Discover the best portable mini wiffle ball pitching machine out there. In this 2022 review of the MaxBP wiffle ball pitching machine, you’ll learn about the greatest small ball training tool!
Mini Wiffle Ball Pitching Machine MaxBP Reviews: What Does It Mean To ‘Build The Database’ When It Comes To Hitting?
Wiffle Ball Pitching Machine MaxBP Reviews
In this mini wiffle ball pitching machine MaxBP reviews interview with owner and founder of MaxBP Neil McConnel, we’ll go over:
You’re doing a lot of really big things over the last year or two? Go ahead and let them know what you guys are up to?
What are some of those tools? I know you have a bunch of them, but say like top two or so outside of the actual pitching machines?
It’s not just about a whiffle ball pitching machine to hit on?
What does it mean to ‘build the database’ when it comes to hitting?
You guys have done a lot of cool stuff with using max BP with catchers, how do you guys use that?
“Where you’re making them make a decision and ignoring one color versus being locked into another color…”
“You can honestly get work in and probably 10-15 feet. 20 feet is a good space….”
Do you guys test them before they go out?
Where can people find you, the website, the social media, all that good stuff?
CLICK HERE for the mini wiffle ball pitching machine MaxBP reviews video transcription in PDF form.
ENJOY!
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Use Discount Code: GET10OFF At Checkout To Get 10% OFF Our Favorite MaxBP Whiffle Ball Pitching Machines
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Discover the Gary Sheffield swing path hitting drills approach to hit for opposite field power. Learn how this works for baseball, fast pitch, and slow pitch softball!
Gary Sheffield Talks Hitting Mentioning 1 Shocking Swing Mistake He Didn’t Make…
In this Gary Sheffield Talks Hitting video, 500 Home Run Club member Gary Sheffield talks about his hitting style, plate approach and adjustments to different ballparks with Mark DeRosa, Bill Ripken and Robert Flores on MLB Central. Some of what you’ll find in the video:
1 shocking swing mistake Sheffield didn’t make,
Pitch recognition that Gary Sheffield is talking about,
Change your stance depending on the field?
What does focus on staying to the right of your left side mean? And,
Making swing adjustments because of injury to compete…
For your convenience below, I’ve time stamped my notes, so you can jump to wherever the conversation interests you…
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.
At about the 3-minute, 20-second mark, Sheffield talks about how after hitting 40+ homers between his AA and AAA season, he was brought up to MLB club and the powers at be tried to “flatten his bat” (for him a mistake he didn’t make). Because they wanted a lead-off speed guy who hits the ball to right field. When he got to San Diego, they wanted him to pick up the ball at 3rd base, they didn’t expect him to hit. This was disrespectful to Sheffield. He went from a guy not just trying to get on base, but to do damage.
At about the 4-minute mark, Gary Sheffield talks about his famous bat tilt-waggle, and how it’s all in the fingers. To get a nice relaxed crisp move with the fingers. Like dancing.
At about the 5-minute mark, Sheffield talks about picking pitcher up at release to differentiate what he’s throwing. Pitch recognition. He doesn’t care what the pitcher does before that moment. He said he looked for the heater and nothing changed on that approach throughout his career. He wants the pitcher to fool him. He doesn’t want to miss on the fastball. All he wants to know is what is the pitcher’s out pitch – the one he goes to the most when he needs it. Doesn’t swing at fork balls. He groups the fastball and slider together – as one pitch.
At about the 7-minute mark, Gary Sheffield talks about how he adjusts his stance depending on the park he’s playing in. Examples…in San Diego the dimensions are fair, so he uses all fields. At “fair” parks he didn’t feel like hitting the ball oppo made him lose something. In Florida with the Marlins, he got closer to the plate and became strictly a pull hitter because of short fence in left field. Homers came by way of left and left center, rarely to center. Goal of double digit homers to opposite field, so he was almost guaranteed 30 to 40 homers per year. Billy Ripken made the comment that he’s never heard of anyone else who did this, except maybe when hitting at Fenway. Dodger stadium was “fair” to him. Mentioned at night it got dewey there, ball didn’t fly as far. His strength was center field in LA.
At about 9-minute mark, Sheffield talks about his right elbow position to be ready to “punch”. Athletic position. Legs up under him. When hitting he just thinks about his left side. Tells his kids to cut the left side out. Focus on being to the right of your left side. Walking in the batter’s box sideways, so he knows he’s in the same spot every time. He wants to work sideways, so he can stay behind his left side.
At about 11-minute mark, Sheffield his swing is dominant front arm. Front arm goes straight to the ball. Billy Ripken talks about “squashing a bug“. They all comment on Gary Sheffield’s bat waggle and how parallel the barrel got to the ground at one point in the swing. Sheffield talked about an injury he had to his right foot, plantar fasciitis, that required him to skip/hop his back foot. Had to unlearn later. Interesting confession on making an adjustment to compete.
'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/2022/09/Gary-Sheffield-Swing-Path-Hitting-Drills-Approach-To-Opposite-Field-Power-Works-For-Baseball-Softball-Slow-Pitch.png423800Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2022-09-06 09:00:352022-09-06 20:02:27Gary Sheffield Swing Path Hitting Drills Approach To Opposite Field Power Works For Baseball, Softball, & Slow Pitch
Is your son or daughter hitting well practicing in the batting cage, but wondering why they’re struggling at the plate? Do they seem to suffer from a baseball or softball mental block slump? Discover how to make adjustments and simulate game like LIVE pitching!
Baseball Batting Cages: How To Transition Practice Into Game Swings
CINCINNATI, OH – JULY 9: Anthony Rizzo #44 of the Chicago Cubs hits a solo home run in the third inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on July 9, 2014 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)
In this baseball batting cages strategy video, we answer the following reader question…
“I Have Several Young Hitters That Are Great In Baseball Batting Cages But Have Trouble Transitioning Those Techniques Into Game Situations. How Do I Teach That?”
We’ll go over:
Over-coaching OR giving instruction during games,
Promoting focused quality OR unfocused quantity swings at practices, and
Training timing, plate discipline, and pitch recognition.
PLEASE NOTE: this is a complex issue, and to do the subject any justice, a 30-minute video and 4,000+ word post would suffice. However, I don’t have that time after adding a newly minted baby girl to our family.
So, I urge coaches to PLEASE contribute your comments at the end of this post, in the “Comments” section, of any other factors and/or fixes that I may have missed you think contribute to a successful transition from baseball batting cages (including softball coaches) to game at-bats. Many THANKS in advance!
Without further adieu, I’m going to hit the BIG three I think are the primary causes to the above coach’s challenge…
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.
