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The Rope Bat Review: Training Aid Teaches Place Hitting Mechanics To Opposite Field Drills

The Rope Bat Review: Training Aid Teaches Place Hitting Mechanics To Opposite Field Drills

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Discover in the Rope Bat review how this training aid teaches hitters place hitting mechanical drills to consistently drive the ball to the opposite field.  Great to teach right handed pull hitters to hit to right field (and opposite for lefties)…

The Rope Bat: How To Take The Headache Out Of Barrel Path (A Case Study)

 

 

Ropebat: Liam Case Study

There are 10-days between these two videos.

(If you have a legit “down swinger”, then this Ropebat post will benefit them!)

Here’s what I have for you…

I was recently working on smoothing out the barrel path of one of my 15 year old local hitters Liam…

He had what I’ve heard called a Verizon check mark barrel path BEFORE.  We worked on smoothing out the check mark into more of a curved Nike Swoosh barrel path.

What’s amazing about Liam’s transformation was that:

  • It only took ten days,
  • It took two total 30-minute sessions (beginning of session three was when the AFTER video was taken), and
  • Liam only had access to the Ropebat during our sessions. After session number-three, his mom went ahead and purchased one for home use.*

*Results aren’t typical. Liam has a primary “feel” learning style, so the Ropebat worked well for him – and not to mention quickly with minimal use.

In the above video, we go over:

  • Question a High School coach had for me at 2017 ABCA conference about changing barrel path,
  • The Verizon check mark versus Nike Swoosh barrel path, and
  • The RopeBat cues I use in conjunction with the “feel” of the Ropebat.

CLICK HERE for the original full Ropebat post I did awhile back that shows the swing drill we used.  Or you can get it at our store here.  The Ropebat is my favorite hitting aid for helping hitters learn a solid middle away and middle down barrel path.  Great for hitting line drives to the opposite field!

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Rope Bat Review Baseball Softball Hitting Training Aid How To Hit To Opposite Field

Rope Bat Review: Best Place Hitting Aid Drill To Hit Opposite Field Home Runs For Baseball, Softball, & Slow Pitch Pull Hitters

In this Rope Bat review, discover the best place hitting aid training drill to hit opposite field home runs for baseball, fastpitch softball, and slow pitch softball pull hitters!

What Is The #1 Pitch Location Focus Against Hitters?

 

 

Now, if you guessed down or outside, then you’re on the right track. How do we teach hitters to consistently smash the ball to the opposite field? Two things MUST be considered:

  1. When the barrel enters the zone, and…
  2. Where the contact point is.

One of my favorite hitting aids for feeling this is the Rope Bat. In the above video, I  demonstrate one of my favorite ways to teach hitters how to consistently smash the ball to the opposite field, which I call the “Deep, Deep” opposite field hitting drill.

But before I get there, let’s talk about setup.  You’ll notice I’m in a small confined space for those parents that have the same challenge with being able to work on hitting stuff.

Like I said, there are two things you want to be concerned with: when the barrel enters the zone and where the contact point is.  For this drill we’ll only setup the two (of three) catcher’s glove markers for Deep, Deep…

  • Set baseball or softball right under where the real catcher’s glove would be, and
  • Set another baseball or softball right under where a catcher’s glove would be IF his glove were inline with the hitter’s back foot.

Click this link to see contact points batting tee setup.   If throwing LIVE, then make sure that whoever is throwing is targeting middle away or middle down in the zone.

And what we can do with the rope bat is we can get the hitter to feel deep deep deep barrel, deep contact by knocking off the back catcher’s glove, the real catcher’s glove and then passing right over the deep contact point. So we want to let it get deep and hit it deep.

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Hitting Training For Baseball & Softball Swing Trainers | Hitting Performance Lab

How To Hit To Opposite Field Drills For Baseball, Fastpitch, & Slowpitch Softball | Drive Inside (Pulling) And Outside Pitches, Right & Left Handed Hitters

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Discover how to hit to the opposite field using tried and true drills for baseball, fastpitch, and slow pitch softball players.  Drive the inside (or pulling the ball) and outside pitches.  Works for both right and left handed hitters.

How To Teach “Pull Happy” Hitters An Opposite Field Approach

 

 

 

I Need Your Help…

But before I get to the “BIG ask”,

How to Hit to the Opposite Field: Jim Thome, Mark DeRosa, & Lauren Shehadi

Mark DeRosa and Jim Thome helping Lauren Shehadi of MLBNetwork to hit to the opposite field. Photo courtesy: MLBNetwork YouTube Channel

I want you to watch the video above, where Mark DeRosa and Jim Thome help teach Lauren Shehadi how to hit the ball to the opposite field (she claims to be a chronic pull hitter).

It’s a fun video with some cool sticky coaching stuff in it.

In the video, please pay particular attention to the following:

  • What are some of the things either Thome or DeRo offered Lauren that didn’t work?
  • What were some of the things either Thome or DeRo offered that did work?
  • What did Lauren do when she didn’t understand a concept “Don’t bail out”, and then what did DeRo/Thome do or say to clarify?
  • Notice the use of positive reinforcement when she did something right…more on this at a later date, I’m currently reading a GAME CHANGING book for coaches called Don’t Shoot The Dog that goes more into this.  Sorry, only paperback version available on Amazon.

CLICK HERE for a post revealing THE secret to hitting to the opposite field OR how learn how to pull the ball like turning on a light switch.  This is what I refer to as Hitting Strategy #2 (of 7).  We’ve had barrel path wrong for so long, until now.

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

Now, here are a couple “BIG asks” (you don’t have to answer all)…

  • What are the top two mistakes you see coaches make teaching pull happy hitters to hit to the opposite field?
  • What are your top two drills, sticky coaching cues, and/or hitting aids that consistently help pull happy hitters hit “oppo”?
  • If you had only 4 weeks – and a million dollars on the line – to train a pull happy hitter to hit with power to the opposite field, what would the training look like?

Pull happy hitting is going to be a MAJOR challenge as hitters climb the playing career ladder.  Extreme shifts are becoming a reality nowadays.

Great baseball minds like Homer Bush said in his book Hitting Low In The Zone,  that in order to hit .300, hitters MUST be able to lift the low pitch AND hit the ball to the opposite field.

Consider this quote from Justin Turner, who at the time of this writing is hitting .364 with 11 HR’s and 19 2B’s (a little over halfway through the season):

“Today, with the way defenses shift, you’re out.  Especially if you don’t run that well.  You don’t beat the shift by hitting around it or through it, you beat the shift by hitting over it.”

Someday your hitters will face a shift, and if they aren’t prepared, they’ll fail way more than they have to.  Be proactive coaches.

THANK YOU in advance for YOUR comments 😀

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