Don Mattingly video on Situational Hitting

Most times in youth, high school and even college baseball, hitters are just trying to get hits and put up numbers – it’s important to get noticed, right?  But something different happens as you climb the ladder of professional baseball.  It’s still important to get noticed, but it’s important to get noticed for being able to contribute to a winning baseball team.  Execution in situational hitting is part of winning baseball.  Although not always glamorous to the average fan, it does show off a hitter’s ability to handle the bat and display a complete skill set in the batter’s box.

Normally, I would not have paid much attention to this, but I had just finished reading a very good book – The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle.  This book is about talent, and more specifically talent development through something called “deep practice”.  Shaun White, for example, says that he was able to get in a couple years of riding in one day of practice!  How is that possible?

Check out Coyle’s post on this topic and learn 3 lessons of High Velocity Learning demonstrated in Shaun White’s training video (shown in the post linked below):

3-rules of High Velocity Learning

And how does this apply to baseball practice?

Here’s how we do it…

1. Teach fundamental concepts of movement in the swing and use video to illustrate these concepts
2. Each one of our drills and exercises either isolates a segment of the swing so that the player can “feel” to correct movement or forces the player to execute the entire movement/swing more efficiently
3. We’re able to transfer the “feel” from our hitting drills and exercises into the skills necessary to improve on-field performance.

In short, we create batting practice and training environments where each hitter can learn and develop skills at a high velocity.

My short answer is no.  Is it possible to run too fast or throw too hard?  I don’t think so – it’s not possible to have too much physical ability, or “tools” in the baseball world.  But bat speed, foot speed and throwing velocity are measures of just that – physical ability.   More raw bat speed doesn’t correlate perfectly with a higher batting average or increased slugging percentage, but it sure gives you more ability to do those things.  It’s like adding horsepower to a race car – the car can go faster, but you still need to be a good driver! It’s important to take those raw tools and convert them into on-field performance.

Is this car too fast?

One thing that differentiates baseball is the need to convert those physical abilities into game skills, like being able to consistently hit line drives, steal bases, or throw strikes.  There is a difference between physical ability and skills…that’s part of the reason we see so many different types of athletes in the game of baseball.

So while I’d say that you can’t have too much bat speed, I would say that it is easy to get out of control when trying to gain bat speed.

The parent writes:

In games he wasn’t making contact… he was pulling off theball. The next thing was a loop in the swing…

These are signs of poor swing mechanics.  One of the easiest ways to generate more bat speed is to lengthen your swing, which allows you to apply force over a longer period of time.  But unlike golf, for instance, baseball and softball hitters have a very short, defined period of time in which they need to execute their swing in order to have consistent success.  Swinging faster is not very helpful if takes too long.  This is why we have several drills that not only develop bat speed, but also emphasize and measure quickness, timing and anticipation in the swing.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the direction of focus changes during training, practice, and games.  For example, when a player is training for bat speed (as in using the swing away for bat speed training), the set up allows for the player to focus 100% on executing the swing with as much bat speed as possible.  Study after study has shown that this intent to swing faster is a key element in bat speed development.  But one thing that is often overlooked is the progression from training or swinging (physical ability) to actually hitting (execution of game skills).  What happens during this process is that different elements are introduced (ie the moving ball with changing speeds and locations) which force the player to change his focus.  As the player directs more of his attention to seeing the ball, he or she can’t just swing as fast as possible anymore – bat speed in a game situation where the batter is focused on facing the pitcher is typically going to be less than when a player can stand there and take a dry swing or hit off of the tee.

If the player appears to be swinging out of control, many times his or her attention is directed in the wrong place.  Learning to shift focus and attention to the baseball is a mental skill that is just as important as working on swing mechanics or bat speed.  And remember why you did all that bat speed training in the first place – so you can be confident, trust in your preparation and allow yourself to actually play the game, rather than focus on things that should have been taken care of during practice in the batting cage.  Being able to “trust” your swing doesn’t just happen automatically…you have to prepare for it and develop it over time, just like you would build trust in any other relationship.

Do your training, beef up your swing and prepare yourself to execute your strengths in the game.  Then have actually fun playing the game!

click for videos

In the video below, Longoria talks about something very important – his hitting routine in the batting cage.  He specifically mentions how the cage is the place to pinpoint different mechanical aspects of the swing and he he uses the tee to do this.