Mike Brey, the head Notre Dame men’s basketball coach, says ‘don’t coach every dribble’ in the following video:
3 things Coach Brey brings up about how to give feedback:
Talk about something they did good,
Then bring up some of the mistakes they made, and end with…
Highlighting something they did good, again.
I call this tactic the constructive feedback sandwich.
Coach Tony LaRussa mentions, in his book One Last Strike, the ‘Pat & Pop’ Method of giving feedback to his players. The ‘Pat’ is the pat on the back (what they’re doing right), and the ‘Pop’ is the pop in the mouth (calling attention to the mistakes they made).
Men’s Notre Dame basketball Coach Mike Brey also mentions the WORST thing you can do is have a player looking at the “bench” after every play…or the dugout…or down the third base line.
Legendary baseball coach at Fresno State, Bob Bennett, who was my coach for three years, would sit in his chair at the clubhouse end of the dugout during games, with one leg crossed over the other, taking notes the whole game. He would rarely offer mechanical changes to players.
He just let us compete. During games, Coach Bennett focused his time on making situational game decisions.
It was at practice the notes he took during games – of the mistakes we made – would come to life. CLICK HERE for an audio interview I did with Coach Bennett over lunch.
So ask yourself the following question,
If you feel your players (or hitters) aren’t transitioning their swing from the baseball batting cages to game at-bats…
Are you over-coaching (‘coaching EVERY dribble), and/or giving instruction during games?
YES/NO?
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!
Promoting Focused Quality OR Unfocused Quantity Swings at Practice
Milo of Croton’s body had to adapt (get stronger) to the demands put on it by the growing bull. Photo courtesy: miloandthecalf.com
Training MUST fit the sport’s objective.
In weight training, this is called the Principle of Specificity. Specificity according to FitStar.com:
“Specificity is the principle of training that states what you do in the gym should be relevant and appropriate to your desired outcome.”
During a baseball or softball game, a pitch is thrown once every 10-20 seconds.
A hitter may see THREE strikes in an at-bat, and may accumulate FOUR at-bats per game, so they may see TWELVE good pitches to swing at per game.
True, not all strikes are in the strike zone at the lower levels, but my point is, swing opportunities are lower in games.
So, am I saying to ration out swings to hitters at practice?
No, not at all.
I’m suggesting a change in coaching paradigm.
What I’m saying is, swings in baseball batting cages MUST be trained with focused quality, not with unfocused quantity.
Baseball batting cages training MUST prioritize the following:
Plate discipline FIRST (are we swinging at strikes, YES/NO?),
Timing SECOND (are we on time, YES/NO?), and
Mechanics THIRD (are we swinging effectively, YES/NO?)
After each five swing round, I ask my hitters these three questions…and it’s rare that I get a hitter regressing after 3-5 rounds of focused quality hacks. Training MUST be more challenging (and frustrating), than game at-bats.
In games, hitters MUST NOT worry about mechanics, just make sure they’re swinging at strikes and getting on-time. Competing. Mechanics are for working on at practice or outside of game AB’s.
Free swinging batting practice, although fun as heck, does NOTHING for producing quality game at-bats.
What mechanics are considered effective versus ineffective?
CLICK HERE for a post I did answering that, in addition to how to get hitters buying into this system.
What’s an example of a baseball batting cages drill that is ineffective training for game at-bats?
Rapid fire soft toss.
WHY?
Because a hitter NEVER has to swing like this in a game!
Please go revisit the definition of the Principle of Specificity above.
The coaching rebuttal to the Rapid Fire Soft Toss Drill is, “But we’re working on quick hands”.
Okay, so if the objective of a pitcher was to throw three balls one after the other in quick succession, then rapid fire soft toss would work.
However, this isn’t how pitches are thrown in games work…
Pitchers throw one pitch every 10-20 seconds. Not three pitches every 10-20 seconds.
Game swings are NOT about quick hands. They’re about timing. One of the pitcher’s objective is to disrupt this. If a hitter is behind…they’re late…and THEIR TIMING IS OFF!!
In other words, it may not be a mechanical issue.
Please stay far away from this drill…
Sure, their hands or bat speed may be slow because of something like bat drag, but I’m here to tell you that the Rapid Fire Soft Toss Drill WILL NEVER help bat drag. This coach would be throwing gasoline on a fire, mechanically.
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!
This is why fixing ineffective hitting mechanics add more reaction time to a hitter, because when a hitter moves better, they perform better.
Effectiveness is doing the right things, and efficiency is doing those things right.
Look, coaches have to understand the principles before coming up with the methods for fixing. Ralph Waldo Emerson said this about principles:
“The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble.”
Remember, our hitting objective priorities are:
Plate discipline,
Timing, and then
Mechanics.
A hitter’s mechanics may be clean, but NOT swinging at strikes and NOT being on time WILL cause a mechanical breakdown…no matter how clean the mechanics.
So ask yourself the following question,
If you feel your players (or hitters) aren’t transitioning their swing from the baseball batting cages to game at-bats…
In baseball batting cages are you promoting focused quality OR unfocused quantity swings?
YES/NO?
Which leads me to the topics of…
Training Timing, Plate Discipline, and Pitch Recognition
Joey Votto is one of the best with plate discipline. Photo courtesy of Red-Hot-Mama.com
In this section, I have a lot of HPL resources for you, instead of trying to reinvent the wheel here…
The post above is more advanced and is what I learned from Fresno State head baseball coach Mike Batesole my senior year in 2003. Btw, he was the head coach at Fresno State when the Bulldogs won the College World Series in 2008.
However, I recommend the strategy mentioned in the Matt Holliday link to the college level on up. High School coaches can experiment with it, typically when facing higher functioning pitchers. The challenge with it is that most pitchers at the lower levels aren’t as skilled at consistently placing pitches where they want them.
So, my recommendation for the lower levels is to focus on whether they swinging at strikes or not. Make it simple. Talk about the strike zone. What’s a good pitch to hit and what is not.
If you feel your players (or hitters) aren’t transitioning their swing from the baseball batting cages to game at-bats…
In baseball batting cages are you training timing, plate discipline, and pitch recognition?
YES/NO?
Coaches, PLEASE contribute anything I may have missed in regard to factors and/or fixes you feel contribute to a successful transition from baseball batting cages (including softball) to game at-bats.
Again, MANY thanks in advance!
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!
https://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Hitting-Well-In-Cage-Batting-Practice-But-Why-Struggling-At-Plate-Baseball-Or-Softball-Mental-Block-Slump-How-To-Simulate-Game-Like-LIVE-Pitching-e1659388915424.png281500Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2022-08-01 09:00:142022-08-02 16:37:37Hitting Well In Cage Batting Practice, But Why Struggling At Plate? Baseball Or Softball Mental Block Slump? How To Simulate Game Like LIVE Pitching!
