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Drills To Stop Batter From Stepping Out Of Box And Into Bucket For Baseball & Softball Players | What Is It & Should Hitter Step When Batting?

Dustin Pedroia: #1 Way To STOP Stepping Out…

Dustin Pedroia: How-To Fix Stepping In The Bucket

Dustin Pedroia showing numbers but stepping in the bucket. Photo courtesy: ESPN.Go.com

Discover how to drills to stop a batter from stepping out of the box and into the bucket for baseball and softball players. What is stepping out of the box mean and should a hitter step when batting?

I took Mixed Martial Arts classes before it was considered MMA back in Junior High and High School. We practiced A LOT of grappling and lock & holds. One thing my Sensei (teacher) used to say when grabbing someone on the wrist, the common opponent response is to pull back, or fight against the resistance…

This week’s Dustin Pedroia video post will look at this fighting against the resistance concept. I’ll show you how fix stepping in the bucket using a little known human movement science technique called Reactive Neuromuscular Training (or RNT).

In this video blog post, we’re going to discuss:

Problems with stepping in the bucket,
Stepping out as a legit hitting strategy? And,
The #1 fix to stepping out.

Dr. Mark Cheng, kettlebell and corrective movement training expert, calls RNT “reverse psychology for the body”. He adds that “RNT operates on the premise that the body will do what it needs to maintain balance – homeostasis”. Essentially, we’re going to be training what Dr. Mark Cheng refers to as “feeding the mistake”…

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.

Right Course For You? Take Quiz Now

Problems with Stepping in the Bucket

Stepping in the bucket is most prevalent at the Little League and youth softball levels. It’s when a hitter strides or steps away from home plate, which creates a big hole in their swing on the outside part of the plate. Contrarily, it can also be used as a legitimate strategy (crowding the plate) at the higher levels – we’ll get into that in a bit. At the youth levels, it can be caused by a few things:

Fear of the incoming ball,
Laying barrel flat, or parallel to the ground, at stride landing…
Problems getting around on an inside pitch, and probably the root cause…
Not setting up the Fight Position (landing) correctly, and
Takes away outer plate coverage.

What about using…

Stepping Out as a Legit Hitting Strategy?

Dustin Pedroia using Step in the Bucket strategy

Look at Dustin Pedroia’s back foot compared to his front. Use batter’s box inside chalk line as a point of reference. Photo courtesy: BattersBox.ca

Let me be clear, I’m not condoning the use of stepping in the bucket. In all youth hitters, it needs to be fixed. BUT, I’m going to show you an example of a player who uses it to his advantage as he crowds the plate…

2nd-baseman Dustin Pedroia from the Boston Red Sox. According to Baseball-Reference.com he’s 5 foot, 8 inches tall. 165-pounds, soaking wet. In a 162-game average season, Dustin Pedroia hits 15 homers and 45 doubles per season. His Batting Average on Balls In Play (BABIP – .307) and On-Base Plus Slugging% (OPS – .810) are above average.

Imagine what Dustin Pedroia could do if he was 6-foot, 200-pounds!

His home ballpark is Fenway, where it’s 315 feet down the left-field line. Very advantageous to a right handed hitter. How does stepping in the bucket work for him?

He’s almost crowding the plate (look at back foot in photo to right),
Because of #1, stepping out helps clear his pelvis before landing,
Shows his numbers a long time, and
As a result of #3, he can hit the ball to the opposite field like Derek Jeter.

So, let’s find out…

The #1 Fix for Stepping Out

As mentioned earlier, we’re going to infuse the Stepping in the Bucket Drill with RNT. Or what Dr. Mark Chang refers to as “feeding the mistake“. Here’s how you set up the Dustin Pedroia Stepping in the Bucket Drill:

You’ll need a workout band of light resistance from your local Sporting Goods store,
You’ll make a slip knot for the ankle,
The other end a partner can hold or can be secured using a wall anchor in the garage like in the video,
You want the band pulling the foot in the direction of stepping out (“feeding the mistake”),
At landing we want alignment with the heels.

8 Comments/by Joey Myers

When To Use Front Foot Hitting Technique, Where Does Stride Foot Land, Batting Step Length, & Should You No Stride For Baseball And Softball Swing?

Get On-Time, Sticky Coaching

Answering Baseball Stride Drills Reader Question: “How Important Is Forward Momentum I Know We Must Go Forward But Does It Matter If Stride Is Big Or Small?”

Learn the answers to the following questions: when to use front foot hitting technique, where does the stride foot land, batting step length, and should you use no stride for baseball and softball swing?

“…Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Goldilocks. She went for a walk in the forest. Pretty soon, she came upon a house. She knocked and, when no one answered, she walked right in. At the table in the kitchen, there were three bowls of porridge. Goldilocks was hungry. She tasted the porridge from the first bowl.

“This porridge is too hot!’ she exclaimed. So, she tasted the porridge from the second bowl. ‘This porridge is too cold,’ she said. So, she tasted the last bowl of porridge. ‘Ahhh, this porridge is just right,’ she said happily and she ate it all up…”

More in a bit on how Goldilocks and the Three Bears relates to baseball stride drills, but first…

In the following post, we’re addressing the following concerns regarding baseball stride drills (also works for softball):

Stride direction and amount,
Stride type (experimenting with the ‘Float’),
Head movement from stride, and
Controlling center mass in stride.

Before getting into the how to baseball stride drills guide, I want to preface that the PURPOSE of a stride shouldn’t be power. CLICK HERE for a Zepp swing experiment that may confirm this. If it’s power you seek, then I’d advise looking at the “Build More Power” category. What purpose does a stride serve? A stride is for timing and initiating directional force. CLICK HERE for this post on that.

Let’s get started…

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.

