the same time
Interesting post about fielding and the injury risks incumbent with changing positions over at BP. There was one bit that I found particularly striking:
Yogi Berra said that he couldn't think and hit at the same time; it's perhaps more true that a player can't think and field simultaneously. That millisecond of hesitation might lead to a collision, or being in the wrong place, or getting off to a slow start, possibly causing a muscle strain as the player tries to physically overcompensate. Any change—new position, new park—will throw that wee bit of thinking into the mix.
I remember that I always had that problem when I was playing. Both in the field and at the plate, I was always thinking, and it made my reactions slower. People would always tell me "you look like you're thinking out there," and I never understood that it was a bad thing, or how to stop.
The ability to turn off their brain is yet another of the rare and valuable skills that separate professional athletes from the rest of us. I wonder if that's more learn-able than "hitting a 90 MPH fastball," or worse, "hitting a curve ball."
