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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

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• Professional Baseball
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Facility Location

Something I think that was overlooked there was that the original NSCA article by Dr. David Szymanski also includes a simple protocol for increasing bat speed using overload/underload weighted implement training:

Expected results from implementing this type of program can be found in this post I made about the effect of overweighted forearm training devices on bat speed and batted ball velocity. 

In that study, the control group followed a similar type of resistance training program (minus the medicine ball work) and did only 315 dry swings per week (3 days x 105 swings/day).  This would be the most basic thing you could do to improve bat speed – just try to swing faster! 

Either add swings to the end of your workout or do some compound training (ie add a short set of swings after bench press or squat) and you’re moving in the right direction.  These dry swings alone lead to a 4.6% increase in bat speed for high school baseball players over the 12-week training period. 

Now add some weighted implement bats for overload-underload and some feedback and you’re on your way to serious bat speed improvement!

Strength Exercises

• Squat
• Pull-up
• Bench press
• Lunge
• Step-up
• Dumbbells

Core Training and Medicine Ball Exercises

• Core Training
• Front Plank
• Side Plank
• Face-up Plank
• The X
• Big Circle
• Over the Top
• Bounce and Slam

Stretching

• Upper body
• Hamstrings
• Hip Flexors
• Groin area
• Calves and forearms
• Lower back

There’s a video clip to show the progression, and the text details a number of things:

• increasing bat velocity
• reaction training
• transition from ‘training’ to ‘hitting’
• points of emphasis for mechanics and drills
• strength training

“Immediate things that jumped out to me were immediate disconnection (total arm dominated swing) and swinging straight down. This fell in line with most of the instruction he had received. And I thought it spoke volumes of his athletic ability to have made it as far as AA ball at that point. His bat speed was high 80s/90 at this point.

I showed him the skeleton clips that Paul made to demonstrate swing plane, especially the one demonstrating the 2 planes. I also showed him some simple stuff (ie hitting chapter in physics of baseball) as well as video comparisons of him next to MLB players to demonstrate the need to learn how to use the “big muscles” to deliver bat to ball

We began doing overload/underload training (BOT/BOF with some reaction mixed in). I mainly wanted to get him stronger and show him some results (improved batspeed) early on. Within about 3 weeks he’d gained around 10 mph batspeed.

From there we added in some more hitting drills like side toss and front toss. We would mostly do no stride swings and focus on UNLOADING the bat. We had been using the sp4 mode for reaction training and he could see that the majority of his bat speed was generated from that no stride position based on how well he could unload the bat. So he could focus on unloading and doing it QUICKLY, as forced by the sp4 (ie see light, swing)

Obviously, the 10+ mph was good. He was establishing a MUCH better swing plane. As far as quickness, the big thing I noted to him was in frame 4, where his hands are making their first move to the ball a full frame later in the new swing than the old. He eliminated his bat lag/drag…but you could still see disconnection in there

As spring training got closer, we transferred more from training mode to hitting mode. We’d mix in a couple BOT/BOF sessions mainly for swing-strength maintenance, but most of the SETPRO equipment use at that point was reaction (sp4) to add that visual/reaction stress to the swing. We did vary weighted bats a lot on our hitting drills (soft/front toss) to help maintain that swing strength also. And using the weights for the swing not only helped with strength but gave some added feedback as far as where the bat is in space – the added weight makes it easier to tell if you are dragging or pushing the bat. In simplest terms, the better you swing it, the less you will realize you have a donut on your bat

One big thing that helped as the final piece before spring training was access to an awesome pitching machine. I believe it’s called the Homeplate pitching machine. You can program any pitch at any speed in any loacation and set a sequence of up to 8 pitches. The dial says it goes up to 90mph, but honestly it comes out like upper 90s. In the words of an MLB all-start who hit off of it daily, if you want to know what it is like to face Randy Johnson, hit off of that thing

So that was helpful in replicating a pitcher and live situation as close as possible, while still being able to concentrate on the swing as necessary

The simple routine going into spring training was to use some heavy bats (ie Bratt Bat 100oz) to get loose, take some front toss with the varying weights and then hit. We would use the warm-up as mechanical “check points” so that once he was feeling “right” it was time to just hit without thinking about the swing

