The BatAction Blog presents baseball batting training tips, baseball hitting drills, and other information to help Bat Action owners produce unbelievable results from working out on the BatAction Baseball Trainer. Baseball coaches, players and parents will find this information very interesting and extremely useful. The Regular posts include new and innovative training drills and techniques to increase bat speed, improve power, improve hitting skill, and increase batter confidence.
It's the offseason for baseball and softball, and it's time to relax, right?
Wrong!
Now is the time to start preparing for next year, trying to keep yourself in shape and improving your swing.
No matter what position you play on your competitive/bar league team, I believe it becomes more fun the better you get, and everyone could use a better and stronger swing.
There are the usual exercises such as putting a donut on your bat or using two bats, and those are fine, if not good.
But a trick I learned a few years back has helped me immensely, and all you need is a bat and a YMCA membership (or access to a pool).
That's right: a pool. Take the bat with you into the water and start swinging! The resistance will really help you build those swinging muscles. There are a few things to think about while you're doing this to make sure you're not forming bad habits, however: make sure the water is deep enough so you can keep most of your form intact (you don't want to be swinging around your hips). And make sure to use an old bat that you don't really care about, as you'll be underwater for a while.
Swing for as long as you can take it, preferably for about half an hour. Do this a few times a week, and by next season, those muscles will be much stronger.
Stay away from sharks if you're doing this in the ocean!
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In hitting there are 5 core principles that as a hitter you hope to execute on every swing. No thanks to pitchers constantly attempting to mess up a hitter's timing and balance, these core movements aren't always present in every swing. These core mechanics are dependent upon each other for a player to really execute their best swing. In order to successfully execute one's best swing, these "parts" need to work together to maximize the hitting process. These five core principles are the "blueprint" of a hitters basic mechanics. They are:
1. Weight Transfer 2. Hips lead the hands 3. Matching the swing plane to the pitch plane or "leveling"* *(this involves the shoulder dip, tilting, & getting the bat level to the ball) 4. Ideal contact 5. Staying inside the ball
These principles of hitting are the foundation and are present in every good swing but they are not all always present in EVERY swing from the same player. A player cannot, and will not, be consistently successful if they are regularly lacking in any one of these areas in the hitting process. This is why Ted William's said that hitting a baseball is the single most difficult thing to do in any sport. Although, I tend to disagree with Ted on this thought. Hitting a baseball(or softball) may be the second most difficult thing. I believe TEACHING someone to hit a baseball/softball may be the most difficult thing to do in sports!
Do great hitters always look great or even good at the plate? The simple obvious answer is NO. If the pitcher is successful as they often are, their pitch will take one of the core elements away from the hitter. When this happens take a look at what happens to their swing. The result are often less than favorable in these cases.
Oftentimes, a player who has excellent core hitting mechanics can be struggling at the plate and even look awkward. If you regularly watch a lot of games and hitters as I do, you will clearly recognize when a hitter gets into advantageous hitting positions and when they obviously did not. In the situations when their swing looked "bad", that doesn't mean that the hitter has poor hitting mechanics. Rather, something in the process was slightly off. One(or more) of the core mechanics was out of whack for whatever reason. A lot of times it's a hitter's rhythm, timing and tempo that are off and they are "chasing" a pitch the pitcher fooled them with. Whatever the pitcher has done, it has worked in that the hitters core mechanics are thrown off. As well all know, this doesn't always mean the hitter doesn't get a hit. We've all seen the crazy off-balance swing where the hitter drops one in for a base hit. As well as, we have all seen the "perfect" swing where the hitter smokes the ball only to have it fielded for an out by the defense.
One thing to add here is two-strike situation. A hitter should be less concerned with staying perfect with their mechanics and should be simply focusing on doing whatever it takes to make contact and put the ball in play. There is typically not much a hitter can do when they have two strikes on them except let the ball travel as deep as possible and simply put the bat in the path of the ball. Any thoughts of putting the perfect swing on a pitch when a hitter has two strikes must be out the window and he/she should focus on making the adjustments necessary to put the ball in play.