Right Course For You? Take Quiz Now

Baseball Stride Drills Direction & Amount

Watch this video from Chris Welch at ZenoLink. Using data and science, he’s found reasonable markers in guiding baseball stride drills…

Here are highlights from baseball stride drills video above:

Stride length should be about 3.75-times hip width (hip-center-to-hip-center)*,
At landing, stride direction is to be closed about 10-degrees (straight forward toward pitcher is zero-degrees), and
Stride landing foot position to be about 65-degrees open (pointing perpendicular to home plate is zero-degrees, and straight at pitcher is 90-degrees).

(*Denotes 3.75-times hip-center-to-hip-center is length of stride measured from back foot to stride landing. NOT the measurement of the stride itself.)

Chris says in the video that if a hitter is under or over striding, then they’re hampering body’s ability to create torque. Stride landing MUST align ball of the foot with ball of the foot.

CLICK HERE for a post I did on how to fix “stepping in the bucket” using Reactive Neuromuscular Training (RNT). With the image to the right, it’s another one of my baseball stride drills using colored bands to fix stepping in bucket or crashing the plate. If the hitter is crashing too much with their stride, I get them to feel stepping out, and the reverse is true if they’re stepping out. I use variance to get them in the middle (blue band).

…Goldilocks Golden Rule.

Stride Type (‘Experimenting with the Float’)

For most intensive purposes, there are 3 stride types:

Leg kick – medium (Mike Trout) or large (Josh Donaldson),
Slide step – most Big League hitters use this. Aaron Judge, Robinson Cano, Joey Votto, and Andrew McCutchen just to name a few.
Toe-tap – I recommend this for my younger hitters. Troy Tulowitzki, Giancarlo Stanton, and Victor Martinez employ this.

Of course, there are variations to these, but these are the three broad categories of stride types. I call the stride the ‘float’ and ‘fall’. The ‘float’ is a momentary shifting of weight back towards the catcher before falling forward. Matt Nokes calls this the ‘Ride’ and ‘Stride’. Some hitting coaches don’t like this idea, but the reality is this is human movement. The Chinese have been practicing exactly this move in Tai Chi for thousands of years…in stepping to my right, I have to make a brief weight shift to the left first. CLICK HERE for a post analyzing this dynamic move.

I included a lot of video examples (CLICK HERE) of MLB hitters using these different stride types to help guide your baseball stride drills. In that post I concluded with this:

“When it comes to [baseball stride drills], Forward Momentum is the objective. How we get our hitters there doesn’t really matter. Just give them examples of how to accomplish more FoMo, and allow them to tinker and test until they find something they’re comfortable with doing.”

…Goldilocks Golden Rule.

Head Movement from Stride

There’s been few online Hitting Guru #57’s saying we want minimal to zero head movement when hitting. They claim, the more the head moves, the less your eyes see the ball. And they point to Barry Bonds as their champion. On paper, this conclusion looks great, and with Bonds as their poster child seems argument seems pretty reasonable.

However, what science says and what the top 50 hitters in the Major Leagues are doing reveals something completely different. The opposite actually. Listen, I agree minimal to zero head movement when hitter’s stride foot lands. And if baseball stride drills are done correctly, this should be a natural result. But I don’t agree with minimal to zero head movement GETTING TO stride landing – BEFORE the turn starts.

In this post titled, “Softball Hitting Tips For Kids: Why Late Head Movement Fails & Early Head Movement Succeeds“, we discuss:

The Myth of ‘keeping the head still’,
Proprioception & dynamic movement,
First baseman stretching to receive a throw, and
Watching TV upside down.

The biggest bomb NUKING minimal to zero head movement argument, is this 2013 article by Dan Farnsworth at FanGraphs.com titled, “Breaking Down the Swing: Best Hitters of 2012“. Farnsworth compiled a list of the top 50 hitters from the 2012 season according to Fangraph’s batting component of WAR (this is a big deal metric).

He looked at side views of each of these hitters from highlights of the 2012 season, in which each player hit a home-run. Farnsworth says the main complaint coaches have with early head movement, is that moving the head forward “speeds up the ball”. This may be true, however during the stride the hitter hasn’t made a definitive decision to swing yet. In the Head Movement piece of the article, Farnsworth concludes:

“Next to no relationship here. I think this one can be considered dead, simply based on the fact that all of them moved forward to some degree.”

Did you catch that?! Farnsworth revealed in his research of top-50 hitters in 2012, that ALL moved their head forward to some degree. You see, head movement is inevitable in ALL dynamic movement. Early is okay, late is not. Don’t sit there and point to hitting outliers like Barry Bonds, and tell me the top-50 hitters of 2012 all had it wrong. It was true then as it is now.

Besides, did you know fresh out of the box, humans come with “video stabilizer” eye software? Ask an ophthalmologist. In addition, your knees, ankles (Achilles tendon), and hip joints act as shock absorbers too. If we start our hitters in an athletic position, and most importantly, they land in one, then the hitter will be fully optimized for minimizing the ball “speeding up”.

If you’re still skeptical, then check out this post titled, “Perfect Swing Hacking With Forward Momentum“. We discuss:

Balance without thinking,
Debunking a common objection & a study, AND
Perfect swing examples.

Not too much, not too little, just right…Goldilocks Golden Rule.

And last but not least…

Controlling Center of Mass in the Stride

Center of Mass (COM) in the human body is located at the belly button. This was established in the womb. The umbilical cord is the center of an unborn child’s universe. I say this to demonstrate the importance of COM in controlling human movement.

Now, we don’t want baseball stride drills to promote too large or too small of a stride. Remember? Goldilocks Golden Rule. Chris Welch from Zenolink said the stride should be about 3.75 times hip-center-to-hip-center, and aligned are back ball of the foot to front ball of the foot at stride landing. How do we teach this though? In this post I received the following question from one of my readers…

“One specific issue I see in a lot of my players is timing and getting over the front knee too far at contact. What are some good tee drills for staying back and any idea how I can get them to feel it when done correctly.”

