Learn how to improve your body rotational power with thoracic spine strength, mobility, and stretching exercises you can do at home for baseball and softball players.
Where Stride Landing Counter-Rotation Is And How To Get It (Flexibility & Strength Exercises)
This video post is going to answer the following reader question:
“What flexibility work do you do with your trainees to enhance counter-rotation of the torso as the foot lands open?”
This questions stems from how I teach hitters to ‘show their numbers’ to the pitcher during the load, as close to stride landing as possible. But for this to work, here’s the kicker, the hitter MUST land open with the bottom half…front foot open between 45 and 60-degrees.
This creates what some coaches call torque, or counter-rotation of the shoulders-to-pelvis. These are basic walking mechanics of the spine…and is why, as your right leg swings forward, so does your left arm. How do we optimize this action with our hitters using flexibility and strengthening?
SCIENCE-BASED TRAINING:
Improve your hitting strategy dramatically by applying human movement principles.
Learn not only how and what to train but also the science behind the methods.
I’m about 8-weeks into an online gymnastics strength training course through GymnasticBodies.com myself. I’ve finished their Fundamentals course, and currently working through their Handstand course.
Photo courtesy: GymnasticBodies.com
CLICK HERE to get $25 OFF full price of $100 for their Fundamentals course. I don’t get paid if you purchase the course. I just LOVE what they’re doing, and believe ALL hitters MUST be engaging in this type of mobility and strength training.
(PLEASE NOTE: I’m not sure how long this deal will be up, so jump on it!)
Why am I putting myself through this training?
#1: as my wife will tell you, this is a gross obsession of mine.
And #2: I wanted to pick up a few things about body-weight training mobility and stability for my hitters.
One of my guiding principles is if you aren’t growing, then you’re dying.
And if you’re a coach that takes mentoring young athletes seriously, then you MUST be subscribing to the same proactive learning principles.
So, in the above video, we go over:
Rotation v. Anti-Rotation (acceleration v. braking systems)
Rotation stretch – hold each side for at least 30-secs
Rotation strengthen:
Windshield Wipers – do 10 repetitions each side
Anti-Rotation strengthen:
Side Plank (anti-side bend) – start off with holding for 30-secs, then increase by 15-secs after mastery
3-Point Plank (anti-rotation of pelvis) – start off holding for 30-secs, then increase by 15-secs after mastery.
ENJOY!
'Add 40-Feet' To Batted Ball Distance
Swing Study reveals how tens of thousands of hitters are adding 40-feet to batted ball distance by using one simple strategy.
Click the button below to access the FREE video that's been downloaded over 30K times!!
https://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/How-To-Increase-Body-Rotational-Power-With-Strength-And-Mobility-Exercises-For-Baseball-Softball.png423800Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2022-12-12 09:15:072022-12-13 06:36:17Body Rotational Power Thoracic Spine Strength, Mobility, & Stretching At Home Exercises For Baseball & Softball
Baseball Bats MYTH Debunked: Discover The Back Foot Variance Drill Secret…
I wanted to share a couple things in this baseball bats myth debunked post…
An updated video of the Back Foot Variance Drill, and
A testimonial from one of my online lesson dads from Tennessee (I’m in California!).
Back Foot Variance Drill UPDATED
Since putting this baseball bats myth debunked drill together a few years ago, I’ve improved on it to reflect what the best are really doing. Here’s an outline of what we talk about in the above video:
Objective: to shift body-weight into ball and un-weight the back foot,
Squishing bug?
Variance Drill – fix hitters who skip too much v. not skipping, and
Options: skip backwards (scissoring).
SCIENCE-BASED TRAINING:
Improve your hitting strategy dramatically by applying human movement principles.
Learn not only how and what to train but also the science behind the methods.
I prescribed the Back Foot Variance Drill to Lawrence (Jr.) back on July 9th, along with the Babe Ruth Drill (forward momentum), and the Snapping Towel Drill (angling the body back over the catcher during turn).
Before I show you a couple BEFORE/AFTER images of his swing, please read what dad emailed me…
“Joey
Wanted to sit down and let you and your readers know how much of an impact you make on players lives. The key is to listen and follow what you say.
First my background. I played at the Juco level, independent ball and amateur ball until i was 39. I pride myself on knowing the game and thought I was a pretty good hitter and taught hitting. I walked away with three amateur world series rings and no regrets on my playing career.
I have taught my son hitting since he was 4. As any parent has, I am proud of my son with probably some dad goggles on. But fact is he is a gifted physical specimen at 15, he is 6’1 and 175-lbs.
For this I’m just going to focus on the facts. He ran into some hitting issues I was having trouble correcting this Spring. But I know hitting, right? And my son still listens to me so I should be able to help him. But it was not happening, we both were getting frustrated. As a freshman he still hit over .300 in varsity. But something was off.