What college coaches and scouts look for in baseball or softball player recruits and what are the chances of getting a scholarship in 2022-2023. Learn some parenting advice from Coach Mark Gonzalez about how to get your son or daughter noticed and does your kid have to play travel ball?
GoBigRecruiting.com says this about the chances of getting a scholarship… (true for baseball and softball)
“There are only about 300 division one programs, and they all only have 12 scholarships. With hundreds of thousands of HS softball players out there, the odds are less than 5%.“
“You Can Have Average Mechanics and If You Have A Good Approach, You Can Still Be Successful” – Mark Gonzalez Dad Advice on How To Hit a Baseball
How to hit a baseball interview with super parent Mark Gonzalez, and his 7+ tips for other parents out there raising an athlete in a competitive sports environment.
In this how to hit a baseball post interview with Mark Gonzalez, aka East Bay Mark – @NorCal_Trojan on Twitter, and inspirational parent coaching his High School Junior hitter, joined me on the Swing Smarter Hitting Training Podcast and here’s what we covered:
What do you find to be the biggest mistake, one or two mistakes on how to hit a baseball that you see out there?
Was there an aha moment at some point where you finally said Oh, you know what, I might be over overdoing this being the helicopter parent?
“You can have average mechanics and if you have a good approach, you can still be successful…”
Is how to hit a baseball all about hitting dingers and doubles?
What ever happened to playing Whiffle Ball in the street, and can kids learn anything from video games?
What things have you guys been doing on the recruiting side?
“If this college wants a certain type of hitting approach and if that’s the hitting approach you really don’t like well maybe that’s not the school for you…”
Any other how to hit a baseball parting thoughts that you would give to those parents out there with freshmen, sophomores, juniors in high school, coming from a dad who’s coaching their own kid?
Where can people find you Coach Mark and powerful BONUS tips???
CLICK HERE to download and save the how to hit a baseball transcript PDF.
Enjoy!
About travel ball, nowadays it’s a good idea, but in my opinion it doesn’t have to be all year round. Get kids playing other sports in the off season if you can. Above all, make sure they’re working on the right things, and then working on doing those things right. Also, here are two other helpful recruiting links:
https://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/how-to-hit-a-baseball.png423800Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2022-06-21 09:00:292022-06-22 16:11:10What College Coaches And Scouts Look For In Baseball Or Softball Recruits & Chances Of Scholarship 2022-2023 | Parent Advice: How To Get Son Or Daughter Noticed & Do You Have To Play Travel Ball?
Discover the best online pitch recognition hitting drills website game app for baseball and softball players. Tips to see the ball and pitch better, fix late swing timing, and help your batter that may be struggling to hit.
Get Rid of Pitch Recognition, Plate Discipline, & Timing Challenges Once and For All
Photo courtesy: News.Missouri.Edu
In this post,
I answer the following three fan questions:
How do you practice picking up the pitch early?
Do you have players swing at everything during batting practice or let them be selective? What drills are good for teaching a player to hit a ball where it is pitched? And,
Why is Timing not taught throughout majority instructors? Great mechanics are good but without Timing principles, you just look good going back to the dugout. What are some of the different ways you would teach/describe Timing?
The following is a compilation of resources I wish I had when I was still playing.
Coaches, if you aren’t taking full advantage of these, then you’ll be slowly losing ground in games over the next 5 years, that I can assure you. Get out ahead!
Onward…
How do you practice picking up the pitch early?
Check out the feedback software you can use to work on getting GREAT at pitch recognition. Dr. Peter Fadde calls this ‘video occlusion’, which allows a hitter to focus on pattern recognition for the first 10-20 feet of ball flight. CLICK HERE for a blog interview I did with Dr. Fadde for more information on the benefits of his ‘video occlusion’ training.
The greatest thing about the GameSense software, is that coaches can keep track of their players’ use of the software with real numbers. What’s measurable is manageable.
As a player, I would’ve eaten this up when I was younger.
And yes, it requires a subscription, and the pricing plans differ depending on usage. On the homepage, GameSense is offering a free trial, so you can check it out and see if it’s right for you.
CLICK HERE to grab your FREE trial of the GameSense app that focuses on pitch recognition training…i.e. picking the ball up early out of the pitcher’s hand.
By the ways, gS Pitch-IQ was named one of the best products at the 2017 ABCA convention in Anaheim!
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.
Do you have players swing at everything during batting practice or let them be selective? What drills are good for teaching a player to hit a ball where it is pitched?
I’m not sure I’d ever let hitters swing at everything during batting practice. Everything we do at practice, as coaches, MUST have a purpose. And that purpose MUST prepare our players for the game environment.
CLICK HERE to watch YouTuber Trevor Ragan compare the benefits of training “ugly” in a post I did showing how to EFFECTIVELY transition grooved batting practice swings into game ones.
Here’s why swinging at everything in the cages DOES NOT translate into games…motor skill learning in a competitive environment MUST follow these three steps:
READ – i.e. pitch recognition and spin
PLAN – i.e. timing
DO – the swing
You see, when a hitter swings at everything in the cages, most of what they’re working on is in the “DO” portion. There’s very little READ or PLAN present, which is required in a game environment.
“Massed Training”, as defined by SchoolOfThinking.org, is said to be a far less effective strategy for retaining knowledge or developing skills. In other words, practicing the same thing over and over again WITHOUT a break and evaluation period is inferior to spaced and/or ugly training. CLICK HERE for my Hitting Outcomes Evaluation Checklist.
So what does being selective in the cages look like:
After every 5-swing round, the hitter is asked, “How many strikes did you swing at?”(and they’re affirmed or corrected based on their answer)
You can also do what I call is a Reverse Strike-Zone round. This is where they MUST swing at “balls” – within reason, you don’t want them throwing their bat in the cage – and taking “strikes”. WHY would you do this? It helps define a hitters strike-zone/hitting zone, and offers a better variety of body movement which the body’s springy fascia LOVES!! This will melt their brain by the way 😛 lol
CLICK HERE for this post I did on plate discipline – splitting the plate up into 2/3’s and 1/3 is another great way to teach your hitters to be more selective.
This answers the second part to the reader question above…you can also turn on READ, PLAN, DO by limiting what parts of the field you want the hitter to hit to, OR limit certain elevations you want the hitter to hit at, regardless of pitch type, location, and speed. Addressing the former…you can setup targets out in the field preferably in spots where you don’t find any fielders (gaps/down the lines), and hitter has to hit the target as hard as they can. Addressing the latter…I’ve seen some coaches place shagging screens about 30 to 50-feet from the batter’s box creating a barrier to hitting ground-balls, and the objective is to hit the ball hard over the screens.