In the post titled, “Discover Science Of Successful Learning Secret To Fix Lunging (or any swing flaw for that matter!)“, as it relates to controlling the COM of our hitters, we discuss:

Reader question about lunging,
“Bean Bag” study from Make It Stick book,
WHY we separate PROCESS from PERFORMANCE with hitters learning something new,
How it takes time to change ineffective movement momentum into effective, and…
Training 4-5 days per week, for AT LEAST 5-mins each day.

And remember the …Goldilocks Golden Rule.

6 Comments/by Joey Myers

Youth Baseball Coaching 101 Philosophy, 18 Mistakes To Avoid, & How To Coach Your Son | 8u, 10u, 12u, Middle & High School Cheat Sheet 2022

Sticky Coaching

Learn a solid youth baseball coaching 101 philosophy, 18 mistakes to avoid, and how to coach your son or daughter. These principles work for 8u, 10u, 12u, middle and high school players. They also work for softball players…

Coaching Kids Reader Question: “How do you get your own kid to listen/trust your advice as a coach and not as a parent?”

My son Noah and daughter Gracen, who were 4yo and 1yo respectively, at the time of this photo.

Be comforted to know that most parents coaching kids I’ve dealt with have a “coaching kids” challenge – especially when it’s their own! And I’m preparing to have the same challenge with mine…already have coaches lined up who will be working with them when the time comes 😉

Let me start off by saying, this post IS NOT telling you how to raise your kids. That’s not my place. I’m offering advice on what works for me. In addition, I’m not a child psychologist, or any other type of professional dealing in kid behavior. Just like with everything on this blog, try it out for yourself, if it doesn’t work, then toss it. Always be testing.

FYI, I may use the words “coach” or “coaching”, where you could also use the word “discipline” or “parent” or “parenting”.

That being said…

Over the years, I’ve received great advice from the parents of my hitters, before I had kids, and now. When it comes to coaching kids, below is me throwing my brain up on your tech device screen!

In this post I’ll share:

The 30,000-foot view tips to keep “seasons of life” into perspective,
18 ways to get your own kid to listen/trust your advice as a coach and not as a parent, and
Some high priority books and resources to read on the subject…

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.

Right Course For You? Take Quiz Now

30,000-foot View Tips to Keep “Seasons of Life” into Perspective

When it comes to coaching kids, one thing to keep in mind from a 30,000-foot view…

I did a 6-week Men’s Fraternity class at my church a few years back. The purpose of the class was to train and equip “Godly fathers”. One thing that stuck out for me at the time, was that your perspective as a dad (or mom) MUST change with the season of life. What does that look like?

Up to 12-years-old, parents are seen as coaches. Most kids in this age range are less resistant to a parent barking orders.
During the psychological warfare teenage years, 13-years-old to college, parents are to be seen as a “listening” counselor. God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason – to listen twice as much as we talk 😛 And,
The years following college, young adults getting into their professional lives, parents move into the “colleague” season of life. New families, babies, etc.

Another great piece of coaching kids advice for those parents who wear both the “coach” and “parent” hat, was to have the ability to be coach on the field, but mom/dad in the car and away from the field.

One more fantastic piece of advice I received from a coach at Fresno State my Freshman year, at a time when I was so frustrated the coaches were tweaking every mechanical movement I did on the field (at least that’s how it felt to me anyway):

“You don’t need to worry when we’re coaching you. You need to worry when we aren’t. It means we’ve given up on you.“

Powerful. That message changed my perspective on coaching the rest of my career at Fresno State! Look, coaching kids is love. Make your kids aware of that.

18 Ways to get your own kid to Listen/Trust your Advice as a Coach and not as a Parent

I want to preface this section with the fact, I haven’t mastered any of the following points. That’s right, still working on them. And I welcome the fear that this process will be a journey, and not a destination. I’m far from being perfect. I heard this expert’s advice on one of my wife’s favorite dating shows Love at First Sight:

“If you want to find a perfect person, then you have to be perfect yourself.” One of the frustrated men who got married on the show responded with, “But I’m not perfect”, and the expert added, “Then it looks like you get the message.” (liiight bulb)

We don’t have to be perfect as parents, we just have to be willing to learn, make mistakes, adapt, and try again. The following list of 18 tips for coaching kids will help (especially when the kids are your own!)…

