By STEVE KRAH
Baseball training for Ed Schlueter is not about being the best today as much as it is achieving big gains over the days, weeks, months and years to come.
“I’m trying to grow the youth programs in our area to be more successful in the long run and not the short term,” says Schlueter, the founder of Baseball Directive in northwest Indiana and a full-time instructor for about five years (he is a former teacher, Rensselaer, Ind., Central High School head baseball coach and painter). “I want players to swing the bat fast and hit the ball hard.
“We might swing and miss more at 8 (years old) with a pitching machine but when we hit the ball, we hit it hard.”
That’s more important to Schlueter than winning games in those young age groups.
“I don’t even know why we keep score at 7 and 8. It just drives me nuts,” says Schlueter. “I’m trying to get more to the development piece of this.”
Schlueter, a 2011 graduate of Saint Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, who majored in History and Secondary Education and pitched for the Rick O’Dette-coached Pumas, currently instructs players at private pole barns in DeMotte (Jasper County) and Francesville (Pulaski County).
He spends at least an hour everyday doing something to become a better instructor. He takes online courses and does lots of reading — always something related to his business.
He attended the 2024 American Baseball Coaches Association Convention in Dallas and soaked in knowledge that he can impart to his clients.
Schlueter, who has served as president of Wheatfield (Ind.) Little League, has been focusing on development and is seeing methods he’s culled from places like Driveline Baseball, 108 Performance and Tread Athletics begin to pay dividends.
“I’m trying to blend what I think is right from all of them instead of just trying to stay on one track,” says Schlueter.
Many of his students are in elementary school or junior high.
“I’m finally getting players who have been through my system for a longer period of time,” says Schlueter. “Now we’re seeing the ultimate picture where they get to play at the next level — high school or beyond.”
One of his long-time pupils just began his college baseball career. He started going to Schlueter at 13.
“He was tall, lanky, underweight and couldn’t hit the ball very hard,” says Schlueter. “All we did was maximize for hitting the ball hard.
“After one fall of junior college and focusing on development he’s getting a lot of attention from bigger four-year schools — both (NCAA) Division I and Division II.
“People told him he couldn’t because he was too skinny and too small. It’s gratifying for me, but he’s also the one that put in the work. I’m not trying to take any part of success for any of my players and what they do. I’m just trying to point them in the right direction. If you do these things it’s going to give you a better opportunity further on (down the road).”
Depending on the time of year, Schlueter trains 40 to 60 players.
“I’m just trying to get kids more athletic with their swing and their pitching,” says Schlueter. “I’ve gotten more away from the lesson model.
“We’ll do mechanical things. But, especially with the younger kids, I want them to learn how to be athletic through their movements.”
Lucas Schlueter — Ed and Meagan’s 11-year-old son — has been learning the game from his father since he was in T-ball.
“He’s very, very invested in baseball,” says Ed of Lucas. “I’ve always used him as a my guinea pig.
“I’ve seen his growth in the game.”
Father and son are involved with the North Central Cyclones travel organization. The season tends to go from April to mid-July with 30 to 40 games.
“We try to practice two days a week between weekend tournaments and not schedule schedule more than two tournaments in a row,” says Schlueter. “We’re trying to create balance. We let the kids have higher competition but not burn them out.”
The weekend, Schleuter and Ethan Duensing (Calumet Christian Class of 2023) begin leading a 12-week preparation camp. It’s the third year for the program with two-hour hitting and pitching sessions each Saturday.
“We’re trying to get them ready for their season and ingraining hitting the ball hard, throwing the ball hard and let’s keep you healthy,” says Schlueter. “Let’s be athletic and let things fly.”
Players who attend the camp can go onto to their teams at the start of April having already seen pitches at game speed.
“Young kids just need a lot of reps,” says Schlueter. “We use Rapsodo and to measure everything we can.”
Those numbers are displayed on a screen that players can see.
They will get in the cage and be told things like: “This round of 10 you’re just trying to smoke the ball. I don’t care where they go right now. You’re trying to swing as hard as you can and hit the ball as hard as you can.”
A 10-year-old might set a goal of achieving 60 mph for an exit velo.
The next time he can go for 65 and so on.
Schlueter uses the analogy of an elevator.
“If you continue to raise your ceiling your floor is going to come with it,” says Schlueter.
What often happens is that as the max goes up so does the average.
“Improvements are not linear,” says Schlueter. “It’s going to go up and down a little bit. But over a long period we’re seeing a lot more improvement.”
To promote bat speed and EV, Schleuter incorporates plyoballs, overload and underload bats.
“We get some good outcomes when we go back to our regular bat,” says Schlueter. “It’s not a magic silver bullet. They are just more tools in the toolbox.
“We’re trying to find what works for each player. What is the player going to buy into that clicks with them? We have our standardized ideas of what we want to do, but how do we individualize it to that player?”
Baseball Directive is on social media: X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and YouTube.
www.IndianaRBI.com 