Random pitch type rounds – an example of this is randomly throwing either a 2-seam fast-ball or a curve-ball, and having the hitter stick to seeking out one pitch over the other for one 5-swing round.
2 or 3-plate drill rounds – where the hitter moves from different plate distances between or during 5 swing rounds. The plates can be placed about 3 to 5 feet apart. This is a GREAT timing drill.
Doing situational hitting rounds…hit-and-runs, move runner over, and bunts/drags/pushes.
I’m sure other coaches have cool deviations of the above, so please SHARE in the comments section below.
The point is, hitters should have a purpose when taking batting practice, NOT just swinging at everything, IF they want to match the game environment.
Why is Timing not taught throughout majority instructors? Great mechanics are good but without Timing principles, you just look good going back to the dugout. What are some of the different ways you would teach/describe Timing?
Totally. I tell my hitters that the most effective mechanics in the world don’t mean a thing if they can’t get on-time.
Surprisingly, some hitting instructors don’t think timing can be taught? I disagree.
Now, let me clear up a common misconception…do you know the difference between timing and reaction time?
I got the following demonstration from my good friend Taylor Gardner, co-inventor of the Backspin Tee. Do this with your hitters…
Tell them to stand in front of you, and hold a baseball/softball an arm’s length away from you at about the height of their head.
Then tell them you’re going to drop the ball at a random time…try varying the times you drop the ball, and you’ll find it’ll be a challenge for them to catch it. Repeat two more times. This my friend is a demonstration of reaction time.
Then tell them you’re going to drop the ball after counting to 3 (no tricks here coaches)…count to three, then drop the ball. Repeat two more times. This my friend is a demonstration of timing. And as you may guess, this will be much easier to catch for your players.
Timing can be taught with the right methods. Here are my top three:
The TWO or THREE plate drill mentioned above,
Switching bat sizes and weights between or in the middle of 5-swing rounds, and
Switching ball types at random…using baseballs, softballs, whiffles, golf whiffles, racket balls, Smush balls, and tennis balls.
Thank you Mike Ryan from Fastball USA for the last two. A hitter will have to re-calibrate their timing between swinging a longer heavier bat than a lighter shorter one. The different balls mentioned will fly through the air at different speeds making for a perfect off speed practice environment. This can be really challenging for the hitter, and a lot of fun.
But be careful coaches, slowly layer in the difficulty, don’t do ALL three above at the start. Some hitters excel quickly, while others take more time.
Do you see how important training beneath the READ, PLAN, & DO umbrella is?
I hope this helps coaches!!
Please share any other effective methods you do with your hitters that improve what was talked about above. THANKS in advance!
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!
https://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/pitch-recognition.jpg437340Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2022-06-13 09:15:182022-06-13 23:25:32Best Online Pitch Recognition Hitting Drills Website Game App For Baseball & Softball | Tips To See Ball And Pitch Better, Fix Late Swing Timing, & Help Batter Struggling To Hit
Now, this Jose Altuve hitting analysis post isn’t about the ‘laser show’…however,
Standing in at 5’6″,
…and weighing in at a soaking wet 165-pounds, we’ll look at Jose Altuve(his height and weight numbers are a little closer to reality I think).
Although,
I do think Jose Altuve has one thing over the ‘laser show’, and that’s dancing (parental guidance is recommended 😉:
In this Jose Altuve hitting analysis video, we’ll go over:
Jose Altuve stats,
Presents of Forward Momentum (FoMo)?
How well he dominates the plane of the pitch,
Where his power comes from, and
Does he practice Pitch Recognition?
FYI: the pitch Jose Altuve is hitting in the video analysis looks like an 87-mph FB straight down broadway, and it does look like he’s on-time.
Without further adieu, here are the notes for the…
Jose Altuve Hitting Analysis Stats (the averages of averages)
CLICK HERE for the FanGraphs.com post I pulled the following stats from*:
ISO = +20 points
BABIP = +34 points
GB% = +4%
LD% = +1%
FB% = -6%
HR/FB% = -3.5%
(*a (+) denotes how many points OR percentage points or above league average, and a (-) denotes below league average.)
Presents of Forward Momentum (FoMo)?
Is FoMo present?
Shifting foot pressure (mentioned landing with closed front foot), and
Moving Center of Gravity (COG).
How Well he Dominates the Plane of the Pitch
Knee Action – ‘getting shorter’ and ‘staying shorter’
Barrel Plane – keeping barrel on plane for as long as possible
Where his Power Comes from…
Showing numbers,
Hiding hands from the pitcher,
Hunch – Posterior Pelvic Tilt (PPT), and
Down shoulders? (not so much here).
Does he Practice Pitch Recognition?
My friend Aaron Miles, who was small (5’8″, 180-lbs), and played 9 years in the Bigs, talks about how his High School coach was forward thinking…in that he did Pitch Recognition training with his troops, and Aaron’s coach said he had the best PR on the team.
My hypothesis in this Jose Altuve hitting analysis is that he does some sort of PR training, OR has a God given early pitch recognition ability that allows him to hit the ball so hard, so often.
Sure, according to this Jose Altuve hitting analysis,
…Altuve may not hit over 30 homers per year, but he sure will hit a boat load of doubles, which is just as good to contributing to team wins…just look at his above average (average) ISO and BABIP scores above!
'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/2016/06/jose-altuve-hitting.jpg15802048Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2022-04-20 09:30:072022-04-20 20:48:36How To Increase Hitting Power Stats Like Jose Altuve Swing With Fundamental Baseball & Softball Drills In 2022
The NEW Way Pitchers Are Getting Hitters Out That May Be Hiding Under Your Nose…
Know WHY, according to Baseball-Reference.com, strikeouts (41,207) edged out hits (41,018) in the Big Leagues in 2018? In my opinion, the above MLB Tonight Brian Kenny interview of Trevor Bauer has the answers.
Carlos Pena fouling a ball off in 2009. Photo by J. Meric/Getty Images
Could it be…
The Launch Angle craze? Maybe…
Hitters just don’t care about strikeouts anymore? Maybe…
The front office putting higher value recruiting players based on key Sabermetrics? Maybe.
However, in my opinion, these are all symptoms to the direct cause. Yes, hitters are being taught that ground-balls are gross. And since the book and movie Moneyball came out, Math revealed key metrics measuring how often:
A hitter gets on base, and
They hit for extra bases…
…are better predictors to scoring runs. Here’s a shot across the bow for the hitting coaches…
Back to the Trevor Bauer Evolution of Metrics conversation above,
Perry Husband, of HittingIsAGuess.com, has been sharing Effective Velocity principles for almost 2 decades, and it’s finally getting people’s attention. WHY? Because more and more pitchers are starting to apply the timing disruption principles. Unlike golf, timing is a MAJOR factor in how consistently hard a hitter hits the ball. And it’s THIS factor of a hitter’s success that’s under MAJOR attack.
