How to Use the Environmental, Task, and Individual Constraints to Shape Movement Without Overcoaching.
This presentation explores why constraints are one of the most powerful tools for long-term skill acquisition and transfer in hitters. Instead of chasing positions or cues, we show how shaping constraints allow effective movement patterns to emerge and stabilize under game-like conditions.
Recorded live at NFCA 2025, this talk breaks down the three primary categories of constraints: task constraints, environmental constraints, and individual constraints, and how each one influences perception, action, and decision-making in the swing.
We walk through common issues seen in baseball and softball hitters and explain how we choose specific drills based on the problem being solved, not the look of the drill. Youā€™ll see practical examples of constraint-based training, along with the mindset behind designing tasks that help patterns stick and actually transfer to competition.
This presentation is less about collecting drills and more about learning how to think, diagnose, and design better training environments.