Then while researching, (yes people if you or your coach does not have a growth mindset do yourself a favor and go do something else.) I ran across you this Spring. After studying what you were saying and swallowing my pride I decided to have you give my son video lessons online.
Best thing I ever did for my son. We are only half way through the lessons taking our time to digest and work on what you have suggested, but here are the results. This after 3 months and 2 lessons…
My son exit velocity before you was 86-mph it now sits at 91-mph. He recently did a show case with perfect game. On the hitting metrics they use he is between the 93-98 percentile on all players they have seen. In batting practice he would routinely hit the ball 325-350 feet using wood or bbcore. He is now hitting balls in excess of 400 feet.
While taking batting practice on a high school field yesterday dimensions of 320 down the line and 370 to center he hit 16 out of 45 pitches out including 3 in excess of 400 feet. I sent you video of a game he played last night. To have you evaluate, that home-run was to dead center which was 360 feet. The ball was a line drive and landed in the road over 40 feet behind the fence.
Yes the catapult loading system works. He is hitting baseballs with a wood or bbcore bat at 2.5x his body weight. Using those bats and at his age is just as impressive as 3x body weight.
I mentioned before he is a big kid at 15. But he is still a kid, he has not begun to physically mature yet. He does not shave, no hair on chest, no definition of muscles. I fully expect to see within the year as he starts maturing he will be hitting baseballs over 500-ft. In three months working with you he has gained over 50 feet consistently. It now looks like he is on the little fields again taking bp.
Thank you for what you do and giving my son confidence moving forward, you helped a young man more than words I’m writing will ever be expressed.
Here is what he accomplished since we started using you. Named all world series team for the 15u babe ruth world series where his team finished second. Playing for 15u south east team Rawlings led team in batting average for the summer. That team went 6-1 in the wwba perfect game world series where he was named to the all tourney team.
Named all tourney to perfect game summer showdown as well. Before you he had played in three events with perfect game with no all tourney nominations. He has also been approached as a rising sophomore by a high level D1 head coach that is interested in him.
Thanks Joey for everything, and for not only being a great person to get to know, but being so knowledgeable on the scientific metrics on hitting.
All the best Lawrence Sutton”
Grab 'Finger Pressure' Video
Frustrated with fixing BAT DRAG? Beat it!
Swing Study reveals how majority of hitters are correcting 'racing back elbow' bat drag within 1-2 weeks WITHOUT overhauling swing mechanics OR buying fancy and expensive hitting aids.
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Thank YOU Lawrence for such a glowing baseball bats myth debunked testimonial. And thank you Junior for being such a respectful and coach-able student of the game. By the way, originally Lawrence (dad) left this as an UNSOLICITED message on my phone, and I asked him to put it down on virtual paper, so I could share it with you.
“In High School homers virtually disappear because of BBCor bats”,
“15yo High School hitters can’t hit balls in excess of 400-feet at 175-pounds”,
“Sure, your system may increase power, but it will be at the cost of Batting Average and Strikeouts”, and
“This kid is just a freak [or they may use the word ‘mutant’]”
All this is FAKE NEWS Coaches!!
The last one always makes me laugh…I say take me to VEGAS then, because I’m running into A LOT of mutants!! Buahahaha
And you know why homers “virtually disappear” with BBCor bats in High School?
Because many of these coaches are teaching their hitters to HIT THE BALL ON THE GROUND! Please STOP! It’s insane these coaches don’t want their offense to score more runs and win more games. Ground-balls SUCK for hitters! The reverse is true for pitchers by the way 😉
I have faith, “winners” will make the adjustment and not whine, complain, and come up with every excuse in the book as to why hitting the ball HARD IN THE AIR doesn’t work. Sad.
Boosting Ball Exit Speed and Launch Angles is a formula folks. With hard work, attention to detail, and dedication, more hitters can achieve what we’re sharing. The Catapult Loading System takes care of the former, and Pitch-Plane Domination the latter.
Here’s a BEFORE/AFTER image of Lawrence’s back foot skip (too much) on July 9th…
Lawrence’s feet are too close together in these swings…
Here’s a BEFORE/AFTER image of his August 25th 360-foot dinger…
This angle is a challenge, but use the catcher’s belt as a reference point to the back foot in both images. In addition, look at the gap between his feet.
Now, as you remember, we made three changes to Lawrence’s swing back in early July:
Increase forward momentum,
Create more space between his feet, and
Increase spinal tilt during the turn…
…so it’s hard to tell which one of these was THE ONE thing that made the biggest difference. My argument for the Back Foot Variance is this:
In past swing experiments, Forward Momentum hasn’t been shown to increase Bat Speed at Impact significantly.
Increasing spinal tilt is great, but doesn’t work if the hitter’s feet are close together – like a golfers.