Do you think I’m exaggerating? Read on, because Perry, myself, and many others see the writing on the wall…remember when Wayne Gretzky so famously said, “Skate to where the puck is going, not where it has been.”
I speak to MANY MANY coaches, and a majority of them, are disgusted with the sheer number of offensive strikeouts over the last few years, so their solution is to teach a defensive “just get on base” swing. Are you kidding?! More pitchers are throwing 96-mph+ at the higher levels nowadays, they LOVE facing hitters being taught a defensive “just get on base” swing. And it’s not just at the highest levels, overall average velocities are going up across the board because of better training programs.
And by the way, it’s not about the higher pitching velocities per se, because we can train hitters to see faster speeds in the “lab”, making the increased game velocities “seem” slower. That’s only one-dimension to pitching, as Trevor Bauer puts it in the interview.
It’s what pitchers are being taught to do with added velocity, manipulating hitters’ reaction times. Don’t you see, the game is speeding up for hitters, and coaches are ill equipped to deal with the adjustment right now. They’re running east, chasing a sunset!
Rest assured, we’re going to make a better decision and train differently. Coaches, you’ve been WARNED. In this post, we’ll discuss:
The NEW way pitchers are getting hitters out, and
How to counter this strategy…
The NEW Way Pitchers are Getting Hitters Out
Trevor Bauer interview with Brian Kenny of MLB Network. Photo courtesy: MLB Network
Here are my notes on Trevor Bauer’s scouting report on hitters…
At the 40-second mark, Trevor talks about having a specific “pitch mix”. And he adds that the delivery of that mix is different for every pitcher – how does he utilize it the best. He looks at hitter’s heat map and compares strengths and weaknesses to his “pitch mix” heat map strengths and weaknesses. What gives a pitcher the best chance of being successful?
At the 2-min, 20-second mark, Brian asks Trevor about pitch sequencing – which pitch should follow the next? Taking away as many “tip-off” cues hitters use. #1: Changing your body (i.e. tilting off while throwing a CB – mechanics have to be consistent). #2: How does the ball come out of the hand – tunneling, hitters can see “up and down” well, but not “side to side”, so he’s trying to minimize the “hump” in his pitches. The more he can hide pitching cues, the later the hitter sees the ball, and the more likely the pitcher wins. Neutral and clean mechanics.
At the 3-minute, 45-seconds mark, Trevor Bauer talks about starting off his pitches in the middle and let the movement get to the spot he’s trying to hit. He worked on a new pitch to fill a hole in his pitching repertoire – he needed a pitch that could slide to his glove side that didn’t drop like his curveball.
At the 6-minute, 45-second mark, Brian asks when Trevor is getting hit, what’s the checklist he goes through to get back on track? He feels his speed differentials are off, either he’s throwing too hard or too soft, for example in early 2017 the data said he was throwing too high a percentage of hard stuff – 4/2-seam FB and cutters, and not enough slow with the CB, SL, and Change. Once organized, hitters had a tough time. 3-Dimensional pitching approach: dealing with front to back (differing velos 95 to 85 to 78-mph), left to right (2-seam, 4-seam, cutter, slider), and up to down (4-seam, SL, and CB).
Did you catch that last bullet point? There’s the Holy Grail of pitchers’ scouting reports right there. Other than that, a lot of REALLY good intel in almost 9-mins, so how do hitting coaches counter this gameplan? Take it from a hitter’s point of view, Carlos Pena, who studied under Perry Husband back in 2009, and in the following video, makes a good case to a promising counter-move…
How to Counter this Strategy…
Here are my notes on Carlos Pena’s scouting report on pitchers who use Effective Velocity…
At the 15-second mark, talks about hunting pitches, addresses the hitting myth of “looking for the ball away and react in”…pick a spot, a speed, and a rhythm to dance to, react within those parameters,
At the 1-minute mark, looking for ball away and reacting in would work for one maybe two-dimensional pitchers, objective is to make good contact more often, having an EV plan against a pitcher makes hitting “easier”, setting “coordinates” like latitude and longitude, and work within those parameters, having a “blast radius” and only working within those parameters, match the timing to what you’re looking for, helps hitters to lay off stuff, eliminates half to 3/4 of the strike zone when pitchers get pretty good.
At the 2-minute, 40-second mark, Carlos talks about his struggles at the beginning of 2009, he met Perry Husband, and he ended up leading the league in homers by the end of the season.
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!
https://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/carlopena-e1541704947151.jpg377500Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2018-11-08 20:24:582018-11-08 20:36:38At Last, The Secret To Decreasing Strikeouts Is Revealed
Leg Kicks May Be Dangerous To Pitchers (And Hitters That Don’t Perfect Them)…
Before I get into the Rhys Hoskins swing breakdown video featuring Mark DeRosa & Cliff Floyd above…
I wanted to give you a heads up of what’s in this post:
Lesson learned from my school of hard knocks,
How to fix striking out every at-bat in tournament, and
Rhys Hoskins swing breakdown.
Lessons Learned from School of Hard Knocks
Rhys Hoskins says his thought is “down to the ball”, then adds, “obviously you’re not swinging down like you’re chopping wood.” He’s hoping that thought process will keep him on a level plane in the strike-zone as long as he can. Photo courtesy: Sports Bay Area
I recently worked with a newer 12/13u hitter of mine, where he shared he had a terrible tournament, where he struck out virtually every at-bat the weekend before.
This immediately raised a red flag for me.
The easy thing to do for a player – and a dad or mom – is to point to a breakdown in hitting mechanics.
As a hitting coach, if this isn’t your first rodeo, then you know this is not the case a majority of the time.
Quick back story,
My last year of Little League was insane:
Hit .880 regular season, .770 in All-Stars,
30+ dingers,
40+ doubles, and
Struck out a grand total of 3 times in the span of 6 months.
By the way, looking at old VHS video of that swing, I was doing what I teach now. All those strikeouts were early in the regular season, and once I settled down, they vanished entirely.
I was ignorance on fire!
Brace yourself for the “fall”…
The next year I made the move to the big field, with no pitching distance transition like there are nowadays. I found myself swinging and missing A LOT.
I got so frustrated with myself, and what do you think my dumb brain thought was the problem?
Right-O!! Mechanics.
Do you know the REAL cause?