When I got to see Evan play up close a couple years ago, I was amazed at how confident and relaxed he looked, and in pro baseball, a player’s hitting routine plays a big role in this.  As a player builds his routine to address the specific needs in his game, he not only improves the consistency of his swing, but he builds confidence in knowing that he is prepared to compete each and every night.  This is part of the reason why baseball players in particular are such creatures of habit.  Check out what Daniel Coyle of The Talent Code has to say about this:

Another general truth about top performers is that they love rituals. Whether Rafael Nadal prepping for a serve or Yo-Yo Ma prepping a sonata, a lot of top performers are addicted to idiosyncratic, persnickety rituals that seem, to the neutral observer, insanely detailed and RainMan-esque. They tie their sneakers just so, they place their violin case at a certain precise angle.  These behaviors are usually described as a superstition, but I think that misses the point: their ritual is their unique way of prepping themselves to deliver a performance.

A couple of the Stack videos show Longoria doing core exercises and medicine ball drills, which reminded me of another off-season video of Longoria working out at Athlete’s Performance in Tempe, Arizona:

Lots of good stuff mentioned here – hard work, movement training, hitting power via core strength, rotational movements & torso stability in order to transfer force.

I like some of the rotation exercises shown around the 1:40 mark, and if you pay attention at the end, you can see some of the tee work that was mentioned in the first video above.  Check out where the tee is placed and the direction he hit the ball…not easy to do!!

Enjoy

Swing Away Bat Speed Training Station

We put this hitting system together over the weekend and been taking swings on it to test it out, and the initial response has been great.

Overall, the system is sturdier than what we’ve seen before from this type of device.  The bungee system does a nice job of getting the ball back to a stationary position quickly, and it stays in the same spot in the strike zone that was originally set up.  The bungee system also eliminates the need to pick up baseballs, which does have a convenience factor when you have a specific training goals and/or are fitting quality batting practice into limited amounts of time.

The ball itself gives good feedback regarding quality of contact.  In other words, you can tell if you hit the ball solidly or not.  Plus there is enough space that you can get an idea of the direction that you hit the ball.  For example, if you are set up to hit the ball up the middle, but you get around the ball with your swing a little, you can tell that you pulled it too much.  The hitting mat includes a home plate which helps alignment and set-up, and there is a red string that can be used as a target, which is a small detail, but is useful when you are using the directional feedback.

Something that is key, is that the machine still gives you feedback on quality and direction of contact, but lets you focus on something that is crucial in bat speed development – intent.  Especially with younger or less experienced players, it is hard to focus on bat speed or swing quickness when you are also asking them to hit a tossed or pitched ball.  That’s kind of like training for power and endurance at the same time – which one is really most important?  It depends on the needs of the individual.  This system makes it easier to separate goals and focus on specialized areas of swing mechanics development or bat speed training.

We’re looking forward to continued use of the Swing Away a part of our program.  If you’re in the Palm Beach – Palm Beach Gardens – Jupiter, FL area, see our instruction options and come check us out.  Otherwise, check back for more on how we use our training products for bat speed and hitting development…

The basics are that 3 groups of 20 college players were trained 4 times per week for 12 weeks under the following conditions: batting practice group, dry swing group, control group.  The BP and dry swing group followed this swing training protocol using varied heavy and light weighted bats while the control group just dry swung with a regular weighted bat.

The results say that each group significantly imrpoved bat speed, but that’s a little misleading if you don’t read the whole study.  The batting practice group improved 10%, the dry swing group imroved 6%, and the control group improved 1%. 

I believe the 10% improvement from the BP group is the highest bat speed documented in published research.  Bat speed improvements above 10% are shown on the results page…although that’s not published research.

Something I like about this study is that it is practical and easy to implement.  If you work with a team, you can do this same program in your existing practices.  For example, have a group of 4 players take their batting practice – use the regular bat to hit live BP, have two other players swing the heavy and light bat, respectively, while the 4th player takes a rest before the live round in the cage.  Not only does this squeeze in some bat speed training, but it kills some wasted dead time around the cage.

An even easier way to implement this is in the batting cage using front flips.  This is why I formed an exclusive partnership with Max Bats to provide overload-underload training bats that players can actually hit with.  This research study suggests there is a significant difference in being able to hit the ball while training versus dry swinging, and maple bats won’t fray like ash bats or dent like the light aluminum bats used in this study.

