Greg Payne - Hitting Instuctor

09/06/2026

There’s a Difference Between a Baseball Player and a Showcase Player

Baseball showcases can tell you a lot about an athlete. They can tell you how hard he throws, how fast he runs, his exit velocity, arm strength and how well he performs in controlled drills.

But they can’t completely tell you whether he can play baseball.

A showcase player may run a great 60, light up the radar gun and produce impressive numbers off a tee or during batting practice. Those things matter. Athleticism and measurable tools are important.

But a baseball player shows you something different when the game starts.

Can he hit with two strikes? Can he recognize a breaking ball? Can he move a runner, take the extra base, read a ball in the dirt and understand the situation before the pitch is thrown?

Does he know where to throw the baseball? Can he make an adjustment after a bad at-bat? Can he compete when he’s 0-for-3? Does he communicate? Does he anticipate instead of react?

And maybe most importantly: Does he help his team win?

Some of the best baseball players aren’t going to win every showcase competition. Their tools might not jump off the page.

But put them between the lines for nine innings and somehow they’re always in the middle of something good.

Showcases measure tools. Baseball reveals players.

The best prospects eventually learn to be both.

08/31/2026

Some of the worst hitting advice comes from the people who are really just trying to help...but they have no idea what they're saying. For example:

1. "Get your back elbow up" - Now, we've discussed this over and over. I think a lot of people now realize that this is bad hitting advice. When I ask a kid if he's ever heard it, every single kid says that they have heard it at some point in their career. When I ask them to show me when, in the process of swinging the bat, is their elbow ever up, the answer is always the same: "Never". So why say it? Well, that's probably how that person was taught. I heard it a lot when I was a young player. I think the idea is to keep your back shoulder up. The problem is that that only works if you don't swing.

2. "You're dropping your back shoulder" - When I ask a kid if he's ever heard that, they always say that they have. When I ask them how they were told to correct it, they say, "Don't drop your back shoulder."

So I immediately say, "Don't think of a pink elephant."

Then I ask them if they thought of a pink elephant. Most will say yes, but some will lie and say no. But I know they did. You did too. That's how the mind works.

So you can't fix something by telling someone what not to do. You have to tell them what to do and you can't correct the back shoulder dropping from the back side of the hitter. That is done on the front side. So we work on that.

I tell them that they aren't "dropping their back shoulder" but their "back shoulder is dropping". This illustrates that it's something else that's causing the back shoulder to drop and we're going to work on that.

3. "You're pulling your head out" - Yeah, probably not. But their head IS coming out. Similar to point #2, something else is happening to cause their head to come out. Telling a kid to keep his eye on the ball might fix that temporarily, but the issue is starting lower on the body than that. Typically, this happens with hitters who are "shoulders hitters" instead of "hands hitters". It's not really just the head.

These are just a few examples of people meaning well, but truly having no idea what they're saying.

Hitting is HARD. Bad advice, even with good intentions, makes it even harder.

08/26/2026

The Diamondbacks got red last night because the Cubs were stealing their signs.

THAT’S PART OF THE GAME!

I don’t mean electronically like the hated Astros did in 2017. I’m talking about just organically stealing the signs.

Many years ago, I was coaching 3B and the opposing team was in the 3B dugout. The pitching coach, who had played professional baseball, was calling the pitches and I picked him.

So, naturally, I relayed it in to my hitters using a basic name and number code. The opposing pitcher was very good (eventually signed with UGA), but we went double, double, double before the coach realized I had him.

He glared at me.

So he put up his clipboard to hide his signs from me. He didn’t change his signs, he just put up the clipboard.

Well, that wasn’t natural so I figured he’d forget later.

He did and I went back to name and number calls (this is basic and I didn’t care if he heard me because I wanted in his head).

Another double.

THEN he changed his signs, but it was too late as we beat them on their home field…and they were the reigning state champions. It was a big win for our program.

But that coach was CHAPPED at me.

Of course, I didn’t care and smiled the whole ride home.

08/19/2026

This week's sign of the apocalypse is travel baseball organizations having "signing parties" for 7 year olds...

Send a message to learn more

08/17/2026

Dear 11 year old Greg (starting there and all the way through college ball, actually),

Baseball is a game of failure. You will fail far more than you will succeed.

But it's the failures that will prepare you for life. Maybe not as much the actual failures, but how you respond to those failures is the real lesson you need to learn from baseball because, I can promise you, more failures are coming in your life.

The failures on the baseball field are safe failures. Sure, you'll sometimes make an error that helps lose a game, sometimes you'll strike out when your team needs you the most, and those failures will hurt.

But they're still safe and they will prepare you for life if you'll allow it. You see, life isn't about avoiding failure as we all experience them. Life is more about how you respond to failure and that can start right here.

So I need you to look at your failures on the baseball field differently. Look at them as preparation for life because I promise you that they are.

You're going to have to stop taking those failures so personally. By that I mean that you need to realize that failure is a part of the game you love so much and if you're going to keep playing it, it'll be a lot more fun if you'll stop thinking failure in the game means that YOU are a failure.