What is the perfect swing anyway? It's the adjustments a hitter makes appropriate to the pitch they get. This is the reason why a lot of times no two swings look very similar. It all starts with the core mechanics and then expands from there. Every element is necessary to maximize the swing process to a consistently high level. When a player is taught improper core mechanics or if core mechanics are not firmly established, hitting problems are exacerbated greatly and hitting frustration is escalated. Learning the core mechanics and learning them correctly while continually working on them is crucial to all hitters.
Todd Thomas is a Baseball Coach and Professional Hitting Instructor for Mike Epstein Hitting. Coach Todd's personal hitting website is http://www.HitItHere.net. Coach Todd also enthusiastically endorses http://PlayMyBestBaseball.com as a place where baseball and softball hitters can master the Confidence, Composure, Focus and Consistency of their game so they can reach their full potential.
Want to tap into your potential with better baseball hitting mechanics?
Odds are you were taught two or three mechanical flaws most hitters have ingrained which limits their potential.
I want to reveal three common mistakes you probably were taught...
...and are seriously hampering your ability to put a charge into the ball.
Hit the top of the ball – Sound familiar? One of the biggest mistakes hitters are taught is to hit the top half of the ball. This is quickest way to spend an entire season grounding out. You need to realize the higher the level of play, the more time your ground balls become outs. Even at the Little League World Series a majority of ground ball hits were turned into outs.
Squish the bug – This term will prove disastrous for your power if you've been taught this mechanic. It teaches you to keep your weight back limiting your power potential. How are you ever going to maximize your power while keeping your weight distributed to your back leg.
Extend your arms – When you make contact with the ball you might have been taught to have your arms extended. This is another power zapping mechanical flaw many hitters are being taught. Ninety-nine percent of major leaguers don't hit with their arms extended. They extend well after the ball has left the bat.
If you have been taught these hitting cues or your son has been taught these baseball hitting mechanics. Then you need to correct them and stop letting their potential between the lines continue to be limited.
Want to learn how to add more pop in your swing and boost your batting average and learn to dominate the best pitchers you'll face?
Coach Rob Bucher is a high school hitting instructor who has been involved in playing or coaching baseball for over 30 years. His expertise on swing mechanics has helped many of his players enjoy huge success and help propel them to collegiate success.
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100% Guaranteed to Improve Your Hitting...or You Get Your Money Back"
In order to be a good baseball player you have got to be a good athlete! Athleticism is built by having a smart strength and conditioning program in place in order for you to be competitive. I have included 2 tremendous exercises here to significantly improve your baseball playing skills!
1. The Double Arm Kettlebell Swing: The smart strength training workout for baseball involves a kettlebell. The double arm kettlebell swing is the base strength endurance lift used in kettlebell training to build superior core strength and all around total body conditioning. This particular exercise is executing by swinging the kettlebell from between your legs up to chest level with both arms. The swinging is done by you having to properly implement a movement known as the hip snap. This movement is done by fluently and continuously flexing and extending at your hips and knees to create the necessary momentum to swing the kettlebell in an arc like motion. This particular movement is priceless when it comes down to developing superior athletic movements and fitness that is specific to baseball.
2. The Single Arm Kettlebell Swing: This lift is executed in the same way as the double arm version with a few more exceptions other than the obvious one arm difference. First of all, to execute this drill you will swing the kettlebell back and forth like the double arm swing. The first lesser known detail though is going to be in your grip. In order to execute this exercise you must grip the bell with a hooking grip. To do this simply grab the bell's handle with your hand with it still on the ground. Make sure that you rotate your grip until your knuckles point directly at the sphere of the bell. If you are gripping it with your right hand then make sure to grab the bell towards the left side of the handle. Reverse this with the other hand. The next detail is to make sure that when you hike the kettlebell between your legs on the descent to allow your hand and forearm to rotate thumbs down. As you ascend in the top of the swing allow your hand and forearm to rotate back to a "palms down" position. Execute these couple of lifts and you will have strength training workout that will significantly boost your baseball game! Train hard and enjoy my friend.