The greater the distance between the feet (although not too much), the more consistent the hitter can get to the bottom half of the ball.
“Glenn Fleisig, an expert in the field of biomechanics, said the majority of hitters he’s studied transferred 90 percent of their weight to their front foot and kept 10 percent on their back leg at contact. Harper, of course, would move 100 percent of his weight forward at contact when his back leg lifts. That, Fleisig said, would enable him to generate a ground rotational force equal to 150 percent of his body weight.”
At Bryce Harper’s current weight of 215-lbs, that would be 322.5-lbs of force transferred at impact! Any weight transfer less than 100% would be an inferior model, so that’s why ‘squishing bugs’ isn’t optimized.
Coaches, be careful who you’re following. Make sure they’re sticking close to the human movement principles that are validated by science. If not, then quickly abandon ship.
Baseball bats myth debunked!
Please keep me updated on your hitters’ progress using the Back Foot Variance Drill below…
Grab 'Finger Pressure' Video
Frustrated with fixing BAT DRAG? Beat it!
Swing Study reveals how majority of hitters are correcting 'racing back elbow' bat drag within 1-2 weeks WITHOUT overhauling swing mechanics OR buying fancy and expensive hitting aids.
Click button below to access FREE video that has been downloaded over 20K times!
Learn whether using hip rotation and the lower half increases hitting power or bat speed. Discover at home swing drills that DO improve power (NOT what you think)…
Clayton Kershaw + Roger Federer = Repeatable Hitting Power
Yes, hitters can build consistent explosive rotational power into their swings by learning from tennis players and baseball pitching athletes. CLICK HERE to check out this “Pitching Instruction Secrets for Hitters” video post I did featuring 2014 World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner.
I received an email from a teacher in Portugal named Alexandra Franco. She plays competitive tennis and is also a tennis instructor. She recently purchased my Truth About Explosive Rotational Power online video course to help her teach and play tennis better. She asked a lot of really good questions around how the spinal engine mechanics I’m teaching my hitters related to serving a tennis ball…
In this video, we’re going to explore Dr. Serge Gracovetsky’s Spinal Engine Mechanics, as they relate to:
Moving the spine for performance,
Comparing Alexandra’s serve to Roger Federer’s, and
Apply key baseball pitching & tennis principles to hitting for repeatable power…
SCIENCE-BASED TRAINING:
Improve your hitting strategy dramatically by applying human movement principles.
Learn not only how and what to train but also the science behind the methods.
“The spine cannot be rotated axially without flexing. The spinal engine theory requires the lumbar spine to be flexed laterally if an axial torque is to be induced.”
According to Dr. Gracovetsky, there are three possible spinal movements:
Extension (lordosis)/Flexion – standing tall, or arching the lower back. And think of Flexion as rounding the back,
Lateral Flexion or Side bending – standing tall, then flexing the upper body sideways at the waist, and
Axial Rotation – this is the shoulders rotating opposite the pelvis. Think of this as torque or how a gear box works.
He then adds that if two of the above are present, then almost always the end result is the third. All explosive rotational athletes, have to abide by these rules to human movement. Let’s see how Alexandra and Roger Federer use a combination of the above three spinal movements for performance…
Comparing Tennis Serve of Alexandra to Roger Federer
Here are some key differences Alexandra can use to up her tennis serve…Roger Federer tends to:
Bend both knees as he throws the ball in the air, which helps with
Maintaining strict alignment with his head and spine as he globally extends (head & spine as one piece) over his heels,
As he’s doing this, he angles his shoulders up towards the apex of the ball causing an extreme side bend of the spine (in the video, look how low his back shoulder gets compared to his front), and
Going into axial rotation to hit the ball, watch how both elbows move counter-clockwise, at the same time, and on the same plane with the shot.
Apply Key Baseball Pitching & Tennis Principles to Hitting for Repeatable Power
A page out of Dr. Serge Gracovetsky’s book The Spinal Engine…
The tennis serve and baseball pitching mechanics are very similar. Dr. Serge Gracovetsky says,
“The large torque required to propel the baseball demands such a large amount of lateral bending that the pelvis must be rocked as well. It is this requirement that precipitates the characteristic lift of the left leg before the throw.”
One of the key differences to hitting is the shoulder angle (lateral bend). Hitters need to move the front shoulder slightly down to hit the ball up. I get this with my hitters by cuing them to raise the back elbow at or above the top hand (see Trout photo above).
Whereas baseball pitching athletes, like 2014 NL Cy Young and MVP Award winner Clayton Kershaw, and Roger Federer need to angle the front shoulder up before throwing or hitting the ball down.