Don’t overdo discipline. Making mountains out of mole hills – pick your battles. Being consistent with rules and consequences is HUGE. Remember Goldilocks Golden Rule…too many rules, and they’ll rebel later. Little to no rules, and they’ll walk all over you and everyone else. Find the sweet spot. Without consistent rules and consequences, they won’t build the necessary mental muscles to develop self-discipline when they’re adults.
Avoid overuse and burnout – playing multiple sports or being involved in multiple movement activities is key. Variety is fun to kids, and the spice of their life. The same thing over and over can become boring, which leads to burnout. Bodies engaged in a variety of movements is a healthy body. Say no to Sport Specialization early on.
Make sure they’re “listening” (the VAK Model) – did you know that in less than 5-minutes, you can get a ballpark of a player’s learning style by asking them a few questions, and watching for where their eyes go? Up to left or right – visual learner. Side to side – auditory learner. Down to left or right, and straight ahead – kinesthetic learner (feel). Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) calls this the VAK Model. This comes in handy when coaching a child, they don’t look at you, and you tell them, “Look at me when I’m talking to you”…they may primarily be an auditory learner, NOT visual.
Be careful tone of voice – my 5yo son is very sensitive to tone of voice (auditory learner), so I have to be careful when coaching him. I must have good reason to raise my voice during times of correction with him. Also, tempo of words are important when raising the voice or not. You want to strive for keeping the voice under control even when raising it.
Don’t question by entrapment – asking leading questions in order to trap them isn’t very effective. It’s condescending actually. I’m a work in progress on this one. Putting kids through an interrogation is a terrible idea, especially if you don’t want resentment later. The key is coming off with genuine curiosity as to why they made the mistake they did. Remember, they’re not perfect, neither are you. Easy on paper, hard to apply.
Caution them once, then let them make the mistake (providing mistake doesn’t do extreme physical or mental harm) – ever tell your kid to not do something over and over and over and over? Lessons are more effective when we get ‘hands on’ experience learning them ourselves.
Praise them whenever they do something you want them to do – “You catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar”. Behavioral conditioning is much more effective when rewarding for positive things, rather than punishing for the negative (i.e. taking things away). See Karen Pryor’s book Don’t Shoot The Dog in the resources below. I take my 5yo to 7-Eleven to get his favorite candy RIGHT after school. We also award stickers for doing certain things like listening the first time, cleaning up messes at home, and being patient with his little sister when she’s hitting him! 10 stickers earn him a toy in the $10-20 range.
Ask their advice, put yourself in a learning mode – genuine curiosity. Be honest, you LOVE when others ask for your advice, and seem genuinely interested in what you have to say. Our kids love giving THEIR advice. Be interested in their thought process. I find it fascinating how clever they are at their age. Sometimes I underestimate them, and they surprise me.
Patience – using guided meditation apps like Headspace or Calm can be a real help with this. The book resources below will help too. Extreme patience in infectious. Kids will model their parents. If you’re an angry person, then chances are high your kids will be too.
Understand what their big WHY is – what inspires them? What motivates them? Are they looking for attention (need significance), love (craving connection), routine (are they overwhelmed), or variety (are they bored)? Knowing what’s driving their bad or good behavior can be a big help in prevention or promotion in the future.
Show them the book, video, etc. you’re getting your info from – show them the hitting information you’re teaching them isn’t just “your” opinion. Show them the science, experimentation, case studies, etc. Give them proof. Kids are pretty intuitive. They seem to know when something has legs or when it doesn’t. Give them proof. Check out this post on How to Get Hitters to Buy Into the System.
Give them options to “experiment” with – instead of saying, “Do it this way, not that way”. Give them options. You like options, don’t you? Remember, these human movement principles are like bumpers in the gutter lanes of a bowling alley. I don’t care what path the ball rolls down the lane, just as long as it stays between the bumpers. A hitter’s stride type (aka “Float”) doesn’t matter, just as long as there is one. Let them test, and choose which they feel more comfortable with. Check out this post on Baseball Stride Drills: A How To Guide
Show them high level movement examples – humans learn best by modeling. Before there were “hitting coaches” – yes, there was such a time – hitters figured it out by watching other high level hitters. And yes, it’s okay when coaching kids, to teach them high level movements. Movement is movement. Just like you wouldn’t teach an 8yo that 2 + 2 = 5 because they’re too young to learn the truth…you wouldn’t do the same with movement.
Fun – coaching kids MUST be fun. I love positively teasing the kids. I like making things up to see if they’re listening, “Where’s the keys to the batter’s box?”, “Do you know where the box of curve balls is?” “After running past third base, you run to FOURTH base…” etc. Keep it light, and the drills fun. Check out this post on: “TBall Drills: How To Coach Tee Ball Without Going Insane“ that may be of interest to those frustrated with coaching younger athletes.
Keep expectations reasonable – “reasonable” doesn’t mean below their current ability level. The expectations will depend on the age group. Operating at or slightly above skill level will help players grow. Learn to manage player frustration, know when to regress or progress a drill.
Break things into small bites – make small circles at first. The accumulation of many small circles build into a BIG circle snowball. Focus on one movement principle at a time for a week or month, depending on the age and ability level. Patience is your friend regardless of what decision the coach whose focus is on winning may be.
Reward effort not talent – reward effort. Reward process not performance. “Good job!”, “You’re so smart”, and “You’re so talented” are not helpful pieces of feedback. Coaching kids in character is best. Remember, kids MUST learn life lessons through sports, not the other way around.
Pat & Pop Method or the compliment sandwich – give the hitter 1-2 things you really like about their swing (the “Pat” on the back), before giving them the constructive criticism (the “Pop” in the mouth). Or compliment-criticize-compliment sandwich. You don’t like to be constantly criticized, and neither do they. Teenagers often call this nagging. Find the good before finding what needs to be corrected.

Coaching Kids Books & Resources

CLICK HERE for a post by the Positive Coaching Alliance titled, “7 Must-Read Books Of All Genres For Parents”. Here are the books mentioned in that post, and a few others helping solve the question we started off with in this post:

The Science Of Sticky Coaching, by yours truly (video below)
Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers, by Robert Sapolsky
Nichomachean Ethics, by Aristotle
Play: How It Shapes The Brain, Opens The Imagination, by Stuart Brown
Ethics Of A New Millennium, by The Dalai Lama
Mindfulness For Beginners, by Jon Kabat-Zinn
Coach: Lessons On The Game Of Life, by Michael Lewis
The Power Paradox, by Dacher Keltner
The Art of Power, by Thich Nhat Hanh
Don’t Shoot the Dog, by Karen Pryor
Coach Wooden’s Pyramid of Success, by John Wooden

Some I’ve read, and others are currently on my reading list. This is a perfect segue to shamelessly plug my “sticky coaching” book on Amazon… 😛

2 Comments/by Joey Myers

Good Aggressive Plate Discipline Hitting Approach For Baseball & Softball Players 2022 | High School Mindset By Count & How To Pull

Case Studies, Get On-Time

Matt Holliday Part-3: How to Optimize Vision, Tracking, and Timing

Good hitting approach teaching plate discipline for baseball and softball players in 2022. Aggressive High School hitting mindset by zero or one strike count, and how to pull the ball OR go to the opposite field.

…In this Matt Holliday video we’re mourning the loss of plate discipline in today’s youth game. World renowned motivational speaker Tony Robbins once said,

“If you want to be successful, find someone who has achieved the results you want and copy what they do and you’ll achieve the same results.”