The perfect baseball swing is like poetry in motion...watching Joe Mauer, Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriquez, or Manny Ramirez hit leaves anyone with an awe that is indescribable. They've taken hundreds of thousands of cuts to create such a beautiful swing with such devastating impact on pitchers.
But, do you really have that kind of time with:
The new season coming up? A big tournament being a week from now? or maybe you Have to get ready for a big scouting showcase?
What you need is to SUPER-learn the baseball swing, like, yesterday!
Well, this article will go into what it's going to take to do just that. Doing the following will not make your swing perfect , it never will be, but you'll be able to take the information from the Smart Hitting Tips tab on the navigation bar, do what's prescribed here, and have a helluva showing.
Most of the following tips are hard rooted in research based on state-of-the-art Neuroscience and Exercise Science practice & theory...
This isn't a get hits quick scheme either, and will take A LOT of work, 2,000+ reps a week to be exact, but you'll train your brain and body to harmonize, building to successful baseball swing execution.
Ready?? Hold your horses...First,
You must create a time-line...when do you want to accomplish this? In a week (recommended, at least)? or 2? A month? Decide that first, then move on to the following Steps...
STEP 1: Make Small Circles
Start off slow with one concept, two at most, a day and breakdown each and every movement by going in extremely slow motion. You're brain is like a record...the more you do a movement, the more the needle wears the grooves on the surface of the vinyl... the more reps you do, the deeper and more solid the grooves.
Be careful because it can also work against you, by doing the movement wrong, so start off slow the right way, then speed up.
STEP 2: Balancing Act
Using the Balance & Reach Drill a foot or two off the ground will cause your brain to engage more muscles to stabilize the whole body, and the more you engage the Central Nervous System, the more muscles get recruited, and the faster your body picks up the technique.
Also, doing regular swings on an unstable surface, like on a narrow cushiony weight bench, diving board, exercise bose ball, or with eyes closed, the better off you'll be in record time.
STEP 3: Reps Before Bed
Studies have shown going through the motions before bedtime helps to burn them into your brain better. It has to do with the Four Stages of REM Sleep ...major repairs, both physically and cerebrally, go on in the 3rd and 4th Stages of REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep. If you don't get to the last two stages, then your body doesn't repair itself, which leads us to the next Step...
STEP 4: Set Alarm for 4.5 Hours
In order to speed up the learning process for developing an effective baseball swing, you have to take advantage of two sets of REM sleep. Do your swing repetitions before bed, set your alarm clock for 4.5 hours, wake up and do more reps, then finish off your sleep or the next REM cycle.
What this does is complete one cycle of REM (all 4 stages), then reset your body (by waking up) for another round, deepening those grooves in the brain. By doing this you're 50% more likely to make "stick" the desired technique.
All this can be possible if you...
STEP 5: Do NOT Eat Carbohydrates Past 6pm
Eating enough Carbs to spike your insulin, anytime past 6pm will keep you from getting to Stage 3 & 4 of REM sleep. Our natural occurring human growth hormones (HGH) get released in those stages of sleep ONLY, to repair the body. To allow that to happen, we have to chill out on the Carbs after hours.
And most importantly for your baseball swing, not only will you not repair and heal, but learning is dampened and your immune system crashes.
Last but not least,
STEP 6: Hyper-Computing for Cadence
Once we get a handle on all of the above baseball swing hyper-learning points, now we can speed up our micro processors. By doing this, we train the Central Nervous system by speeding up our motion to get the proper tempo or cadence.
Key point: do NOT attempt this until you have a solid handle on the proper form and movement first.
Speeding up the process of a particular part of the swing helps to deepen the specific movement groove in the brain, so when you engage the correct tempo, the movement is more natural.