One last thought from Dr. Serge Gracovetsky about proper spinal engine mechanics for explosive rotational athletes:
“The axial rotation of the spine cannot happen unless the spine is flexed by the right amount on the correct side. Coaching an athlete to throw without a proper spinal position is an invitation to severe torsional injuries.”
'Add 40-Feet' To Batted Ball Distance
Swing Study reveals how tens of thousands of hitters are adding 40-feet to batted ball distance by using one simple strategy.
Click the button below to access the FREE video that's been downloaded over 30K times!!
https://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Truth-About-Hitting-Power-Bat-Speed-Does-Hip-Rotation-Lower-Half-Increase-Your-Bat-Speed.png423800Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2022-12-06 10:00:112022-12-06 19:13:00Does Using Hip Rotation & Lower Half Increase Hitting Power Or Bat Speed? At Home Swing Drills NOT What You Think
Softball Hitting Tips Fastpitch: Is Power ALL In The Hips?
This is Part-3 of a 3-part softball hitting tips fastpitch video series coming straight out of the Catapult Loading System online video mini-course…
Sick of struggling with getting your hitters to hit the ball hard with more consistency?This is a simple 7-module online video mini-course that will help hitters weighing less than 100-pounds, hit the ball consistently over 300-feet in 60 days. You’ll be able to dramatically increase power without sacrificing swing quality.
In this softball hitting tips fastpitch video post, we’re going to answer one of my reader’s questions…
“Ways to use your hips to create bat speed?”
Before I get to the #1 Biggest Lie In Hitting, we’ll cover:
Inward hip turn towards catcher to load?
Springy ‘X’ Pattern, and
Landing open with the front foot.
Inward Hip Turn Towards Catcher To Load?
Are Lauren Chamberlain’s hips firing on their own, or was her spine pre-loaded earlier by her shoulders? Photo courtesy: YT user – Paul Arebalo
I picked up on this in High School after reading Ted Williams’s book The Science Of Hitting.
But is this really necessary?
After reading Thomas Myers’s book Anatomy Trains, I don’t believe that it is.
To me, ‘Loading the hips’ by turning the pelvis inward towards the catcher creates more challenges, than benefits.
The biggest challenge is that if the timing isn’t right, the hitter will get stuck landing with a closed front leg at landing (front toe less than a 45-degree angle).
CLICK HERE for a Zepp swing experiment I did on landing closed versus open, and the affect on average bat speed.
Olympic Javelin Throwers, Boxers, and Sprinters do just fine without using an inward turn of the pelvis, away from their target, before throwing, punching, or running.
Springy ‘X’ Pattern
I don’t want to beat a dead horse, so here are two great video blog posts I did, that apply to softball hitting tips fastpitch, talking about the Springy ‘X’ Pattern:
The guys at ZenoLink are awesome! They find the truth behind human movement science. This video discusses how the lower body position or stride setup will dictate how well you create and utilized ground reaction force to initiate the swing process and develop power and bat speed.
They found the optimal degree that the stride foot must be open at landing to be around 65-degrees (watch around the 2:00 mark)…
So WHY are we teaching our young hitters to stride closed?!!
To summarize…
‘Loading and exploding the hips’ by inwardly turning the pelvis towards the catcher can cause the hitter to land closed. If the hitter lands closed, then bat speed WILL go down, according to the results of my Zepp swing experiment, and to the guys at ZenoLink. As a result of bat speed going down, so will Ball Exit Speed.
‘Firing the hips’ is an over-coached cue, if anything, let’s ‘load and explode the shoulders’, not the hips. Us hitting coaches MUST shift our focus above the pelvis, into the shoulders by way of the Springy ‘X’ Pattern.
So, what is the #1 Biggest Lie In Hitting, as it relates to softball hitting tips fastpitch?
That we MUST ‘load and explode the hips’.
You see,
We have to get away from learning inside baseball and softball hitting circles. We must first learn human movement science, then break away, and begin thinking creatively about how to apply these human movement “rules”, that are validated by science, to hitting a ball.
The Catapult Loading System Online Video Mini-Course
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https://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/STOP-Early-Hip-Rotation-Using-Lower-Half-Correctly-Increase-Power-In-Baseball-Or-Softball-Swing.png423800Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2022-12-06 09:45:072022-12-06 19:12:42Does STOPPING Early Hip Rotation And Using Lower Half Correctly Increase Power In Baseball Or Softball Swing? | Hitting Drills To Do At Home
Discover the secret to swing weight on the back foot, weight transfer, distribution, and stance footwork hitting drills for baseball and softball batting.