Stop taking that so personally.

Yes, I know life is tough and that you have challenges. This game though...it's supposed to be fun. You're making it seem as if it's a life or death matter. It's not. No one is going to stop loving you if you aren't a good baseball player or if you have a bad game.

Simply put, it's not as big of a deal as you make it.

I love your passion and your drive to succeed. I want you to keep that, but stop saying that you're terrible when things don't go your way. You're putting way too much on yourself. You aren't even equipped mentally or emotionally to handle what you're doing to yourself. It's not healthy.

So, relax. Have fun. Baseball is going to be a big part of your life for the rest of your life. Learn to play it the right way and learn that failure is just a part of the game.

Trust me. I wish I had known all of this when I was your age.

Your 58 year old self

08/07/2026

Attention all GameChanger parents and those addicted to stats!!

I have some bad news for you.

In all my years of coaching, I had the opportunity to coach several players who went to play college baseball. I talked to coaches from every P4 league about those kids when they were being recruited.

NEVER, in all of those conversations, did a coach ask me what a kid's batting average was. He didn't ask me how many home runs he'd hit, his launch angle, spin rate, exit velo...NONE OF THAT.

But I was asked, every single time, what kind of student he was. I was asked what kind of teammate and citizen he was. I was asked if his parents were a problem. I was asked about all sorts of things that make up WHO the player is rather than WHAT he can do on the field.

Take note.

Send a message to learn more

07/26/2026

Back in 2012, my son was playing for one of the best, if not THE best, travel baseball program in the country. He had been with them when he was 13 and 14, didn’t make their team at 15 and then made it again at 16, the all-important year before he could be formally recruited.

But that invitation came with a caveat: he couldn’t play high school football.

Now, professionally, I had a problem because I had just gotten the head baseball coaching job at McCallie and allowing my son to quit football would have been a very bad look.

But I also didn’t want him to miss out on the life lessons and memories that high school football provides. I didn’t play football in high school and I’ve always regretted that a little. They don’t write songs, movies and books about high school baseball games, but they sure do about the Friday night lights of high school football. Grown men still get emotional recalling Friday nights 50 years after they played.

Anyway, ultimately, we declined the invitation and he played football. He went on to be named Mr. Baseball in his classification in Tennessee that next year, helped us win a state championship and eventually got four D1 offers and a substantial D2 offer. His passing on playing with a team and his playing high school football didn’t cost him a chance to play college baseball.

Also, and more importantly, he loved his high school football experience and learned more there that he possibly could have if he had only played baseball.

07/21/2026

Common mistakes made in youth baseball (up to 13):

1. Too many games, not enough practice - whoever came up with the idea for one practice a week and five games on the weekend has ruined a lot of baseball careers. It’s VERY hard to work on development of a player’s skill in games.

2. Spending too much money on bats - your player will go through a bat a year as he grows. Why in the world are you buying him a $500 bat each year? Buy him a cheap bat and send him to lessons with a good instructor.

3. Feeding him crap food - so you’ve paid thousands of dollars for his team fee and travel, bought the best bar you can find, outfitted him in all the ridiculousness kids wear today, and he shows up eating a Pop Tart before a doubleheader.

4. The car ride home - You’re not the coach (and even if you are, that’s not the time to coach him). He needs a parent. He will have dozens of coaches. Keep it fun.

07/17/2026

I get some inquiries about my availability so here's my updated schedule from now until further notice:

Tuesday nights - NONE
Thursday nights - NONE
Saturday mornings - NONE
Sunday afternoons - NONE

All lessons are given at Our House Studios, 4009 Cloud Springs Road, Ringgold, GA

$50 for 30 minutes.

If you would like to be put on a waiting list, let me know. 423-645-9404. It's possible I'll open another night until December if there's enough interest.

07/16/2026

This is sure to be unpopular:

More than likely, the reason the coach plays someone else over your son is that he trusts that player more than he trusts your son.

Unless you're at every practice and team meeting, you can't possibly know the things your son does/doesn't do at practice, at meetings, in the weight room or in class. Sure, he can tell you, but do you really think you're getting the whole story there?

A baseball coach knows that parents are always going to complain about playing time. Oddly, I never had a single complaint make it to me from a parent whose child was starting. Anyway, coaches know this when they take the job.

At the end of the day, that coach has to win or he'll be looking for another job. So, he's looking for guys who can help him do that each game.

For example, a HUGE thing for me was "Can this kid get the bunt down when we need it?". We practiced bunting practically every day. It was a huge part of our offense. I will forever believe the key to being a good bunter is that you have to want to be a good bunter.

But kids don't like to bunt. In our showcases that disguised as travel baseball games, they want to put up exit velo numbers. They want to have good launch angles. They don't learn how to play a game to win it.

That's just one example.

Know this: it's not that he doesn't like your son. It's most likely that he trust another player more than he trusts your son based on how your son practices, works in the weight room, and behaves in class.

Send a message to learn more