You have to exaggerate a technique (in this case, speeding up the cadence), to get the right motion.
This is also great training for combating fast tempo pitchers, who when you step in the batter's box and look up, the pitch is already on its way.
The bottom line about HYPER-learning the baseball swing?
For these 6 Steps to be effective, you have to take between 1,200 to 2,000 repetitions a week...the RIGHT reps. Remember, wearing grooves in your brain can work for OR against you. Keep in mind, with that amount of swings in a small time-frame, you're going to develop blisters and sore muscles. Try and work through them, but if it comes to the sacrifice of good form, then stop, let them heal, and get back on the horse.
To Hyper-Heal sore muscles, do what the Soviet athletes did in the 80-90's, ice the sore spots for 5 minutes, then plunge into a hot bath or spa for 15 minutes, and repeat the process a couple times. This sequence also helps your body release melatonin, which will aid in putting you to sleep.
For blisters, drain them, but don't cut away the whole dead skin blister layer for a couple days...put antibiotic ointment between the dead and raw skin, and cover with a band-aid & athletic tape. They also have blister spray skin toughener, which you may want to look into...it burns like hell for a moment, but makes it so you can hit again with virtually no pain.
We hope you enjoyed this baseball swing article, remember we're always adding content, so please subscribe to the RSS feed, blog, and/or The Dugout Newsletter to stay up-to-date with the latest baseball hitting information.
My name is Joey Myers, and I played 18 total years of baseball finishing my career after my fourth year of college (2000-2003) as a Fresno State Bulldog (the 2008 College World Series Champions). I'm very grateful for the success I had at Bullard High School, and getting a scholarship to play at a Division I university, Fresno State, where I started 110 out of the 178 games I played, in the outfield. Now I devote most of my life to baseball swing coaching and personal fitness training. My websites are http://www.swing-smarter-baseball-hitting-drills.com/ and http://www.corecreationsonline.com/
To hit the ball well takes a lot of practice. Youth baseball is actually easier than for older players because there is only the basics to learn and develop. This makes it easy for as as coaches to improve our youth baseball teams hitting.
We still must do it right. Practice does not always make perfect. The practice must be effective and done correctly or the mind and body will instill the wrong mechanics.
Hitting off the tee - has probably been a lost art. It is however making a comeback in certain circles. I have always started batting practice by hitting off the tee. Yes..all ages. Purpose of the tee is to load the bat and get our weight back. First check that the players hands are in the right place..batting stance should comfortable. Second, Load the bat (Body and hands go slightly back and front foot comes up) Third, short quick swing.
Common mistakes to look for and avoid is the player dropping his hands and and weight back to far which is caused by wrapping the hands around the head. Wrapping the bat and Dropping the hands is usually the youth baseball player trying to hit a hard fly ball. It lengthens the swing and there will difficulty in hitting the ball correctly(popups) if at all, in live pitching.
Soft Toss - My favorite way to practice hitting. A youth baseball coach (or whoever is doing the tossing) can get a lot of control over the ball and watch the mechanics without fear of injury. The most common way I see soft toss done is from the side of the batter. I prefer to use a screen and toss from the front. This better simulates the pitch and the tosser and see the hands, head, and stride better too. Franklin L-Frame Pitching Screen Work on strike tosses in the middle, inside, and outside... up, down. Toss in a few balls too so the player can work on learning the strike zone also. As you see a lot of work can be done in a short period of time. If you toss from the side ,it is best to have net to target the balls.
Free Hitting - Turn 'em loose. Pitch or use a pitching machine and let the youth baseball player work on improving his hitting with live pitches without a lot of coaching at this point. Let the player have fun and just hit away. The Tee drill and soft toss is to work on mechanics. Now Focus on the ball and Swing.
These tips and basic batting practice strategy will greatly help your players improve their hitting skills. As a parent you can quickly move your son to the meat of the batting order with these simple batting practice two or three times a week. As coaches we should try and implement some batting practice every practice. The best way is to divide them into groups..some work on tee..move to ..the soft toss..then free hitting and move on to shagging.