Baseball Hitting Drills For Youth: DO NOT Be “That Guy”
So, this is what I have to deal with on a weekly basis. I also want to apologize in advance, this is a little bit of a rant. Before going into the baseball hitting drills for youth, here’s some context, it all started when I posted this image of Buster Posey in his ‘Float’ position on Twitter (CLICK HERE for Twitter thread):
The caption I put over the Twitter image stated: “Hitting Misconception: ‘Keep the back knee inside the foot’. Buster Posey is ‘floating’ with his knee over ankle…”
FIRST of all, if spending years in the cages AND analyzing video of the best hitters ever, magically made you know EVERYTHING you need to know about effective hitting, then we wouldn’t have the problem we do today with guys like this, coming up with effective baseball hitting drills for youth hitters.
“That guy” is a soaked sponge, and has reached his ceiling of knowledge when it comes to hitting.
If experience, cage work, and analysis were the only standard of learning the swing, then we’d all have to accept what Alex Rodriguez shared about the secret to his swing during the 2015 World Series FOX Sports broadcast…
How he talked about keeping the barrel above his hands when hitting. And we ALL know how well that little tip would help our hitters 😛
And SECOND, this “talking down to you” TWEETitude, is a sure sign of an inferior coach, nevertheless, a knucklehead for a human being.
Guess which one of the ‘4 horsemen of the apocalypse’ is the worst offender in marriages…
CONTEMPT (aka, the “talking down to you” attitude).
Okay, back on topic…
Look, if we as coaches don’t have a solid foundation in human movement principles, validated by science, then we’re pissing in the wind! Without this foundation, conversations about hitting would model a Merry-Go-Round. Many of you have experienced this ridiculous insanity in popular online hitting forums.
Look at this slow motion video of Buster Posey. Look at the difference of the back knee position (over the ankle, slightly off center) at the 0:03 video mark, versus at the 0:09 video mark during the fall forward…
Here’s the holdup with hitting coaches, even ones I agree with on a majority of things,
They think that the back knee MUST stay inside the foot at ALL times. So, they teach ALL their hitters to do this, often putting the hitter’s back knee in an unnatural and awkward position before Forward Momentum.
If you think this knee position is healthy, then CLICK HERE to learn how bad putting the knee into a ‘knee valgus’ position is to our youth athletes from FunctionalMovement.com.
In addition,
These same instructors may also suggest and teach there hitters that when the back knee gets over the ankle, that it’s a BAD thing.
This couldn’t be further from the truth.
The shifting of the knee back over the ankle should have a purpose. A couple baseball hitting drills for youth concepts:
A timing mechanism that I like to call the ‘Float’, AND
Creating torque, or stability, in the back hip.
Baseball Hitting Drills for Youth #1: Using the ‘Float’
A ‘Float’ is a timing mechanism the hitter uses just before falling forward. It generally can be observed as a slight weight shift back towards the catcher before falling forward.
With the ‘Float’, the severity of the knee shift will depend on the leg kick. The higher the leg kick, the more the shifting of the knee over the ankle may have to happen.
For example, Willie Mays didn’t have much of a weight shift (or Float) back, he just fell forward with a slide step:
However, watch slow motion video of Josh Donaldson, who has a high leg kick, and you’ll see him virtually ‘pause’ on one leg, before his fall forward:
Grab This FREE 'Timing Master Class' Video
Struggling to get your hitters ON-TIME in games? Discover HOW TO build effective laser-focused timing, so your hitters can be ON-TIME more often. These principles are validated by REAL science.
Click the button below to access the FREE video that has been downloaded over 6K times!
Baseball Hitting Drills for Youth #2: Creating Hip Torque & Stability
Okay, so what is creating torque to stabilize the back hip mean? Let Dr. Kelly Starrett, Physical Therapist and owner of San Francisco CrossFit, at MobilityWOD.com explain its importance:
Here’s a baseball hitting drills for youth coaching cue that I use…
Borrowed from Dr. Kelly Starrett, I say to my hitters “screw the back ankle into the foot”. I also advise them to point the back toe slightly inward towards the pitcher at setup, and to keep it there while screwing the ankle in. The keyword is slight, not a lot.
Take a look at this video of Jose Bautista fouling a ball off, and watch how he ‘bows’ his back knee in, but at about the 0:06 second mark (when he begins his fall forward), the back knee starts to shift back towards the catcher…his back hip and thigh bone are searching for stability after being put in an unstable internally rotated (knee valgus) position at setup:
Now, CLICK HERE to watch this video clip of Ted Williams, and keep an eye on the back knee action between the 0:06-0:15 video mark. Sorry, this YouTuber disabled the embed code so I couldn’t embed the video here.
What did arguably one of the best hitters of all time do with his back knee prior to Forward Momentum. Boy, didn’t it shift back over the ankle?!
How about this homerun hit by Asdrubal Cabrera (watch the slow motion chest view at the 0:41 second mark)…
One more video…
Check out Matt Kemp. As you can see, he starts with his back knee inside his foot, then watch for his back knee action prior to Forward Momentum:
Now, is this making baseball hitting drills for youth more complicated, like Mr. @13tys said?