In his 11-year career, 6-time All-Star Matt Holliday has amassed an On-Base Percentage of .387 (according to Baseball-Reference.com). This is impressive, considering the league average is .340.

Plate discipline is critical, and in this video, we’ll discover How-To:

Fix 5 common mistakes at practice,
Develop a solid plate discipline strategy, and
Pitch recognition is the Holy grail to plate discipline.

How-To Fix 5 Common Mistakes at Practice

We have to make batting practice as “game-like” as we can. The FIVE worst mistakes are:

Rapid-fire batting practice – take your time tossing the next pitch coaches. You don’t have to wait 15-secs to throw the next ball but at least 5-7 seconds would be better than a pitch every 2-3 seconds is typically what I see.
Adults standing up and throwing to young kids from 25-35 feet – this makes for an unrealistic plane of the pitch. I typically throw seated on a bucket from about 20-30 feet. This gives a move realistic version of the pitch plane.
Marathon hitting rounds – hitting rounds of 10, 20, and 50 before taking a break. In games, hitters are lucky to get three swings in one at-bat. Instead of training like a marathoner, we must train like a sprinter or power lifter. Less reps with higher intensity.
NO home plate for pitchers to throw over – this seems like an obvious one. No frame of reference (the plate) leads to having ZERO clue of where the pitch is in relation to the strike-zone. Plus hitters adapt anyway, so we see hitters shuffling their feet when pitch is thrown inside or away. And…
NO plate discipline strategy – the commonly taught strategy out there is to sit right smack in the middle of timing. Look away, adjust in. Look in, adjust away. Look middle-middle and adjust in or away. Look to hit it straight up the middle. Don’t let a juicy pitch go to waste. The more a hitter levels up, the less likely these strategies work. If this is news to you, then you MUST get educated in Effective Velocity from my good friend Perry Husband.

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.

Right Course For You? Take Quiz Now

How-To Develop a Plate Discipline Strategy

Guys like Matt Holliday ABSOLUTELY have a strategy at the plate. Coach Mike Batesole at Fresno State showed me this in 2003. His 2008 Bulldogs won the College World Series. For younger hitters, use this strategy in practice ONLY. It doesn’t work as well in games until about Middle or High School, when pitchers get better with their accuracy and their own hitter game plans. Check it out:

Hitters hunt either middle in or middle down. Middle up or middle down. Barrel path plays a bid role in this, check out this article for more on that.
Whatever location hitters is hunting, we can add a layer of difficulty by having them hunt either a fastball or curve-ball. Randomly. Not called out so hitter knows beforehand what’s coming. So they hunt a specific pitch in a specific location, and ignore (or take) anything else.
A great way for beginners, if we were doing a middle in versus middle away fastball ONLY round, is for coach to throw balls inner half and outer have randomly, while hitter calls out “inside” or “outside” without swinging – only taking. We can do the same for middle up versus middle down AND fastball versus curve-ball. Do a ton of reps until they get good at it. This is SUPER good for 10u hitters on down. For both baseball and softball – curve-balls aside.
This is more for zero or one strike scenarios. We call them “get-it, get-it!” rounds…if you get your pitch, then you GET IT!

Pitch Recognition is the Holy Grail to Plate Discipline

I was never taught pitch recognition. I was taught to pick up spin. And if you’re ONLY doing that, then you’re too late. Here are some of our posts on pitch recognition:

Any questions about this Part-3 Matt Holliday: The Death Of Plate Discipline article? Please post below. In case you missed Part-1 and 2 to the Vision, Tracking, and Timing video series, then CLICK HERE for Part-1, and CLICK HERE for Part-2.

7 Comments/by Joey Myers

Youth Hitting Fundamentals Why Squishing Bug Bad For Baseball & Softball In 2022? | Basic How To Hit In Certain Direction Beginner Swing Tips Experiment For 10 Years Olds & Younger

Build More Power, Case Studies, Get On-Time, Swing Experiments

Baseball Swing Mechanics Experiment: Squash The Bug Ineffective?

This post discusses youth hitting fundamentals of why squishing the bug is bad for baseball and softball players in 2022? Learn basic how to hit the ball in a certain direction beginner swing tips experiment. This information is great for 10-year old’s and younger.

Question: Do “Squish the Bug” Baseball Swing Mechanics Depress Bat Speed?

Baseball Swing Mechanics Experiment: TylerD

Here are the two test swings from my intern for the summer, redshirt college Frosh, Tyler Doerner…

Using the Zepp (Labs) Baseball app, I wanted to use the Scientific Method to analyze if the baseball swing mechanics “squishing/squashing the bug”, during the turn, increases or decreases bat speed. The term “squishing the bug” means rotating the back foot, on the ground, during the turn. Like you’re squishing a bug.

This can be a very sore subject, and hotly debated with a passion, in the Church of Baseball. Surprisingly, it’s still widely taught throughout the lower levels. Although a few images off the internet of effective swingers like Cano, Bautista, McCutchen, etc. will reveal “squishing the bug” isn’t what the best are doing.

So we wanted to test it…

My intern for the summer, redshirt college freshman Tyler Doerner did this experiment. This post is for you Joe (you know who you are ;-)…

Background Research

One of the main objectives of whether to skip the foot, or keep it on the ground, has to do with transferring linear momentum, better known as un-weighting or forward momentum. Check out these four HPL posts for a baseball swing mechanics background on this:

Now, for you academics, CLICK HERE to watch a short 2-minute PBS video on Circus Physics and the Conservation of Linear Momentum.

So, after reading/watching the above videos and posts, we should be at a common understanding of Forward Momentum.

The next objective of “squishing the bug” versus “skipping the back foot” during the turn, boils down to allowing the body to transfer energy effectively. This has to do with springy fascia in the body…

In Thomas Myers’s book Anatomy Trains, he talks about a cotton candy like springy material that the bones and muscles float it, and what gives muscles their shape called fascia.