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Major league hitters have very advanced swing fundamentals, which explain how they made it to the major leagues. However, it is important to note that fundamentals are fundamentals. The drills that are designed for little league players are the same drills that major league players perform. There are numerous baseball hitting drills with the best drills being the ones that address the particular hitter's needs. Every hitter, from the major league player to the little league player, has a weak part of their swing. When this weakness is known, hitting drills can be geared towards addressing those areas. Working on correct fundamentals is a continual process for major league players as it is for youth ballplayers.
When I played major league baseball, the off season was the time where I was more concerned with getting in great shape by gaining quickness and strength. I was not as concerned with timing the ball as much as in season. With this in mind, preseason was spent performing drills on the batting tee and with soft toss drills. The important body parts that major league baseball players want to get in shape are their hands and core muscles, including the stomach and hips. With this in mind here are a few major league hitting drills that ballplayers practice to get their hands and hips in shape.
1. One arm drill - hitters will take swings using only one arm with a lighter bat or by choking up on their regular bat. This drill will force them to use the muscles in their fingers, hands, wrists and forearms so that they develop the strength and quickness necessary to hit major league pitching. It will also help them develop the correct swing fundamentals of each hand separately. It is recommended that players take more swings in this manner with their weaker arm.
2. Another popular major league hitting drill is the self-flip drill. With this drill, players will begin by holding the bat with their lead arm only and flip a ball up in the air with their rear hand. The ball should be flipped no higher than eye level and in the hitting zone, at which time the hitter grabs the bat with both hands and hits the ball. This drill develops quick, strong hands and requires a good fundamental swing to hit line drives.
3. Fast hips can be developed with the quick swing drill. Players will swing five times in a row forward and backward as fast as they can. Players should be sure to finish their swing to the middle of their back before they reverse the bat as fast as they can. This drill can also be done with a partner who flips five balls in a row to the hitter, releasing each ball when hitter returns to hitting position. This drill will also help overall balance, which is another key ingredient to a good baseball swing. (See following drill)
4. Balance beam drill - players stand on a balance beam and take swings at game speed, with the goal of completing the swing while staying on the beam. An example of this drill and of making a usable balance beam can be found in my book, "The Making of a Hitter."
As the season begins, major league baseball players tend to work on timing and vision drills. This is mostly done with correct batting practice habits with flip drills from the coach or regular pitched balls from a batting practice coach. Good hitters will always try to hit the ball where it is pitched in the strike zone and try to watch the ball hit the bat at contact. They will not swing at pitches outside the strike zone. Following are a few more major league hitting drills that also help hitters:
5. Back knee pickup drill - hitters swing and pick up their back knee, allowing it to rotate towards the pitcher with the swing. This drill develops hitters' front side and weight transfer as they will have to keep their front shoulder going towards the ball as their weight transfers. Both of these are necessary for good contact and power.
6. No stride drill - hitters take their regular swing without the initial stride. Many hitters get in trouble when they jump at the ball. This major league hitting drill will allow them to stay back and rotate instead of lunging at the ball. Doing this drill after the previous drill is a good idea.
It is important to note that using a batting tee for taking productive swings is a must for all serious ballplayers. The batting tee is an important device for major league hitting drills as well as for young baseball players. Coaches and hitters should consult instructional manuals or a good hitting coach so they know how to use a batting tee for the best results. All hitting drills can be done on a batting tee and will help groove a perfect baseball swing. Hitting balls solidly and on the line is always the hitter's goal, whether hitting in a game or with hitting drills.
Former major league baseball player, Jack Perconte gives baseball hitting tips and batting practice advice for ballplayers of all ages. His baseball hitting lessons advice can be found at http://www.baseballhittinglessons.com/baseball Jack is the author of two books, The Making of a Hitter and Raising an Athlete - his parenting blog can be found at http://positiveparentinginsports.com