Heck no! It takes about 5 to 10-mins to explain to my 7-year-old hitters, and they begin applying it in their swings. Easy peasy.
So after looking at all this, here’s the point of my baseball hitting drills for youth rant…
Don’t get caught up drinking the cool-aid of other hitting experts, blowhards, or “That Guy” without questioning what they’re saying. Remember, we aren’t just observers. We’re amateur scientists in a way.
I don’t claim to know it all. And am still learning. But I know for a fact, I’m on a better road than “That Guy”.
Look, I don’t mind being challenged, but if you don’t back up what you’re saying with human movement principles, that are validated by science, then you’ll lose. We aren’t debating baseball hitting drills for youth philosophies or theories…we analyze through the lens of validated science. Physics, Engineering, Bodywork, Biology, Chemistry, and Biomechanics.
I DO NOT care what level you played or coached at.
I DO NOT care if you’ve digested a million hours of slow motion video footage of only the BEST hitters.
I also DO NOT care if you’ve logged more hitting lesson hours than it takes to fly to Mars!!
If you don’t understand the human movement “rules”, then you DO NOT understand high level hitting, or better yet, high level human performance.
I know this may upset some of you out there. But I don’t care. The days of being “That Guy” are numbered. If you aren’t moving with us, then you’ll be left behind. And that’s the truth.
Grab This FREE 'Timing Master Class' Video
Struggling to get your hitters ON-TIME in games? Discover HOW TO build effective laser-focused timing, so your hitters can be ON-TIME more often. These principles are validated by REAL science.
Click the button below to access the FREE video that has been downloaded over 6K times!
Discover the best functional wrist and tendon strengthening exercises you can do at home if you have pain* for baseball and softball players. Learn the best wrist exercises for advanced grip strength, bat speed, and pitching velocity.
*If you’re having wrist pain, then see a medical professional first before doing any of these exercises. I am not a medical professional and DO NOT pretend to be one. This is only my advice after doing the research and connecting the dots.
Wrist Exercises VIDEO: Improve Hitters’ Flexibility & Strength In 2-Weeks
This wrist exercises post is for Coach David Michael Enciso (DME). He mentioned having a couple girls that had stiff wrists, and was wondering about stretches.
To those that don’t know, I’ve been doing Gymnastics body-weight strength training through GymnasticBodies.com over the past four months. That link will give you $25 OFF their Fundamentals course.
I don’t get commission on that, I just think what Coach Sommers has put together is excellent training for baseball and softball players! By the way, Coach Sommers was the former US Olympic men’s Gymnastics coach. I’ve also recommended his program to quite a few of my hitting students and parents online and off.
I personally finished the Fundamentals 4-week course, and moved onto the Handstand course, which I’ve been working on for the past 2-3 months months.
However, I’d recommend my players completing the Fundamentals course first, then moving onto the Foundation courses, before moving onto Handstand.
In the video above, I show you all the wrist stretches and strengtheners that I do on a daily and bi-weekly basis for my Handstand training.
The wrist stretches alone got rid of a painful pinch on the backside of my right wrist (my throwing hand), that I’ve had for the last 5 years, at the bottom of the push-up position…the pinch was gone in 2-weeks!
Do the THREE stretches EVERYDAY as prescribed in the video,
AND
Do the FOUR exercises 3-sets X 5-repetitions each wrist, 2-3 times per week.
PLEASE keep me updated on any changes you find in your hitters, from these wrist stretches and exercises.
Make sure we’re swinging smarter by moving better 😉
'Add 40-Feet' To Batted Ball Distance
Swing Study reveals how tens of thousands of hitters are adding 40-feet to batted ball distance by using one simple strategy.
Click the button below to access the FREE video that's been downloaded over 30K times!!
https://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Best-Functional-Wrist-And-Tendon-Strengthening-Exercises-At-Home-For-Pain-In-Baseball-Softball.png423800Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2022-12-06 09:15:482022-12-06 19:12:29Best Functional Wrist And Tendon Strengthening Exercises At Home For Pain In Baseball & Softball Players | Best For Advanced Grip Strength & Pitching Velocity
Discover this correct head position swing drill that will help see the ball better when hitting a baseball or softball while batting.
Baseball Batting Drills For Youth: Make This Head Position Mistake And Dramatically Decrease Batted Ball Distance (Neck Brace Drill)
This is Part-2 of a 3-part baseball batting drills for youth video series coming straight out of the Catapult Loading System online video mini-course…
Sick of struggling with getting your hitters to hit the ball hard with more consistency?This is a simple 7-module online video mini-course that will help hitters weighing less than 100-pounds, hit the ball consistently over 300-feet in 60 days. You’ll be able to dramatically increase power without sacrificing swing quality.