Let me give you a clue…the word starts with a “T” and ends with “-iming” 😛 lol
I was being driven by my fear of getting “caught up” to by other players. And yes, the whispers started in Middle School when I struggled to recover my old swing.
Do you know how much of a nightmare that is for a hitter who’s super driven to succeed like I was?
This fear drove me into the bookstore to read every book on hitting I could get my hungry teenager hands on. Ted Williams, Tony Gwynn, Charlie Lau, Mike Schmidt, and on and on. Nothing seemed to help. I obsessively watched film of that swing trying to figure out what I was missing or leaving out.
Hey, at least I wasn’t out stealing cars!
It was a 4-year mind-fudge that ended in recovering my batting average – somewhat – but not my power the last two years in High School. Thinking back now, it’s a miracle I ended up with a scholarship at Fresno State.
The point of this story is, negative tournament outcomes don’t necessarily mean a breakdown in hitting mechanics.
Back to my young hitter…
How To Fix Striking Out Every At-Bat in Tournament
So I had three questions I planned asking my hitter, in diagnosing the challenges he had with his last tournament:
The first one is, were you focusing on the new stuff we worked on last lesson(which was a week before), during game at-bats?
If the answer is NO to that question, then I would ask, how many strikes did you swing at, OR not swing at?
If they’re swinging at good pitches, then on the swings you took, how many were “on-time”?
If they pass the first three questions, then we look at seeking and fixing the ineffective swing mechanic.
However, this particular hitter failed question one. I hadn’t warned him about bringing new swing techniques into game at-bats. I told him that in games, your focus MUST be on swinging at good pitches and getting on-time. It’s to compete.
I teach hitters my painful lesson.
The good news is, this hitter will be on the up and up again, and won’t have to go through the frustration, struggle, and anger I went through attempting to fix something I knew nothing about at the time. And frankly, the only one who had a clue was Ted Williams, but his message was drowned out in the other white noise I was hearing, reading, and watching. Paralysis by over analysis.
Now, let’s tie in the Rhys Hoskins video above…
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!
Below you’ll find video notes I took. Afterward, I’ll only focus on about a couple of these, I think others will make for good conversation in the Comments section below…
About 1:20 min mark, DeRosa: “Hands go along for the ride…not a lot of hand load”
About 1:40 min mark, DeRosa brings up examples of “violent hand loads”featuring: Cecil Fielder, Vlad Guerrero, Gary Sheffield…and Manny Ramirez, Buster Posey, Justin Turner, and Daniel Murphy used as examples of “not a lot of hand load”
About 2:20 min mark, DeRosa: asks Rhys is he’s conscious about his pre-swing hand movement. Rhys says all he’s worrying about is having some separation between his body and where his hands are during load
About 2:50 min mark, Rhys: “The only thing I’m thinking about is getting my leg up”. Cliff Floyd talks about having a leg kick is a perfection type of approach. Pitchers are trying to disrupt a leg kicker: tempo, changing speeds, etc.
About 3:20 min mark, Floyd says Rhys has something you can’t teach: “He hits the fast-ball, he hits the curve-ball, he hits the change-up”…Floyd says it’s going to be tough to get him out when he covers the plate well and doesn’t like to strikeout.
About 4:00 min mark, Cliff Floyd goes into more detail about a hitter focusing on perfecting the timing of a leg kick, and not worry about anything else, or else you’re screwed. Rhys talks about getting “inside the pitcher’s rhythm in the on-deck circle”. Cliff Floyd comments: “Did I pay attention to what that pitcher really does consistently” with his timing and rhythm in the on-deck circle.
About 5:10 min mark, Mark DeRosa is wanting Rhys to explain the use of his hands and back elbow. Cliff Floyd says if you want the kid to go into a slump keep talking about hands and elbows. Rhys says his thought is “down to the ball”, then adds, “obviously you’re not swinging down like you’re chopping wood.” He’s hoping that thought process will keep him on a level plane in the strike-zone as long as he can.
About 6:10 min mark, talks about “knee to knee”“hover” leg kick. More balance, don’t get over backside.
A lot more good than bad in this video. I wanted to focus on the timing aspect though…
Just to be upfront with you, I’m not one of those instructors that teaches a leg kick to ALL my hitters. I think this is a BIG mistake. If my hitter doesn’t have what I call a “Float” (aka stride type) built into their swing already, then I ask them to experiment a little. Or if what they’re using isn’t effective at getting them on time and dynamically balanced, then we get resourceful.
We experiment with:
A leg kick (medium or high),
Slide step, and
Toe-tap.
By the end, they find that one of these techniques allows them to time the ball better, and it may not be what they started with. We’re looking for what they’re comfortable with, and can execute the swing dynamically balanced.
You heard Rhys Hoskins say,
“The only thing I’m thinking about is getting my leg up”
This was after DeRo prodded him to explain what his hands and back elbow are doing. Cliff Floyd got on DeRo that he’s going to force Rhys into a slump with all this hands talk! lol
Floyd also said that a lot of time and energy needs to be spent on perfecting the timing of the leg kick. He added, “Did I pay attention to what that pitcher really does consistently” with his timing and rhythm in the on-deck circle. This is very important.
Some of my good hitting friends online, who I highly respect in their knowledge, don’t believe timing can be taught or calibrated. I respectfully disagree.
I’ve also heard pitching coaches on the Socials say they lick their lips when seeing a hitter with a leg kick. And you heard Cliff Floyd address a pitcher’s job is to disrupt a leg kicker by changing their delivery tempo, changing speeds, etc.
But then Floyd turns around and compliments Hoskins saying, “He hits the fast-ball, he hits the curve-ball, he hits the change-up”…and adds, it’s going to be tough to get him out when he covers the plate well and doesn’t like to strikeout.
Calibrating a hitter’s timing and pitch recognition training are a deadly combination for pitchers who salivate over seeing a leg kicking hitter. I asked this coach whether he’d salivate over facing Josh Donaldson, Justin Turner, or Mike Trout. He didn’t answer.
Coaches, if you don’t give hitters tools for their toolbox, then they’re up there hitting blind. Don’t make them hit the pinata blind folded!
Here are some resources to take back to your hitters on timing and pitch recognition:
2-Plate and Float Variance Drills(you can also have hitter switch bat sizes and randomly throw different ball types to train timing as well),
You can teach timing. You can teach pitch recognition. Woe to the pitcher that pitches to hitters who train both. The winds of change are a blowin’ for hitters over pitchers. When troubleshooting with your hitters, remember:
The lesson from my school of hard knocks,
How to fix striking out every at-bat in a tournament, and
Timing lessons from Rhys Hoskins.
