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…
Swingtraining.net has joined with Perfect Competition sports performance facility in order to provide comprehensive strength, speed, and hitting specific workout programs in the Southeast Florida area. Perfect Competition already has a well established reputation for their MLB Performance Enhancement program, and now Swingtraining.net will add the most specific hitting training available.
R.I.T. alumni game at Frontier Field
We finished up our 2009 season, 138 games, with a win against the St. Lucie Mets. Now that it is officially the “off-season”, I’ll be continuing work on the site and planning various trips and events, which can now be tracked with the Events Calendar on the sidebar.
Contact me if you’re in the area or you have a suggestion for a Swingtraining.net event opportunity. Lots good things on deck this fall and winter…
To get things going, I will be heading to my hometown Rochester, NY this week (Wed.-Sun.) mainly to talk hitting and off-season training with Rochester Institute of Technology baseball, softball and strength & conditioning coaches. Very similar to what I did during my graduate school days at Louisiana Tech.
Also should be doing a follow up to a TV interview that I did with RIT Sportszone, which had previously come to Florida to catch up with myself and another former Tiger, so look for that episode in the near future.
Lots of friends and family in the area, so it should be a busy trip.
In my post about Sports Motion video software, I mentioned that I travelled to Europe to speak at the European Baseball Coaches Association (EBCA) Convention. It was held in Vienna, Austria in December of last year, so it’s about time I made an official update about it.
The convention is sponsored in part by International Sports Group, and I was invited to speak by ISG team leader and fellow presenter, Tom O’Connell. Each year, ISG helps organize and carry out a full roster of international conferences, and going on the trip was a great experience.
I made 4 presentations in total:
There I am on the left during introductions
This video clip is of a college player who was looking for a way to improve after a redshirt freshman year at a Division I baseball school. I’d say he figured it out! This is one of the most drastic improvements I’ve seen in such a very short period of time. Bat speed work with overload-underload bats, reaction and timing training, several different drills for rotation and swing path…we did it all:
before & after
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.
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.
Keepin it rollin’ with more updating, transferring this old link from ‘06
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Here is what she wrote:
“Hey Jeff, hope you’re doing well. Just wanted to let you know that I made first team all county this year and lead my team in doubles and almost tied the school record for homeruns, all thanks to you.”
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.
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