In this baseball batting drills for youth video post, I’ll be walking you through the Neck Brace Drill. We’ll be going over:
The One-Joint Rule
Head movement that is okay
Jace Case Study: BEFORE & AFTER of Neck Brace Drill
The One-Joint Rule
Dr. Kelly Starrett from TheReadyState.com, gives a perfect explanation of this in the following video (watch at about the 4:00 minute mark):
Baseball Batting Drills for Youth: Head Movement that is Okay
Andrew McCutchen breaking One-Joint Rule photo courtesy: MLB.com
What’s better, and thanks to Dr. Kelly Starrett’s explanation above, we can look at what head movement IS NOT okay through impact:
Chin to chest,
Head back (like looking at the sky), and
Ear into rear shoulder (for a righty, right ear to right shoulder).
Major League example of #1 is Andrew McCutchen (image to the right). Major League examples of #2 are Bryce Harper and Derek Jeter.
The only head movement that is okay through impact is a slight head turn. Generally speaking, the head position we want to model is during the follow through.
Jace Case Study: BEFORE & AFTER of Neck Brace Drill
I was able to experiment with the baseball batting drills for youth Neck Brace Drill with Jace, who’s one of my 10-year-old hitters that is 66-pounds.
Tiny compared to his peers.
However, over the last 6 months of hitting with me, and off a traditional batting tee, he now consistently registers 50-54-mph Ball Exit Speed with a non-wood bat.
In other words, Jace has the ability to hit the ball well over 200-feet, depending on the launch angle of the ball.
Now, we’ve been wrestling with his ‘bobblehead’ position for quite some time, and a big THANK YOU for the tip goes out to Coach Todd Bradley, head softball coach at Campbell University, the difference in one 45-minute session using the Neck Brace Drill can be seen in the image to the right.
Just about the same soft tossed pitch height.
Jace is still not perfect yet, but we’re getting there.
I know the baseball batting drills for youth we talked about in this post, will help your hitters and their head positioning up to, at, and passed impact.
Click the following Amazon links to get the same simple foam Youth Neck Brace & Adult Neck Brace that we used with Jace.
The Catapult Loading System Online Video Mini-Course
Sick of struggling with getting your hitters to hit the ball hard with more consistency? CLICK the "Get the Catapult Loading System Now!" button below to dramatically increase power without sacrificing swing quality with this online video mini-course...
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It’s featured advertising on MLBNetwork. Derek Shelton, the Tampa Bay Rays hitting coach, is the spokesperson in the video ad (CLICK HERE to see video).
I’ve also seen the Speed Hitter being used – this past summer – in Little League All-Stars game on-deck circles. Does it work? In this baseball training aids video blog post, we’ll talk about:
Speed Hitter baseball training aids review,
Barrel path science, and
A better alternative…
Speed Hitter Baseball Training Aids Review
Two main objectives of Speed Hitter baseball training aids (softball included) allegedly address a hitter’s contact point and barrel path. A hitter is suppose to swing it and hear the “pop” of the ball where contact is made. The Speed Hitter is priced between $59.99-79.99 + shipping. Baseball training aids that are highly endorsed and visible often raise red flags for me. THREE reasons WHY:
Endorsements – A majority of Pro-level athletes simply CANNOT teach what they do (or did)*,
Expertise – MLB hitting coaches carry A LOT of high “lose-your-job” risk instructing big money ballplayers, and
Marketing – Big money ads, in the proper places, can lend massive credibility to a defective concept that as a result, users tend to overlook.
*This actually has to do with what Neuro Linguistic Programming calls Unconscious Competence. Players simply perform on ‘auto-pilot’. On the other hand, Conscious Competence is being able to instruct someone else to exactly model what you’re doing.
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Image from Ted Williams’s The Science Of Hitting. We want the hitter’s barrel path to match the plane of the pitch, not chop down OR put an extreme uppercut on it.
Speed Hitter baseball training aids are flawed for FOUR-reasons:
Point of contact and when the barrel enters the zone are two different things,
Point of contact – CLICK HERE for a post I did illustrating point of contact based on pitch depth,
When Barrel Enters Zone – this will depend on pitch depth – the farther the pitch is away from the hitter, the earlier the barrel should enter the zone. The closer the pitch, the later the barrel should enter the zone, and
Tampa Bay Rays hitting coach and Speed Hitter spokesperson Derek Shelton doesn’t have an efficient swing himself (wraps the bat in the ad).
Addressing #2 above – The Speed Hitter doesn’t seem to be a hitting aid that lends itself to practicing “point of contact”. It’s more geared for when the barrel enters the zone.
