RHYTHM AND WHY GREAT HITTERS HAVE IT - BASEBALL INSTRUCTION

Coach James Vilade talks about how to keep good Rhythm in the batters box and the importance of having a tension free baseball swing. Prior to professional baseball, Vilade spent 12 years as a college coach, serving as head coach for 11 of those seasons. Vilade had the opportunity to start two NCAA baseball programs from the ground up: he was the head coach at the University of Dallas for the first four seasons of its reinstated baseball program before guiding the University of Texas at Tyler through the first seven years of its program. In between running these programs, Vilade was an assistant coach at Oral Roberts University, where he helped ORU capture the Mid-Continent Conference championship and a berth in the NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.

In his 11 seasons as a head coach, Vilade compiled a career record of 348-117. His .748 career winning percentage makes him one of the winningest coaches in the history of NCAA baseball and the second-winningest coach in the history of NCAA baseball in Texas, where he trails only Cliff Gustafson, the former University of Texas coach. From 2000-2010, Vilade was the winningest NCAA baseball coach in the state of Texas. In 2007, Vilade coached the University of Texas at Tyler to a 37-1 record, which is the best single season record in the history of NCAA baseball in the Lone Star State and second-best nationwide. Vilade’s historic 2007 team is featured in the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. - Please visit Keeper of the Game.