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.

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…

Coach Bill Gentry and myself

Coach Gentry has a long list of baseball coaching experience, but some of the highlights are being a High School Coach of the Year in Southern California, being the head coach at the University of California Bakersfield, directing the So Cal Cardinals scout team in the MLB scout league, and covering the Southern California area as a scout for the St. Louis Cardinals.

If you are looking for instruction in the Southern California area, check out Coach Gentry’s Pro Player Academy in Bakersfield, CA.  In addition to his baseball knowledge, you’ll be impressed by his character, professionalism and how much he cares about the success of his players.

We finished up a week of camp that was packed with activity from start to finish.  A typical day started at 8:30 with a warm-up and then right into scrimmage games that lasted until lunch time.  Then afternoon groups were split up for instruction by position, as well as work in the batting cages and bullpens.

Coast to Coast baseball campers

I spent my time during the morning games taking slow-motion video and showing it to the players.  One of my favorite features with my camera is that I am able to replay the high speed video frame-by-frame, forwards or backwards, right away without having to put it on a computer.  It’s nice to have immediate feedback, especially when the players are able to make quick adjustments that they can use in the game right away.

During the afternoons, I gave short talks on different hitting topics that covered fundamental hitting mechanics, hitting drills, and hitting approach.  Then we broke into 4 smaller groups to rotate through the cages, where players could get feedback from each of the coaches.

In addition to the on-field activity, seminars were held each night in the hotel after dinner.  One of the most important topics was on college recruiting, and the panel of instructors covered that very well.  There were coaches from nearly every level – D1, D3, JUCO, and NAIA – to explain rules, time-lines, as well as answer questions.

The part of the camp that impressed me most was the organization and how smoothly everything ran.  This really was a reflection of the people running and working the camp, lead by Coast to Coast director, Kevin Ritter.  I definitely had a good time learning from the other coaches, working with the players, and talking with the parents.

[Show as slideshow]

Triple Crown Prospects

The camp is open to players ages 13 & up and will be held on the Florida Marlins’ side of the Roger Dean Stadium Complex in Jupiter, FL from December 27-29th.

Complete camp information can be found here.

****Register online*** to receive a $25 discount.

Check out the rest of the coaching staff for this TCP camp below:

Oliver Marmol - Pro Hitting Coach

Ben Lasater - Jupiter Hammerheads Player

Danny Meszaros - Houston AAA Pitcher

Tyler Henley - St. Louis AAA Player

hitting instruction in the cage

Coast to Coast offers winter and summer tryouts and camps at professional baseball complexes in Arizona, Florida and Puerto Rico.  Here is a bit of info directly from the Coast to Coast site:

Coast to Coast Baseball was formed with the express purpose of providing young amateurs with a taste of what it is like to play the game at its highest levels. The program is open to players between the ages 11 and 18, the majority of whom are selected at open tryouts held in 30-35 states annually.  The organization also accepts athletes that have been recommended directly by a college coach or professional scout. Once chosen, players may elect to represent the USA in competition in Puerto Rico, or work with top college coaches and pro scouts at one of our Florida or Arizona Camp & Showcase events held at a MLB spring-training complex.

Swingtraining.net will be working along side a staff of college & professional level coaches and scouts to provide on-field instruction in all areas of the game.  In addtion, “classroom” sessions will be held in order to address areas such as recruiting, training, and other baseball-related areas.

This is a great baseball camp and instructional event in the Palm Beach area – make sure you check out Coast to Coast.

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.

Weighted Bratt Bat

The drill itself is to simply use a Bratt Bat to hit tennis balls from side toss or front flips.  Keep in mind that the bat is not designed to hit baseballs, so it is better to use tennis or wiffle balls.  And another note for you do-it-yourselfers: I like this bat much more than a homemade version from filling an old metal bat with sand because of the difference in the balance of the bat.  The Bratt Bat’s weight is evenly distributed, whereas the old sand filled metal bat is much more end-heavy.

— Swingtraining.net Drills Page —

I’ve found over the years that higher loads tend to expose inefficiency, and this drill is no exception.  The tough parts about hitting with a bat this heavy is that it is hard to execute a normal load with your upper body (hands/arms/shoulders) and it is extremely difficult to control the bat after contact.  Both of these are a result of the weight.  You can see in the finish below how the bat head just wants to take off after contact because of the momentum that has been built up and transferred to the barrel.

Manny using the Bratt Bat

This challenge of controlling the weight and the barrel is what makes the drill effective.  For example, I don’t start off with much more instruction other than to “hit the ball up the middle”.  What typically happens after that is the player misses or severely rolls over the ball on the first swing.  Why? Because he can’t control the bat-head release, or in simpler terms, he doesn’t really know how to ‘stay inside’ the ball.  This feedback is helpful – swing it right and you can hit the ball where you want and it will feel more effortless.  Screw it up and feel the weight of the bat, miss, or roll that double-play ball.

So here is the main point of the drill – to use the body and its rotation to deliver the hands and bat through the right path to the right spot at the right time.  Here is a AA minor league player – read more about his swing transformation here and here – taking a full rip with an 100 oz. (yes, 100 ounces) bat:

100 oz. Bratt Bat soft-toss

So for the actual drill I like to take out or minimize the load with the upper body (the player will always make some kind of little move to get going).  One less thing to worry about.  Plus by setting the bat on the shoulder, the bat gets closer to the swing plane that it needs to be on.  And from here the player can just focus in the unloading, or concentric action of the swing.

The Bratt Bat drill forces the turn of the body to do most of the real work.  Not only to be the major force provider in the swing, but also to allow the hands to get to the right place.  Both of the minor league players below started with a tendency to spin on their back foot, which would make them come around the ball in this drill.  With the feedback from the heavy bat, they learned to get their back-side through the ball…and let “the bug” live (sorry, couldn’t resist).

Unloading the Swing

I mentioned using the rotation of the body to deliver the bat where it needs to be – trying to use this heavy bat to hit the ball middle/oppo forces this.  How?  If the player gets long with his hands/arms early in the swing (ie. casts the bat), the bat wants to drop like an anchor because of its weight.  Same thing if the player tries to push the bat too much.  When the bat starts to get too far from the body, gravity takes over.  As the player learns to use his hands and arms together with his rotation, the bat actually does not feel to heavy.  This is efficiency in hitting mechanics.

What to do:

• Use a weight appropriate for the strength-age-level of your player (65-75 oz. for high school, up to 100 oz. for stronger college players and pros)
• Avoid a high volume of swings.  5-10 is enough to get the right feel, then switch back to a regular weight bat
• Avoid trying to swing too hard.  Save that for your overload-underload swings.  Just get the feeling of the drill.
• Focus on hitting line drives up the middle and towards the oppo gap
• Remember this is just a drill and stick to the main principles of swing training for larger numbers of swings

You can find a Bratt Bat available through the Products page.

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…

[See post to watch Flash video]

If you’re paying close attention to the video you can see a few things that I’m explaining:

• swing path
• upper body position/angle over the plate
• top/bottom hand drills
• using the radar & bat speed drills

Coach Grow (RIT baseball coach) also mentioned setting up a routine, so we talked about cage drills (tee work, flips, bpp), situational hitting, and how each player’s preparation should be geared toward executing an approach that best fits his ability and the team’s plan for success.   It’s tough to cover so much in a short period, but it was a lot of fun.