Fast-forward, he has a good spring training, sticking with his swing changes even though some changes had been suggessted, and got off to a very good start in the first month of the season, hitting nearly .350 before a season ending injury that required surgery

Double fast-forward to this fall, and our game plan was to keep that same level of bat speed as last year, but get quicker – as quick as possible. First step from there was get stronger in the weight room (based on a protocol from Barry Ross). Big part of this was heavy deadlifts. He’s gone from probably low-mid 200 #s to now well over 400# deadlift. Idea behind it is to recruit as many fast-twitch muscle fibers as possible in the weight room and use the swing training to transfer it to the swing

As far as the swing, we wanted to turn more as a unit – trying to keep the hands connected longer…

His bat speed is where it was last year, but he is noticeably quicker now. By staying connected better early in the swing, I think he is able to transfer more energy. We are still working on shifting into foot plant and timing of the scap. load. I still think he has room to improve in the fishhook department, mainly by just trying to turn longer and not let the bat release. The goal from the start this fall was to produce the same bat speed in less time, and he’s doing so.”

This is a recent article on resistance training for bat speed written by Dr. David Szymanski, who is one of my professors here at Louisiana Tech.

For you high school coaches out there, this may be a good guide especially for players who are not experienced with weight training.  This protocol was used in a few previous studies by Dr. Szymanski and I experienced it myself this past fall in a study we did (which is not published yet, but referenced in this article).  Also, if you have limited facilities, this is a basic way to help young players get stronger.

This is an overview, but you’re going to want to read the whole article:

The article explains general, special and specific conditioning and also explains possible differences in training high school and college players.

I’ve got to throw this in here too, because it was pretty cool to see:

These are references to the studies we have done so far, which have been a great experience.  Maybe someday I’ll have my own publication?  We’ll see…

First of all, think of the term strength training.  Pavel Tsatsouline suggests in his book Power to the People that the amount of tension in the muscle reflects muscle strength.  You don’t necessarily need heavy weight to create tension, but if your training does not create a high amount of tension, chances are you are not gaining a high amount of strength.  I am coming to the conclusion that strength training is really teaching your muscles how to create tension (which can be viewed as a skill, but that’s another topic…)

Here is a question – is there any exercise you can do in the weight room that takes you through the full range of motion in the swing at near or above game speed?

Specificity is another issue, but I’m going to make a quick argument here that your lifting in the weight room is not going to be very specific at all – at least if you define specific by the terms mention in my above question.

You don’t bench, squat or curl on a baseball field.  So what is the point of lifting?  Hopefully the following information will give some insight. 

If you have been involved in some type of weight lifting program, you may have heard of different types of muscle fibers – Type I (slow) or Type II (fast).  I would like to suggest here that a good part of your lifting should involve recruiting Type II (especially IIB) fibers.

This past winter it was described to me that some high level players (MLB) were working on their “fast-twitch” muscles by doing light weights and moving them as fast as possible.  Their concern was that lifting heavy was too “slow”

Barry Ross makes a good analogy addressing this issue in his article Ballistics or Baloney:Heavy weights in the 90%-100% 1RM range can only be moved slowly. However, what you see on the outside does not match what is happening on the inside. What occurs in the neuromuscular system is the equivalent of the field commander’s tent during a heated battle. Calls have gone to the central command to recruit additional motor units; only the largest of which will do since it isn’t clear how long or how often this heavy weight will be lifted. The myofibrils in all of the fiber types are fully involved and working, their motor units firing them at full speed to keep the heavy weight moving. The weight is moving slowly but the motor units are firing as fast as they can, the larger motor units firing faster than smaller ones, to provide the necessary strength. All the new recruits will be trained and ready to work when it’s time for competition if command central believes that there will be a continuing demand for the larger motor units and more myofibrils. When the amount of weight is reduced, there is sufficient strength to overcome inertia and to move the weight significantly faster.

And the following is another excerpt from The Biophysical Foundations of Human Movement, which defines the difference between muscle fiber types and how to recruit type IIB fibers, which are the largest and most powerful:

Conclusion
Lift.  Lift heavy.  Rest.  Repeat.

Use your time in the weight room to teach your muscles how to create tension and to recruit as many of your most powerful muscles fibers as possible.

As far as specicifity goes and carrying this new-found strength onto the field, well that involves a different kind of training (hint: it involves a bat!)