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!
https://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/rhys-hoskins-swing-breakdown-e1504806470828.png254500Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2017-09-07 18:34:022018-05-17 19:55:16Here Is A Method That is Helping Rhys Hoskins Give Salivating Pitchers Nightmares
A Simple Way To Make Adjustments, Build Swing Tempo, AND Elevate The Ball That Works For Mike Trout & Josh Donaldson
I have a treat for you…
A “grab-bag” of golden nuggets…
The following 11 hitting tips come from my most popular social media non-HPL links of 2016.
To give you an idea,
I typically promote 1 non-HPL link per day on the socials, so that’s 365 links getting put in front of my 20K+ followers.
I get a front row seat to see what coaches think interesting and worth their time.
The following creme-of-the-crop link montage, is arranged in descending order, least clicks to the most.
You’ll find these somewhat of a random sort, but they all relate to hitting, albeit indirectly in some cases.
Happy learning!
#11: 30 Clubs in 30 Days: How Mike Trout Approaches Hitting
This is the featured video above.
Sean Casey interviewed Mike Trout during Spring Training of 2016, where Trout discusses his hitting routine…I jotted down 9 key notes for you:
First few rounds he works on hitting to RCF,
Stay up the middle,
A few times hit the ball to LCF, to stay square with the pitcher,
He mentions not getting too ‘chicken wing’,
Tee work: set it high and ‘get on top of the ball’ (to counteract dropping the shoulder and barrel too much),
10-20 swings trying to hit a ground-ball every time,
In games, sit fastball, react to off-speed and breaking balls,
On top of the plate, back of the batter’s box, and
Work up the middle in games.
All these tips are pretty solid…
…for Mike Trout.
When I posted this, and made a note that Mike Trout is definitely not looking to optimize hitting the high pitch in games,
AND
He’s most definitely NOT trying to ‘get on top of the ball’ in games (both in reference to tip #5 above)…
There were a few men on Facebook that got their panties in a bunch, saying I was calling Mike Trout a liar…yada, yada, yada.
If we look at Mike Trout’s Sabermetrics at FanGraphs.com, the reality is, he’s THE BEST at hitting the low ball…and THE WORST at hitting the high ball.
So WHY does he practice hitting off a high tee?
Another look at Mike Trout’s metrics, and we see he’s:
Well below average in Ground-ball percentage (39.6% v. league average is 44%),
Above average in Line Drive percentage (22.1% v. league average is 20%),
Above average in Fly-ball percentage (38.2% v. league average is 36%), AND
Well above average in his Fly-ball to Home-run ratio (19.6% v. league average is 9.5%).
What does this mean?
It’s a ‘what’s real’ AND ‘what’s feel’ sort of thing…
Because he’s definitely NOT trying to hit ground-balls in games (contradicting hitting tips #5 & #6 from above).
So am I calling Mike Trout a liar…
And, WHY would he practice like this?
Earlier, notice how I said,
“All these tips are pretty solid…for Mike Trout.”
No, I didn’t say that because Mike Trout is a mutant, and only Mike Trout can do that and get away with it.
When coaches say this, it’s a cop out. It means they have no REAL clue what’s REALLY going on.
Here’s where I’m going with this,
And it’s VERY important…
And also WHY I made popular link hitting tip #11 the featured video…
What John Doe Coach missed in the interview was when Trout mentioned he has a tendency to ‘chicken-wing’ and ‘drop his back shoulder and barrel’ too much.
In other words, uppercut too much.
Mike Trout is using these seemingly counter-intuitive hitting tips to make adjustments to his swing’s extreme tendencies.
I’m not calling Mike Trout a liar.
He’s a friggin’ smart competitive athlete.
He knows himself and his swing, and makes the necessary adjustments to stay in the black, and not get too far in the red.
There’s no secret,
Mike Trout is trying to get the ball in the air.
It’s like the advice Lightning McQueen heard in the animated movie Cars, “Turn left to go right”…when attempting to correct a spin-out.
#10: Hitting A Baseball – “The Hardest Thing To Do In Sports”
The parent and player behavior is probably not going to surprise you…
However, I want you to ask yourself the question as you read this,
“How did the coaches respond to the parents that clearly didn’t work?”
How could coach be more effective in dealing with parents in this environment, if a million dollar bet was on the line?
Look, maybe the athletes are spoiled brats, or maybe the coaches just don’t have an effective strategy for dealing with this situation.
In other words, don’t label the players or parents “mean” right away…
Be creative, brainstorm, and future pace how you’d handle this situation.
Because chances are, you will run across this scenario, in some form, in your lifetime.
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!
Most understand Line Drives MUST be the main hitting objective (for a majority of swings), however I want you to compare the Ground-ball metrics to the Fly-ball metrics from the chart above:
A 32-point increase in Batting Average with Ground-ball over a Fly-ball,
A 358-point INCREASE in ISO (or raw power) with Fly-balls over Ground-balls…AND
A 115-point INCREASE in weighted On-Base Average with Fly-Balls over Ground-balls, which according to FanGraphs.com…
“Weighted On-Base Average combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value. While batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage fall short in accuracy and scope, wOBA measures and captures offensive value more accurately and comprehensively.”
So, WHY are we still teaching hitters to hit ground-balls, and NOT to elevate? Beside situational hitting of course.
“Scooter Gennett’s offense has declined every year since he broke into Major League Baseball, are ground balls the reason?”
After careful metric analysis, Shawn Brody the post’s author, says:
“In my mind, Gennett should be closer to his 2014 level of production, which is something he could return to if he put the ball in the air more often.”
Hitting consistent ground-balls will land you on the bench at the higher levels, unless of course you have plus running speed.
In which case, analysis shows that any launch angle above 10-degrees, makes faster running speed irrelevant.
So, what if a hitter hits the ball just plain hard?
Maybe the following #1 link post from my 20K+ followers will shed light on that…
The great case study article discusses how Jon Lester ranks second among Major League hitting pitchers with an average Ball Exit Speed of 92.5-mph.
So, what’s the problem?
Quoted from the article:
“…(He ended up with four hits on the season in 71 plate appearances, a .065/.108/.065 line.) Part of it is that, like many pitchers, contact was an issue — Lester’s 42.3 percent strikeout rate was above the 37.7 percent average for pitchers.”
How could Lester hit the ball so hard without finding much hitting success?
Again, quoted from the article:
“…it’s because 19 of Lester’s 24 tracked batted balls failed to get above 7 degrees of launch angle. Sixteen of those 19 failed to even achieve positive launch angle, which is to say that he pounded the ball into the ground constantly.”
In other words, to get the ball in the air, the hitter MUST have a positive launch angle. About 10-degrees positive will get the ball to the outfield grass…on the “big” field.