Specifically in the book, he talks about the Front & Back Functional Lines. CLICK HERE for a post I did on this, featuring Ted Williams and Matt Kemp.

In the following video, Thomas Myers explains this idea of Tensegrity, or Tension-Integrity. There are compression and tension forces acting on the body at all times. Within the body these two opposing forces are always searching for balance…

For a hitter, if the body moves forward, but the back foot and leg stays behind, then these forces don’t get optimally transferred from body to barrel to ball. In other words, the backside gets “left behind”.

Hypothesis

Based on the above research, I think “squishing the bug” baseball swing mechanics will have a depressing effect on bat and hand speed because it doesn’t allow for full transfer of momentum and release of elastic energy in the springy fascia.

“Squish the Bug” Baseball Swing Mechanics Experiment

Baseball Swing Mechanics Experiment: Zepp Baseball App

CLICK Image to Purchase Zepp Baseball App

Equipment Used:

Zepp Baseball app,
Tanner Tee,
Camera Phone and Coaches Eye app, and
Easton comp bat.

Setup:

Forward momentum was taken out of this baseball swing mechanics experiment by hitting from a 1-2 second pause at landing
Back two “baseball markers” were set at about 3 baseballs apart
The two tests in the experiment were counter-balanced. Which consisted of eight blocks of 25-swings done in the following order ABBA BAAB. Say “squish the bug” was letter ‘A’, and “skipping back foot’ was letter ‘B’. 200 total swings were completed in the experiment, 100 per test. Counter-balancing helps remove the “getting tired” and “not being warmed” up factors.

Data Collected (Zepp Baseball App):

Squish the Bug Baseball Swing Mechanics Experiment

There were significant changes in Average Bat & Hand Speed, Time to Impact, and surprisingly, the hitter’s Attack Angle in this baseball swing mechanics experiment…

Data Analysis & Conclusion

+8-mph difference in average Impact Bat Speed, siding on “Skipping Back Foot”,
+3-mph difference in average Hand Speed Max, siding on “Skipping Back Foot”,,
-0.019 difference in average Time To Impact, siding on “Skipping Back Foot”, and
+4-degree difference in average Attack Angle, siding on “Skipping Back Foot”.

Notes

I think the “Squish the Bug” baseball swing mechanics experiment results were overwhelmingly clear.
Tyler did not technically keep his back foot posted to the ground during the “squish the bug” tests, so there still was an element of un-weighting going on with his backside.
In which case, measuring Ball Exit Speed (or how fast the ball came off the bat) may have netted interesting data to consider, compared to Impact Bat Speed. However, with the results with the other readings of Avg. Hand Speed, Time To Impact, and Attack Angle, I think we can put the “Squish the Bug” baseball swing mechanics myth to bed 😀
The data and results suggests that when a hitter “leaves behind their backside”, there’s a slowing down of forward momentum, and the body naturally decelerates because the springy fascia is forced to stretch, but not release.
Keep in mind what I call the Goldilocks Syndrome. The back foot can skip too far (porridge too hot), and it can also not skip at all (porridge too cold). We want the back foot to skip just right.

The Bottom Line?

In this “Squish the Bug” baseball swing mechanics experiment, “Skipping the Back Foot” showed a notable difference in average Bat & Hand Speed, Time To Impact, and the hitters Attack Angle. I want to encourage you to tinker and test this for yourself. The objective of these swing experiments is to put modern hitting theory to the test, literally. We NEED to test based on data, not feelings. Share these results with friends.

19 Comments/by Joey Myers

8th Grade Science Fair Project Hitting Experiment Sweet Spot Ideas For Baseball & Softball | Physics Articles, Books, Facts, & Questions

Hitting Aid Reviews, Sticky Coaching, Swing Experiments

SwingAway Baseball Swing Trainer: How-To Build A Swing You Can Be Proud Of…

This article presents a general framework to conduct 8th grade science fair project hitting experiment ideas for baseball and softball players. Sweet spot swing experiment topics should include Physics articles, books, facts, and questions. Using the scientific method is key…

I’ve wanted to do a “how-to experiment” post for a long time. But in the past, technology hadn’t quite caught up,

SwingAway Trainer: Pro Baseball Traveler

…and NOW it has!

Mark Twain once said:

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”

I want:

…To lay out the landscape, in this Baseball Swing Trainer post, about using the SwingAway for conducting hitting experiments,
…This article to empower you to take up arms with me, and turn conventional hitting wisdom on its stubborn little head, and
…To inspire you to use modern technology to build a swing we ALL can be proud of.

I’m embarrassed to share the following story…

I did my first hitting experiment in the sixth grade with a buddy, for a school project.

My friend and I ran an experiment to see if a wood or aluminum bat could hit the ball farther.

One day after school, we pitched to each other at the Little League diamond we played our games at. We used two aluminum Easton baseball bats and a Ken Griffey Jr. signature Louisville Slugger woody. One aluminum bat was 32-inches and 24-ounces, and the other was 31-inches and 23-ounces. And I can’t remember what the woody measurements were, but it was comparable.

I think we might have hit about 50 balls with each bat (150 balls total) and get this…measured the distance with our feet! 😀 lol

Based on our results, guess which bat hit the ball the farthest? Wood or aluminum? The wood bat!!! Waaa??

Well, it was only because we weren’t being very scientific with our scientific experiment. One of the big reasons we didn’t get a good grade on the project was because we DID NOT isolate the variables…

We threw LIVE batting practice to each other. We should have used a baseball hitting trainer like a batting tee or SwingAway (wasn’t around at the time).
We both took turns hitting, and didn’t separate our individual batted ball distances.
We used different sized bats.
We measured using our own feet…I was a men’s 8/9 at the time, and my buddy was an 11. We should’ve used a rolling tape measure.
We only took a small data sample size. We should’ve hit 100 balls with the wood bat, and then 100 with aluminum. AND we should have only used one of the aluminum bats (preferably the one closest in size and weight to the woody). So 400 swings total (200 swings for me, 200 for my friend). Then compared apples to apples.

