Interesting article on what it takes to be a hitting coach in the big leagues:
Hours are spent together inside batting cages hidden underneath the stands, sitting around video screens analyzing the intricacies of a swing and standing around batting cages, where a simple reminder to keep the bat head in the zone longer could be the key to breaking out of a slump.
The Bratt Bat has been around for a long time and if you pay attention you can probably see one in the on-deck circle of most major league baseball teams. Although Bratt Bat’s are traditionally used as a warm-up device, I think they can also serve a purpose for learning specific areas of the swing, such as rotation and swing path. Even though these heavy weighted bats are out of the suggested range for use with standard overload-underload bat speed training, they still can be an effective tool for teaching mechanics that generate power and increased bat speed.
Weighted Bratt Bat
In my Rochester posts, I mentioned that I did a two-part interview with a local TV show. They came to Jupiter to speak with myself and another RIT grad who also happened to work at Roger Dean Stadium. When I went back to Rochester to work with the team, we did a follow up and they took some footage of me working with the players.
Here’s a link to the RIT Sportszone site, where you can find the entire episode (Season 8, Episode 2).
I put my segment in the sidebar, and also included a it below in a bit larger size, along with more details about what I was talking about…
This video from Stack gives a look at off-season hitting training with Philadelphia Phillies’ shortstop Jimmy Rollins. It shows some cage drills and batting practice swings along with some insight from hitting coach, Milt Thompson. Rollins talks a bit about bat speed and his hitting approach, especially in the cage – a controlled environment where you should be working towards perfection. Deliberate practice instead of just mindless hacks.
Made the post about Derek Jeter hitting the inside fastball, so here is Ryan Howard on the same topic. He explains his hitting approach and swing thoughts for pitches on the inner part of the strike zone:
One of the best points in there is that you shouldn’t be trying to swing at the ball too far in. There’s just not much you can do with it. Also a good point in your cage and batting practice is to work in the gaps and stay primarily in the middle of the field.
Back in the summer of 2006 there was a college player I worked with a handfull of times after he played his freshman season at a very competitive Division 1 program (they won their conference this year and competed in the NCAA baseball tournament).
We mainly did some video review and worked on mechanics as I tried to give him the information I thought he needed to put things together and make the most of his talent. I received this text message at the end of this May:
This is P***** P***** from **U. Just played my last game and wanted to thank you for working with me. You turned my career around. This year I hit .365 with 11 HR and 51 RBI. Thanks.
For more success stories, check the Results page.
Bob Alejo is the strength and conditioning coach of the Oakland Athletics. This video from the strength power hour is from the 2007 NSCA sport-specific conference and he gives some baseball training tips, drills and exercises that address these areas of hitting:
You can check out more on Bob Alejo at his website.
This week we test the fact that a lighter bat gives more bat speed than a heavy bat, and what does that mean.
Episode 62 – Bat Speed? – The Fastpitch Softball TV Show
This video comes from softball site fastpitch.tv and deals with how changes in bat weight effect bat speed, batted ball velocity, and batted ball distance. Fairly simple test – use radar to measure bat speed of different weighted bats (imagine that!). They could have just hit balls off a tee and measured the ball exit speed (like this), but I suppose getting actual calculations assuming a more constant environment are more controlled. Here are some conclusions:
This is a video from last year where New York Yankees hitting coach, Kevin Long, talks a bit about hitting in situations, such as runners in scoring position, and working with new players in the middle of a season.
More from the Texas Rangers…..their Major League strength and conditioning coach, Jose Vazquez, has a series of instructional videos on baseball strength and conditioning, which include strength exercises, core stability, medicine ball work, and also stretching.
New York Yankees’ shortstop, Derek Jeter, is well known for his ability to stay “inside” the ball. This video gives his quick explanation on what he does with his swing to handle the inside pitch:
Derek Jeter: How to Hit an Inside Fastball in Baseball – The most popular videos are a click away
First impression of Tiger Town is that it’s a pretty nice facility. Stadium looks great, clubhouse is good, nice cages and weight room. We’ll have to wait for this afternoon to actually play though, because we got rained out for the second day in a row. I usually put up some pics of the ballpark but thought I’d try something different this time. Here’s a panoramic view from right field…can you tell it’s about to rain???
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