If the hitter has a negative or less than 10-degree positive launch angle, THEY WILL:
Hit A LOT of worm burners,
Strikeout more,
NOT get many hits, and
Professionally speaking, NOT make it past A-ball(if they’re lucky enough to make it that far).
Even if they’re lighting up the BES radar guns.
Here’s a BONUS link for ya…
CLICK HERE to read a Cut4 article highlighting Giancarlo Stanton hitting the hardest ball ever recorded by Statcast at 123.9-mph, but it was hit into a 4-6-3 double play.
Here’s the lesson folks…
Line drives tend to be between 10-20 degree positive launch angles (see image above).
Dingers tend to be between 20-40 degree positive launch angles (see image above).
Of course, whether it’s over the fence or not will depend on the Ball Exit Speed.
It’s not enough to hit the ball hard.
Teach hitters to elevate.
Get barrel on path of incoming pitch.
Focus on striking bottom half of ball.
That, my coaching friend, is how to decrease strikeouts, mishits, and weak fly-balls…AND increase BA, ISO, and wOBA.
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!
https://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/josh-donaldson-interview-sean-casey-timing.png432649Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2016-10-21 01:36:392018-12-24 04:53:4911 Popular 2016 Links Revealing How To Make Hitting Great Again
A Simple Way To Train Pitch Recognition That Works For Collegiate & Pro Hitters
Dr. Peter Fadde applies sports science to batting drills focusing on pitch recognition. He’s a Professor in Learning Systems Design & Technology at Southern Illinois University.
CLICK HERE for a great case study featured in the Baseball Collegiate Newspaper titled, “Pitch Recognition Can Be Done By Hitters”, where Dr. Peter Fadde was asked to consult with Southeast Missouri State hitting coach Dillon Lawson on the subject of pitch recognition with his hitters, in March of 2014.
I heard about Dr. Peter Fadde through a few of my readers who saw him speak at the 2015 ABCA conference (ABCA “Doing Damage at the Plate by Training Pitch Recognition” video above).
Since, I’ve read his ebook “The 6th Tool: Training Baseball Pitch Recognition” in less than an hour, corresponded with him via email, and felt it a MUST to put together an interview with him sharing his insights with you.
(NOTE: if you purchase his ebook, and after reading it you like what he has to say, PLEASE leave him a review on Amazon.)
You can see the presentations he’s done, recognition he’s earned, and his current work at his website:
By the way, the pitch recognition hitting drills that Dr. Peter Fadde proposes in The 6th Tool book link above, work well with both baseball and softball hitters at ALL levels, not just at the collegiate and pro levels.
Also, Dr. Peter Fadde is one of the experts in the area of vision, tracking, and timing that has contributed videos to the Reaction Time Mastery online video course.
Without further adieu, here’s the interview… (rhyme intended 😉 )
What are some great drills to practice vision/tracking?
Dr. Peter Fadde meet my readers, readers meet Dr. Peter Fadde 🙂
What I focus on for Pitch Recognition (PR) is separate from vision skills (peripheral vision, dynamic tracking acuity) and tracking.
Sports science calls it a “perceptual-cognitive” skill, meaning that it is vision-based but a mental skill. It’s picking up cues in the pitcher’s wind-up, release, and the first 10-20 feet of ball flight. By picking up advance cues, expert hitters anticipate pitch movement earlier.
The best drill for practicing PR is Bullpen Stand-In Drill. Batters have been standing in forever. The difference here is the batter needs to call out loud “Yes” or “No” BEFORE THE BALL HITS THE CATCHER’S MITT. That’s what turns it from passive tracking to PR practice.
You need to recognize the pitch right out of the pitcher’s hand to get your call made in time. “Yes” can stand for a pitch type (usually Fastball), or for FB in Zone, or Strike, or Swing Ahead in Count — whatever a coach or hitter wants to work on.
Call LOUD so that it is good feedback for pitchers. Bullpen Stand-In Drill is one of six PR drills shown in the “The 6th Tool” eBook.
How do you teach kids to pick up the seams and stay balanced on off-speed pitches?
Kids should practice calling breaking pitches out of the pitcher’s hand, so that they recognize that most curve balls need to “pop up” out of the pitcher’s hand in order to come down in the strike zone. Their eyes and natural tracking want to give up on that pitch. Learning to see it early and plan to attack it should keep mechanics sound.
How do you use vision drills for high school hitters?
A high school hitter can learn the PR drills in the “Sixth Tool“ eBook and then teach a parent or coach as a hitting facility for one-on-one drills. I also have several occlusion videos of High School and College pitchers that are available to coaches or players who get the eBook and email me.
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.
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How can I get my players to recognize which curveball is the right one to hit and which one to take?
Wade Boggs said he could feel his eyes bob up in his head for the hanging curveball. Every batter can use his own clues. The point is to TRAIN yourself not to give up on that pitch. Few high school pitchers can throw a tight enough curveball to have it come out flat and not drop below the strike zone. Learn to jump on that pop up curve rather than giving up on it.
What’s an easy way to explain the concept of vision,tracking, timing a pitch?
Without trying to make things more difficult, I am adding PR as another dimension to Vision and Tracking. The good news is that a batter can get better by improving any or all of the three. A good program includes all three.
What keys does a batter use for tracking the ball prior to the pitch and on the release?
Especially at high school level or lower, pitchers often give pre-release cues. I don’t mean pitch tipping things, like glove position. More like learning to “feel” the pitcher muscling up for his fastball, or throwing up hill for a curve. At release, some batters pick up “skinny wrist” for curveball. Some batters pickup more white or less thrust out of the pitcher’s hand for changeup.
How can I concentrate better and see “the ball hit the bat”?
The science suggests that hitters don’t see the ball hit the bat. Ted Williams said that, contrary to opinion, he did not see the ball hit the bat. “But a master carpenter doesn’t need to see the nail to hit it square every time.”
Concentrate on seeing the pitcher’s motion and release. These aren’t natural and so need direct practice. Tracking to (or near) contact is natural so needs less direct practice. Good PR approach and sound mechanics should generate plenty of good contact.
Again, Dr. Peter Fadde can be reached at the following places online:
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, the ‘Pat & Pop’ Method of giving feedback to his players. The ‘Pat’ is the pat on the back (what they’re doing right), and the ‘Pop’ is the pop in the mouth (calling attention to the mistakes they made).
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Training Baseball Pitch Recognition” in less than an hour, corresponded with him via email, and felt it a MUST to put together an interview with him sharing his insights with you.
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“ eBook and then teach a parent or coach as a hitting facility for one-on-one drills. I also have several occlusion videos of High School and College pitchers that are available to coaches or players who get the eBook and email me.
: Training Baseball Pitch Recognition