Remember, failure is only a detour, not a dead end 😉

The good news is,

You don’t have to be a scientist to run a hitting experiment.

What follows is the exact formula I use now, to run my hitting experiments using the SwingAway baseball swing trainer. My hopes is that you pick up arms, and join me in the fight…

The Definitive Guide to Conducting a Baseball Swing Trainer Experiment

Up until now, here are SIX hitting experiments I’ve run:

Equipment & Setup

You can read the full list at the above swing experiment links. But here are a couple pieces of equipment that will have a drastic effect on bean counting and saving time doing the experiment itself…

BlastMotion Baseball App

Zepp Baseball App

Great tool for collecting data. It’s not perfect, but all we need is an apples to apples comparison. Unfortunately, the Zepp app DOES NOT allow you to separate experiment swings from recreational ones. You have to delete ALL swings before doing an experiment, unless you want to do the bean counting yourself.

You’ll also need to create two email accounts with Zepp to separate the two experiment tests. Zepp allows you to “Add a Hitter” in one account, but it doesn’t allow you to separate that data from other hitters or swings and average the data out.

SwingAway Baseball Swing Trainer

I just started using a SwingAway for my swing experiments. I used to hit the ball off an ATEC Tuffy Batting Tee, but it was taking me 2 1/2 to 3 hours to run my experiments. Fatigue could set in and skew the results. Some experiments where you’re looking at ball flight (like Bent Back Knee experiment above) will most definitely need to be done off a batting tee.

Using the SwingAway baseball swing trainer took me only 1 1/2 hours! NO need for:

Ball cleanup,
Ball setup, or
Waiting more than a few seconds for the ball to return to its stationary position.

This saved me a ton of time. All you need is a 10 X 10 space to conduct your SwingAway baseball swing trainer experiment.

Baseball Swing Trainer Experiment Optimization Tips…

Limit Variables – The main objective of a baseball swing trainer hitting Experiment, is to isolate what you’re trying to test. Like my sixth grade experiment from earlier, there were too many variables that we didn’t control.
Priming the Pump – I always start an experiment by warming up my body with a pre-practice routine, similar to this Dr. Stanley Beekman’s post. You don’t have to do all included exercises, so pick about eight of them. I’ll also take about 10-15 swings focusing on the specific mechanic I’m going to be testing that day. For example, if I was testing showing the pitcher my numbers versus not, then I’d do 10-15 swings both ways, so 20-30 swings total before officially starting the experiment. We prime the pump so nobody can see, “Well, your numbers sucked in the beginning because you weren’t warmed up.”
Counter-Balancing – The two tests in the experiment should be counterbalanced. Which consisted of eight blocks of 25-swings done in the following order ABBA BAAB. Say “showing the numbers” was letter ‘A’, and “not showing the numbers” was letter ‘B’. 200 total swings are to be completed in the experiment, 100 per test. Counter-balancing helps remove the “getting tired” and “not being warmed” up factors.
More Data Points – I take at least 100 swings for both tests in the experiment, so 200 swings total (not counting warm-up swings). So, taking the “showing numbers” as an example, I’d take 100 swings showing my numbers, and then take another 100 swings not showing my numbers. The Zepp App is a useful technology, but isn’t super accurate. But the more data you collect, the closer to the “real” numbers you’ll get.
Break the Swing Apart – If you aren’t confident that you can repeat a specific mechanic consistently for 100 swings, then break the swing apart, like I talk about in this YouTube video. I did this in the showing the numbers experiment above.
Collect Ball Flight Data (optional) – for some mechanics, like testing the back leg angle during the turn experiment, it’s critical to collect ball flight data on the Zepp app. Zepp allows you to manually input where you hit the ball after each swing. Testing the grip on the bat would be another example. Also, adding Ball Exit Speed readings could enhance the baseball swing trainer experiment, Bushnell Velocity Radar Gun (about $80), or Stalker Radar Gun ($500+). ESPN’s HitTrackerOnline.com uses the latter in all MLB ballparks. Just remember, accuracy isn’t as important as an apples to apples comparison.
Recovery – I usually will give my body about 30-minutes rest between the first 100 swing test and the second. I now use supplement timing like Zach Calhoon maps out in these posts. I sip on Zach’s “concoction” throughout the full experiment to keep my muscles fueled. I then take Vitamin C and E capsules afterward to help with soreness.
Brainstorming Experiments – Don’t have any ideas on what to test? I did the heavy lifting for you. And by no means is this an exhaustive list of possible experiments. CLICK HERE for my brainstormed list.
Take Notes – make note of my “notes” in the above experiments. Basically, the notes section are things that you noticed while doing the tests that may not be apparent to the person reading about the experiment.

In Conclusion…

In this baseball swing trainer post about using the SwingAway for hitting experiments, I wanted to lay out the landscape and empower you to help me take up arms. I want to turn conventional hitting wisdom on its head, and use modern baseball swing trainer technology to build a swing we ALL can be proud of.

Let’s revisit the Mark Twain quote from earlier:

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”

I need your help and can’t fight this fight alone. I want you to take action…

My challenge to you is let’s band together and conduct 30 Experiments in the next 30 days. If all of us do at least one swing experiment, then we should be able to knock this goal out by July 15th.

Just post your baseball/softball hitting experiment results below in the comments section. Reply with:

What experiment you ran (from the brainstorm list above)?
How many swings per test (i.e. 100/100), and what order did you do the test?
What bat did you use (length, weight, and wood/aluminum)
Hit off tee or Swingaway baseball swing trainer?
What metric changes were significant (bat speed/hand speed/bat vertical angle at impact/attack angle/ball flight/ball exit speed)?

Thanks in advance for your baseball swing trainer experiment comments!