Another think I like about the study is the implication of the use of dry swings in the weight room.  More on that at a future time…

Effects of Weighted Bat Implement Training on Bat Swing Velocity

DeRenne, Coop; Buxton, Barton P.; Hetzler, Ronald K.; Ho, Kwok W.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of weighted bat training on bat swing velocity. Sixty male university baseball players volunteered to participate and were randomly assigned to one of three equal-sized training groups: batting practice (BP), dry swing (DS), and control. The BP hit live pitched baseballs with alternated overweighted, underweighted, and standard 30-oz bats for 12 weeks. The DS dry-swung with alternated overweighted, underweighted, and standard bats. The control group dry-swung with a standard bat during the 12 weeks. All three groups showed significant increase in bat swing velocity during the study (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the differences between pre- and posttest scores (delta scores) were significant between BP and control, between DS and control, and between BP and DS (p < 0.05). It is suggested that training with variable weighted implements will significantly increase bat swing velocity, and that the use of loads specific to the target activity but with sufficient variation about the standard load will induce further training adaptations.

(C) 1995 National Strength and Conditioning Association

Pasted below is the abstract from a bat speed training article published by Chester Sergo and Douglas Boatwright in 1993.  The italics and red text are emphasis added by me.  Read the abstract, but I’ll summarize and make a few points:

 - 24 subjects averaged 19-20 years old and were college students practicing in the off-season

- All the training was done with just dry swings, during practice.  100 swings in sets of 20 performed 3x/week for 6 weeks

- Group 1 (regular bat only), Group 2 (62 oz. bat), Group 3 (alternated sets with 62 oz. & fungo bat)

- Each group improved bat speed 8-9%, with no statistically significant difference.  Group 1 (8.8%, highest), Group 2 (8.0% lowest), Group 3 (8.2 %)

- FYI the average bat speeds reported for these players began in the low 90′s and ended around 100 mph, measured by some light timing device made by the school’s engineering department

Overload-Underload Maple Training Bats

 

 

 

I’ll add these points:

1.) This type of training is relatively easy to implement for any player or team.  Even with just a regular bat and dry swings, players will improve if they set their focus on high intensity, quality swings.

2.) Heavy bats are not bad.  I tried to suggest this in the weighted warm-ups post.  Remember there is a difference between acute and chronic training effects.  I would not recommend the volume of swings with as heavy of a bat as used in this study, but both overload and underload training components are valuable within a suggested range (see swing training page).

3.) The study makes reference to an unpublished thesis from 1970 which concluded that swinging a heavy bat in conjunction with weight training significantly improves bat velocity, whereas weight training alone did not.

4.) It doesn’t take tons of hitting drills or fancy weight room exercises to improve bat speed.  Mechanics and strength training are important, but remember —> intent, specificity, feedback.

 

Training Methods Using Various Weighted Bats and the Effects on Bat Velocity

-Sergo, Chester; Boatwright, Douglas

The purpose of this study was to determine if baseball bat velocity could be improved as a result of training with both weighted and light bats as opposed to training with either bat alone. Subjects (N=24) from a collegiate baseball team were pretested for bat velocity and randomly assigned to one of three training groups (n=8). Each group dry-swung a bat 20 sets of five swings each with 20 seconds rest between sets, 3 days a week for 6 weeks. The control group used a legal bat of their choice. Group 2 used a 62-oz weighted bat. Group 3 alternated a 62-oz weighted bat and a light bat between each set.Subjects took their normal swing through a light timing device, using a 31-oz bat, as if hitting in a game situation. The average of the last five swings was used for data analysis. A 3 x 2 (Group x Time) ANOVA with repeated measures on the last factor was used for statistical analysis. The reliability for the testing procedure was determined by pooling the test-retest data from the pretest and posttest. Data analysis revealed no significant group effect, a significant time effect, and no Group x Time effect. The evidence suggests that swinging a bat of any weight under the training program’s guidelines would significantly improve bat velocity.

(C) 1993 National Strength and Conditioning Association

This gives some good insight into the thought process of both players and coaches.  There’s also a little info in there about the Yankees’ pre-game batting practice routine (similar to the David Wright bp video).

In other words, it’s not just about getting your hacks in, but having a plan for what you’re doing.  This sounds simple, but it’s something that begins to separate players of similar talent as the competition gets tougher and level of play increases.