Addressing #4 above – nothing against MLB hitting coaches or any coach on YouTube demonstrating a hitting aid or technique, but there’s always context. There are “snapper” hitting coaches out there teaching every one of their hitters to force barrel back right away, this is great for middle-away and middle-down approaches but terrible middle-in and middle-up – at least WITHOUT significant mechanical compensation to the latter pitch locations (loss of ball exit speed). And then their are ‘down swinger’ coaches who teach the exact opposite of the snappers. Both approaches can work in the right circumstances, but teaching one approach to all hitters is a BIG mistake.
A Better Alternative…The Swing Blaster
Keenan Wolf, one of my H.S. Frosh hitters, after one 45-minute session using a Swing Blaster demo this past summer. Swings are synced.
FIVE benefits of using Swing Blaster baseball training aids (good for softball as well) are:
Early Barrel Acceleration – focuses on getting the barrel on pitch plane ASAP. It’s not about being quick to the ball, it’s about being quick to pitch plane.
Lengthens Hitter’s Pitch Plane – Gives hitter the ability to hit pitches harder – and keep them fair – that they may be late on otherwise.
EIGHT levels of difficulty – there are eight little ‘washers’ that increase or decrease the level of difficulty to hear the audible “click”.
Take soft toss – You can use the Swing Blaster to take short range soft toss. A hitter CANNOT do this with Speed Hitter baseball training aids. DO NOT hit LIVE batting practice with it unless the hitter has good bat control.
MADE IN USA
How does it work?
The Swing Blaster gives a hitter audible feedback in the form of a “click” when max barrel speed has been reached. It’s simple…
If the hitter hears the “click” AND contact at the same time, then they’re doing it WRONG. If they hear a “click” FOLLOWED by contact, then they’re doing it RIGHT. Whereas Speed Hitter baseball training aids have it backwards. They want the hitter to hear the “pop” at contact. To be effective, this isn’t when a hitter should be accelerating the barrel. The barrel should already be accelerated at impact. Impact is when a hitter’s arms are lengthening out or adjusting in to increase turning speed or inertial force.
The price? Get yours today for only$34.99 + shipping on Amazon…I’m not sure if Swing Blaster will be raising the price soon, but for now you’ll be SAVING at least $25 than buying a Speed Hitter. CLICK the following link to…
🚀 Unlock the Secrets: FREE VIDEO on Mastering Powerful Oppo Field Hits & Pulling
Are your hitters struggling to effectively hit to the opposite field or pull the ball with power? Discover our breakthrough techniques now!
Get instant access to our exclusive FREE VIDEO: 'Mastering the Art of Pulling & Going Oppo'. Learn how to maintain explosive ball exit speeds while mastering directional hitting.
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Swing Study reveals how tens of thousands of hitters are adding 40-feet to batted ball distance by using one simple strategy.
Click the button below to access the FREE video that's been downloaded over 30K times!!
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Learn how to improve bat speed and increase hitting power using baseball or softball drills to look like Lou Gehrig on YouTube.
Here Is A Predictable Swing Method That Helped Lou Gehrig Hit For Both Power & Average…
You coaches (and Lou Gehrig or “vintage swing” fans) are in for a treat. I wanted to REVISIT a video I published on YouTube on Jun 11, 2013 for SwingSmarter.com, that broke down the swing of Lou Gehrig,
And compared his swing to the Olympic World Record Holder of the Hammer Throw Yuriy Sedykh, from the Soviet Union, who threw 86.74 m (284 ft 63⁄4 in) at the 1986 European Athletics Championships in Stuttgart, West Germany on 30 August…according to Wikipedia.
Specifically in the video, I compare the following human movement principles between the two explosive athletes:
I’ve gone into these at length in the linked to HPL posts, so you can click on those to get up to speed. But, what I wanted to do in this post was add a couple things I’ve stumbled on since doing the Lou Gehrig video in 2013. I want you to look out for the following things in the ‘no-shirt’ swing section of the above Lou Gehrig video:
Does the Head Follow the Body or the Other Way Around?
What Yuriy is doing during his throw is VERY similar to how competitive freestyle Motocross bikers get their body to do what they want it to do, while flying through mid-air:
When they do a back-flip, they initiate by rocking their head back…
When they do a front flip, they initiate by tucking their chin to their chest…and
When they do a twist, they initiate by looking in the direction they want to go.
What are you Seeing in Lou Gehrig’s Swing that Allows him to Hit for both Power and Average?
'Add 40-Feet' To Batted Ball Distance
Swing Study reveals how tens of thousands of hitters are adding 40-feet to batted ball distance by using one simple strategy.
Click the button below to access the FREE video that's been downloaded over 30K times!!
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says,
.
, I don’t believe that it is.
.
by Thomas Myers.
& Adult 
that we used with Jace.
We want the hitter’s barrel path to match the plane of the pitch, not chop down OR put an extreme uppercut on it.
, by Dr. Victor Fankl and his theory of “Paradoxical Intention”