3 Comments/by Joey Myers

Private Pitching Velocity Training & Accuracy Development Program Baseball Coaching Lessons For Youth And Beginners In Fresno, CA | Drills, Equipment, & Balance

Sticky Coaching

Podcast interview with Mike Gillen. Private pitching velocity training and accuracy development program baseball coaching lessons for youth and beginners in Fresno, CA. We chat about baseball pitching drills, equipment, and balance in this interview.

Baseball Pitching Training Interview: Top Two Mistakes That Coaches Are Making in Baseball Pitching Training?

Here’s what we cover in this baseball pitching training interview with my pitching coach Michael Gillen from PitcherPerfectPro.com: (about 29-minute read time)

Give us a little look at your baseball pitching training setup over there.
Who you are, the kind of your mentors on the pitching side, who guides you and your training?
Top two mistakes that either pitchers or coaches are making in teaching pitching?
What do you feel with the whole Tommy John stuff? What do you feel like the top two issues that are leading to that?
When reading about spinal engine springy fascia, were you were able to apply those principles to pitching?
What are those two baseball pitching training things that you go, alright, we need to fix those right away?
Like hitting, is there such thing as over-rotating when pitching?
Tell people where your website is, your social media, any kind of deals or what kind of deals that you do, obviously, locally, right? But are you doing some online lessons? Let people know that kind of stuff.

As usual, I’ve transcribed the baseball pitching training interview for your convenience with handy-dandy little video timestamps. Enjoy the conversation with my favorite pitching coach, Mike Gillen, as we discuss baseball pitching training…

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.

Right Course For You? Take Quiz Now

2 Comments/by Joey Myers

How To STOP Over Rotating Back Foot & Squishing Bug For Baseball And Softball In 2022 | Hitting Drills To Properly Use Legs, Keep Back Foot Down OR Lift Back Foot

Get On-Time, Hit More Line Drives

Keep ‘Back Foot Sideways’ Like Robinson Cano?

Roberto Perez 1st Homer 2016 WS Game 1 to LF

This is Roberto Perez’s 1st dinger in Game 1 of the 2016 World Series. It was to LF, and look at the back foot. Photo courtesy: MLB.com

This post will go over how to STOP over rotating the back foot (is that possible?) and explain why squishing the bug is bad for baseball and softball 2022. Discover hitting drills to properly use legs, keep back foot down OR back foot when swinging?

I wanted to do a follow up on the Matt Nokes post from a few weeks ago.

I received quite a few emails, like the following, from coaches who were a little confused as to what Nokes’s referred to as ‘back foot sideways’…

So I decided to do a short video (I know, a rarity these days :-P), seeing if I could bring some clarity to the issue.

Brian Clahane from Canada had emailed a comment about the Nokes post:

“Hey Joey, It’s Brian again…So you really have me thinking about this back foot sideways thing. I have been watching video and looking at still flip screens I have of hitters and I have to tell you I only see evidence of it on outside pitches or pitches hitters were late on.(Mccutchen and Miggie quite often when going other way)

I sent you this video of Cano to look at 1-because I know you use him as an example a lot and 2-because I found it under your name even though Chas Pippitt doing breakdown. Video shows what I keep seeing in that back foot rotated forward and normally as in this case off ground completely (not sideways). If I am misinterpreting what keeping back foot sideways at contact means, please explain because it’s driving me crazy thinking I’m missing something! I just keep seeing back foot forward at contact. Thanks, Brian”

The following video Brian had linked in the email from Chas:

The bottom line…

Roberto Perez 2nd Homer Game 1 2016 WS to LCF

Here’s Roberto Perez’s 2nd dinger in Game 1 of 2016 WS. It was to LCF. Look at his back foot. Photo courtesy: MLB.com

When looking at video, the chest view IS NOT helpful. Look for pitcher’s, catcher’s side, or over head views.
The principle is to get the pelvis (or hips) perpendicular to impact, NOT to the pitcher.
The back foot skips in some cases, and not so much in others. I’ve seen it skip away from home plate, toward the front foot, and toward the plate (not as often). In other words, you don’t have to have one without the other.
What may also help are these two shifting foot pressure videos (Mickey Mantle AND RopeBat).
One of the cues I liked came from Mark Meger from the Matt Nokes post, “With our 13U kids we do emphasize the rear hip drive but we shun turning that back foot. That should happen after contact as shown here.”
The sideways back foot will deviate slightly depending on an inside v. outside pitch.
This falls in line with this post on the 90-degree to the spine rule.
In YouTube, search “[favorite player’s name] 2016 highlights”, and watch the behavior of the back foot at impact, and make note of batted ball direction.
Also, it doesn’t seem ONLY .300 hitters do this because Roberto Perez, in the images above, is a career .220 hitter.
My observation is the back foot acts like a “governor” to the rotation of the hips. It’s like it helps anchor down the back hip from over rotating the impact zone.
Doing this helps to align the body on the plane of the pitch better, and may cut down on rolling over versus a full rotation of the hips, on every pitch.
Zepp experiment coming soon from HPL on this 😉

Please post any concerns, counter-arguments, and/or observations below…

19 Comments/by Joey Myers

Proper Youth Hand Bat Grip For Right And Left Handed Baseball & Softball Hitters | Is Door Knocking Knuckle vs Box Hold Correct?

Build More Power, Hit More Line Drives, Swing Experiments

Create Pre-Turn Hand Tension Like Babe Ruth

What is the proper youth hand bat grip for right and left-handed baseball softball hitters? Is door knocking knuckles the correct hold or is the “box” grip better. I’d argue the gorilla grip is best, evidenced in this swing experiment.

Look at the hands of Babe Ruth… Photo courtesy: PhotoBucket.com (user: BillBurgess)

Question: Do Relaxed Hands Really Lead to Higher Bat Speeds?

Using the Zepp knob sensor which you can’t get anymore, so instead grab a BlastMotion sensor. I wanted to use the Scientific Method to analyze whether having relaxed hands or “hand-tension” – pre-turn – increases or decreases bat speed.