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- Throwing Numbers
Often when hitters have trouble timing the ball, the problem is that they are not seeing the ball the whole way from the pitchers hand to the contact area. Sometimes they are concentrating on “waiting” for the ball, which is usually a good thing, but they may forget to concentrate on the ball and time it out of the pitcher’s hand. This often leads to being late on the swing or being unable to pull the trigger on the pitch at all. The other more common vision problem comes from the hitter pulling their head and eyes with the swing and thus losing sight of the ball the last few feet before contact, causing the hitter to swing and miss or fail to make solid contact.
The above two drills give coaches a way of helping
hitters watch the ball the whole way. The photo on the right has hitters calling out the number of fingers that the pitcher is
throwing at them. Coaches can begin at a short distance away from the hitter and gradually move further back and can vary the speed of their arm when throwing the numbers. Over time, you will notice better focus by the hitters on the ball.
The second drill has hitters look at the object on the ground immediately after contact, before they are allowed to look and see where the ball was hit. This will not only help with hitters vision but also will force hitters to use the correct muscles to swing the bat. A long arm swing or oversinging will usually take their eyes away from the object on the ground.
photo credit: kthyprynSo often, hitters are judged by their batting average. This can be an accurate assessment of how a hitter is doing but it doesn’t always tell the whole story. Many nights I went home from games with a couple of hits and felt lousy about my night and other times I may have went hitless and felt pretty good about my night. Read the rest of this entry »
Towel drill for lead arm
Last post I talked about the biggest hitting fault I would see in hitters. The second most common fault, especially with young hitters, is stepping out ( away from the pitcher and ball) towards the hitters pull side of the field. This stepping away action is known as stepping in the bucket. In my 21 years of teaching hitting, I tried many different techniques to try to get hitters to step correctly towards the pitcher and into the ball slightly. Rarely would addressing the hitters stride solve the problem for good. Of course, I didn’t try one drill which I read about recently where the coach lies down on the ground beneath the hitter and holds the hitter’s feet. This rather hilarious drill may work eventually but I don’t think I will try it soon. And right when I thought I had heard of every hitting drill out there. Ha
Anyway, the only way that I have seen that works for getting hitters to step at the pitcher and not in the bucket Read the rest of this entry »
Timing a baseball pitch is a difficult subject. There are many variables that are hard to figure out. For instance, some hitters naturally have better timing than others and good timing can be there one day and seems to disappear the next day, or even from one at-bat to the next. It is one of those things that if anyone ever figured out the key to getting and keeping good timing, they would become an instant millionaire. I do know the best way to attain and keep good timing is to develop a good repeatable, compact swing. Many of the posts on this site and in my book deal with this compact swing. It makes sense that the more compact the swing the longer the hitter can wait on the ball, which allows them to swing at good, hittable pitches. Timing is useless if swinging at bad pitches. Additionally, unless a hitter can repeat a good, fundamentally sound swing, timing is often irrelevant.
Once hitters have this compact, repeatable swing, the following things will help hitters attain and keep good timing. Read the rest of this entry »
What To Do Now?
Hitting, fileding, throwing - all difficult skills to perfect and, inevitably, all players hit a slump with one or all of these at one point in the season. There comes a time when parents need to help their kids get through these times so total frustration does not set in and so they do not get to the point where they want to quit playing. Parents and coaches can try these tips the next time: Read the rest of this entry »
Time for Overhaul or Stay the Course
Around midseason, it is time to make some evaluations of your hitters. Timing should not be an issue by mid-season and contact should be taking place most of the time, by now. It is no time to panic (unless your son or daughter is totally frustrated). If that is the case you may want to take them to a professional hitting coach for a lesson or two or totally overhaul their mechanics - there is not much to lose if contact is not being made by mid-season. Otherwise, a few tips for parents and coaches to keep in mind. Read the rest of this entry »
- Knob pointing out, not down - barrel falling back
When working with hitters, the most common mistake I would encounter were hitters who would not begin their swing from the correct hitting position. Instead of keeping the knob of the bat down before swinging, they would push the knob of the bat up and allow the bat barrel to flatten behind them. See Photo on left. Often, this is a very subtle move that only a very experienced hiting coach will notice. These hitters may have what appears to be a perfect swing. Read the rest of this entry »
photo credit: Matt McGee
There is a long standing tradition that you never mention a no hitter in the dugout when a pitcher is pitching one. The reasoning is that the pitcher will be “jinxed,” and the added pressure will cause them to lose the no hitter. There is probably something to that and the same goes for when a hitter gets into a good hitting groove. Most of the time, good hitting streaks come when a hitter stops thinking at the plate, just watches the ball and “let’s the bat fly.” Read the rest of this entry »
The “Visuals” to Teach Hitting
Click on Video at right or see at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsIt0TIsHmQt
photo credit: ajagendorf25
There are many great major league hitters, of course, but there are a few which I never turn the channel when they are up to bat. Off the top of my head that list includes:
1. Derek
2. Youk
3. Ichiro
4. Albert
5. Joe (Mauer)
All household names for baseball fans of course. I enjoy watching these guys the most for all the same reasons. Read the rest of this entry »
photo credit: Matt Vorwald
There were many times in my career when I had a great batting practice and had negative results in that night’s game. On the other hand, often, I had a rough batting practice and went home with a few hits that night. Also, there were times when I didn’t take batting practice for various reasons and I hit the ball real well that night. It made me wonder sometimes how important batting practice was. There are a number of issues here. Read the rest of this entry »
Remember, parents do not have to be a trained professional to advise baseball hitters. They actually need to know just some simple suggestions to be of help. Often times, the less things said, the better. I have mentioned 5 important baseball hitting lessons below. This helpful advice should be reinforced in a positive manner and applies for players of all ages, even major leaguers.
Necessary Hitting Tips Read the rest of this entry »
Posted
on April 6, 2009, 12:33 pm,
by jackbaseball12,
under
Uncategorized.
photo credit: Mark Heard I know this is not the first time I’ve written about the value of hitting drills and the value of getting on the correct fundamental swing road early in the player’s career. But getting the player on the correct fundamental path at a young age is paramount if you want that palyer to play at the high school level. Confidence is obviously important to be an effective baseball player, and no where is it more important than when standing at home plate, ready to hit. Read the rest of this entry »
