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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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Hit Consistent Line Drives How Christian Yelich Is Doing It Better Than Everyone Else

Hit Consistent Line Drives Instead Of Ground Balls & Square Up Baseball Or Softball Using Rope Bat?

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In this Christian Yelich tongue-in-cheek swing analysis, can we discover how to hit more consistent line drives instead of ground balls and square up a baseball or softball better using a Rope Bat?

Here Are 6 Christian Yelich Swing Analysis Hitting Mechanic Strategies Helping Him Dominate (or Not? 🤔)

 

 

WARNING!  This Christian Yelich swing analysis video has been done tongue-and-cheek…sarcastic…mocking…joking…so please don’t send me HATE email because of this cheeky Christian Yelich hitting mechanics video.

Here are some of the topics we cover…

  1. Head movement,
  2. Back knee inside back foot,
  3. Over rotating back foot,
  4. Getting taller,
  5. “Launch angle” swing!
  6. Keep shoulders square (no counter rotation!!!)

By the way, at the beginning of the video, we look at the following Forbes article titled: “NL MVP Christian Yelich, Bucking The Launch Angle Trend”.

We teach our hitters to hit the ball back through the “tube”.  Imagine the pitcher throwing the ball through a tube.  Our hitters must hit the ball back through the tube.  For example is the pitch comes in hitting zone at 4-feet from the ground, then ball comes off bat four-feet off the ground.  If ball comes in two-inches off ground, then ball comes off bat two-inches off ground.

Consider this…

Major League average batted ball type percentages:

  • Line Drives = 20%
  • Ground-balls = 43%
  • Fly-balls = 38%

20% of the time the best in the world are hitting a line drive, and 80% of the time they’re miss hitting a line drive.  By hitting the ball back through the tube, the hitter matches the plane of the pitch better.  If ball is hit above or below the tube, then we use the adjustment principle paradoxical intention to get back to the tube.

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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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Rope Bat Review: Swing Training Aid To Fix Youth Bat Drag In Baseball Softball Hitters

Rope Bat Review: Swing Training Aid To Fix Youth Bat Drag In Baseball Softball Hitters | Modern Hitting Mechanics Video Guide Breakdown

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In this Rope Bat review, you’ll discover a swing training aid to fix youth bat drag in baseball and softball hitters.  Learn about “shifting foot pressure” in this modern hitting mechanics video guide swing breakdown.

Baseball Swing Drills: Improve Bat Lag & Forward Momentum On The On-Deck Circle With The RopeBat

 

 

This is Part-2 of a 3-part baseball swing drills Ropebat (works well for softball too) video series coming straight out of the Reaction Time Mastery online video course…

Baseball Swing Drills Ropebat: Reaction Time Mastery

Sick of struggling to get your hitters on-time, balanced, and keeping high Ball Exit Speeds, especially while hitting off-speed and breaking pitches?  This online video course (7-modules total) reveals cutting edge science on the topics of: Vision, Tracking, Timing, and Forward Momentum.  Finally, you’ll be able to track pitches crystal clear, accelerate reaction time decision-making, & get ON-TIME without losing swing effectiveness with this “secret” online video course you can’t live without.

If you haven’t already, then CLICK the Link below to…

In this baseball swing drills video, we’ll discuss the following:

  • Rope Bat benefits to bat lag,
  • Forward Momentum Drill using Rope Bat, and
  • Top-hand finger pressure bat lag drill…

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 Swing Drills RopeBat Benefits to ‘Bat Lag’

‘Bat Lag’ is the beautiful result of fascial lines in the torso being CONNECTED to what the explosive rotational athlete is holding in their hand or hands.

See image of Josh Donaldson to the right.  Look how his hands are positioned between his elbows (odd camera angle to see this I know).

Which is to say, the barrel position in space and time in this image is perceived by A LOT of coaches as being waaaaay too long.

They add that Josh Donaldson is just strong and can get away with a ‘long barrel’ like that.

And they’re WRONG.  Dead wrong!!

The difference between ‘The Bringer of Rain’, and those youth hitters that DO HAVE long swings is this…

‘Bat Drag’ (the evil one) is one of a racing back elbow.

The following baseball swing drills using the Rope Bat, particularly the Top-Hand Finger Pressure Drill, will be a lethal combination to crushing the ‘EVIL ONE’…

Forward Momentum using Rope Bat

Baseball Swing Drills Ropebat: Mickey Mantle Shifting Foot Pressure

The Mick’s first phase of shifting foot pressure. Photo courtesy: http://s685.photobucket.com/user/BillBurgess

In the HPL article titled, “Crush the Ball Like Mickey Mantle”, I went over his shifting foot pressure (aka Forward Momentum.  Quoted from the article,

“We can see from the moment he lifts his stride foot to that foot touching down that his foot pressure looks like this:

  • Back foot pressure – is on the outside, and
  • Stride foot pressure – is on the inside.

As Mickey Mantle’s stride foot lands the foot pressure shifts as follows:

  • Back foot pressure – moves to the inside, and
  • Stride foot pressure – moves to the outside.”

Before using shifting foot pressure baseball swing drills using the Rope Bat, a hitter must FIRST get comfortable executing shifting foot pressure without a bat, then with, then progressing to using the Rope Bat.

These are the proper progressions to get a younger hitter acclimated to the new skill.

 

Top-Hand Finger Pressure Bat Lag Drill using RopeBat

Baseball Swing Drills Ropebat: Finger Pressure

We used a couple ‘racing back elbow’ fixes for Zack, but it wasn’t until we used top hand finger pressure, that the fix stuck. It took two 30-min sessions, a week apart.

Nothing banishes Bat Drag like top hand finger pressure…

Bottom three fingers of the top hand only (pinky, ring, and middle fingers)…

Start squeezing these fingers when the hitter picks up their front foot, and hold the finger pressure well past impact.

This activates the springy fascia connecting what Thomas Myers, in his book Anatomy Trains, calls the Front Arm Lines to the multiple lines mapped throughout the torso.

CLICK HERE for the “Babe Ruth Reveals Hand Tension?” Zepp swing experiment I did testing this.  And a big THANKS goes out to Lee Comeaux for shedding even more light on this strategy.

Like I mentioned earlier, combining top hand finger pressure while swinging the Rope Bat, is a LETHAL combination for crushing ‘Bat Drag’.

Improve a hitter’s ‘Bat Lag’ and shifting foot pressure by having them swing the Rope Bat on the on-deck circle.

Unfortunately, you can’t hit baseballs, softballs, or tennis balls with it.  But whiffles are fine.  However, I think the magic in the Rope Bat, is in dry swings anyway. Baseball swing drills (works well with softball too) that promote a hitter’s tempo and cadence are worth their weight in gold.

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