I can't relate to baseball but I notice a common pattern that applies to most fields.
You are told to do the basics over & over again so you:
a) Learn the motions
b) Learn how they work
You can't successfully apply your knowledge/tools/skills without knowing what makes them tick.
Let me phrase that with an example from my past. I was big into Starcraft at one point in my life.
Started with SC:BW. I was terrible back then, doing builds like an automaton following a recipe - I lost as soon as someone stepped out of the cannon and did something non-standard. Why? Easy. I had the mechanics but was missing the know-how on what made them work and how to apply them.
Instead of going that route I started to watch better players. They quickly diverged from the builds - enlightenment came when I noticed that they were playing reactionary. They observed their opponents and made decisions.
Why am I expanding now? Not because the build says so but because my opponent invested in tech so will not have the resources to pressure my new base etc. The basics are important, if you have your mechanics down then your mind is clear to react and just execute the movements to achieve the goal you want based on what you observed.
It works the same with programming. If you're stumbling with language syntax, your framework - the basics. You will then loose a lot of time hunting small issues and constantly loosing the big picture. When you're basics are down you are free to experiment and will notice patterns that beg you to apply one of the basics you learned.
Some problems are specific, fall into the 'what data structure, algorithm' should I use. Some are structure/flow related - how do I make those two things connect to each other and pass data around. Some are new - but they all mingle and repeat themselves very often.
When you read a lot of code, write a lot of code - you will start noticing the patterns. In the worst case scenario - knowing the basics will make it easier for you to ask better questions/find answers to hard problems faster.
You are told to do the basics over & over again so you:
a) Learn the motions
b) Learn how they work
You can't successfully apply your knowledge/tools/skills without knowing what makes them tick.
Let me phrase that with an example from my past. I was big into Starcraft at one point in my life.
Started with SC:BW. I was terrible back then, doing builds like an automaton following a recipe - I lost as soon as someone stepped out of the cannon and did something non-standard. Why? Easy. I had the mechanics but was missing the know-how on what made them work and how to apply them.
Instead of going that route I started to watch better players. They quickly diverged from the builds - enlightenment came when I noticed that they were playing reactionary. They observed their opponents and made decisions.
Why am I expanding now? Not because the build says so but because my opponent invested in tech so will not have the resources to pressure my new base etc. The basics are important, if you have your mechanics down then your mind is clear to react and just execute the movements to achieve the goal you want based on what you observed.
It works the same with programming. If you're stumbling with language syntax, your framework - the basics. You will then loose a lot of time hunting small issues and constantly loosing the big picture. When you're basics are down you are free to experiment and will notice patterns that beg you to apply one of the basics you learned.
Some problems are specific, fall into the 'what data structure, algorithm' should I use. Some are structure/flow related - how do I make those two things connect to each other and pass data around. Some are new - but they all mingle and repeat themselves very often.
When you read a lot of code, write a lot of code - you will start noticing the patterns. In the worst case scenario - knowing the basics will make it easier for you to ask better questions/find answers to hard problems faster.