Posts

NCAA & NCSA College Softball Recruiting: What Hitting Coaches Look For And How To Get Recruited 2023

NCAA & NCSA College Softball Recruiting: What Hitting Coaches Look For And How To Get Recruited 2023 | Pitch Recognition Training & Drills To See Ball Better

,

Learn about NCAA and NCSA college softball recruiting about what hitting coaches look for and how to get recruited in 2023.  Also, discover what pitch recognition training and drills to see the softball better from a division one college softball hitting coach…

Podcast Interview With Division-1 College Softball Hitting Coach Justin Lewis

 

 

In this softball practice drills interview with Justin Lewis, Softball Hitting Coach for the Fresno State Bulldog softball team, we’ll be looking at…

  • How did you get to being the hitting coach for Fresno State softball?
  • What do you do when you come into a new program?
  • What are you looking for when recruiting hitters?
  • Do you guys do game planning?
  • Do you have your girls hunt the rise ball?
  • Softball practice drills: do you do pitch recognition stuff with the girls?
  • You’re getting ready in a short amount of time? What’s high priority right now?
  • Anything else that you’re working on?

Coach Justin and I ran into each other a few years back when he was doing his Coaching Minds podcast.  Justin is a good friend of mine, so I think you’ll enjoy learning about softball practice drills and many other things a coach has to deal with coming into a program during COVID…

Below is the audio transcription of the interview.  CLICK HERE to download the transcription PDF. This is one of 24 expert interviews included in my new Swing Smarter book.

Enjoy!

0 Comments/by
STOP: Head Movement, Lunging, Drifting, & Front Shoulder From Flying Open In Baseball Swing

STOP: Head Movement, Lunging, Drifting, & Front Shoulder From Flying Open In Baseball & Softball Swing

, ,

STOP when hitting NOW: head movement, lunging at the ball, drifting in the swing, and the front shoulder from flying open in the baseball or softball swing.

Ryan Braun Swing Breakdown…

 

 

In the first installment of the Hitting Backwards: 4 Common Mistakes Hitters Make video series, featuring Ryan Braun, we’re analyzing why “Sitting Back” is so destructive to friction-free mechanics.  The WHY boils down to a strange word…

According to IdeaFit.com,

“Proprioception is the body’s ability to transmit a sense of position, analyze that information and react (consciously or unconsciously) to the stimulation with the proper movement (Houglum 2001).”

The brain does whatever it needs to balance physical movement.  Let’s discuss the following compensations caused by “Sitting Back”:

  • Eyes and head shift forward during Final Turn,
  • Lunging, and
  • Front shoulder flies open.

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

Eyes and Head to Shift Forward During Final Turn

Ryan Braun’s friction-free swing is like snapping a towel.  Throw the towel end towards the intended target, then quickly snap it back.  We’re getting eye-head movement out of the way early, then shifting our spine up and back towards the catcher –  snapping the barrel into the impact zone.  Ryan Braun does this!

Sitting back makes the hitter do the opposite…

  • Keep the hitter back till the last possible second, then
  • The hitter has to shift their weight forward to counter-balance because of proprioception, and
  • As a result, shifts the head and eyes forward.

 

Lunging

What’s your definition of lunging?  When Ryan Braun lands his front foot, his knee virtually floats above his ankle. My definition of lunging is when the front knee continues to float over or passed the ankle during the Final Turn.  It’s a very ineffective position to hit in because the head will continue moving forward.

Here’s how sitting back causes lunging:

  1. Hitter shifts weight to back leg,
  2. Reaches out softly with the stride foot, like a cat (and oftentimes too early)
  3. Waits till ball is on the way, then
  4. Because the body isn’t balanced, the brain shifts the hitter’s weight forward with no hope of getting back,
  5. So the hitter continues forward until he or she hits (or misses) something.

 

Front Shoulder Flies Open

Unlike Ryan Braun, most ‘Sit Back’ hitters:

  1. Have hand dominant swings.  Since the shoulders are closest to the hands, they have to start earlier to get the hands working.
  2. Don’t set up the natural rotation counter-rotation relationship of the pelvis and shoulders* before the front foot hits the ground.  This causes the shoulders to compensate and open prematurely.
  3. Open their hips and shoulders at the same time.  If this happens, a hitter will max out at 60-70% of their ability to transfer energy efficiently from body –> to barrel –> to ball.  This put smaller hitters at a disadvantage by dramatically decreasing power output.
  4. Have a difficult time keeping the front shoulder in with off speed and breaking balls.  It’s easy for pitchers to disrupt a Sit Back hitter’s timing.  Their brain is focused on too many things at once: timing, proprioception, and pitch speed/location (because of late head-eye movement).

*CLICK HERE for an in-depth look at spine engine mechanics according to Dr. Erik Dalton.  Read below the subtitle, “The Spring-Loaded Spiraling Spine”.

CLICK HERE for Part-2 to the Hitting Backwards video saga, where we’ll analyze Adrian Gonzalez and Common Mistake #2: loading the swing incorrectly…

6 Comments/by
Hitting Training For Baseball & Softball Swing Trainers | Hitting Performance Lab

Pitch Recognition Swing Timing Batting Drills To Keep Eye On & See Ball Better For Baseball Or Softball Hitting

Learn about these pitch recognition swing training timing batting drills to help keep your eye on and see the ball better for baseball or softball hitters.

Batting Baseball: Discover 4-Secrets To Tracking & Timing

Batting Baseball: Discover 4-Secrets To Tracking & Timing

Bob Gibson photo courtesy: BleacherReport.com

Thank you Dr. Mitchell Fung for your questions during our hitting session this week.  I also had a reader bring this up recently, so I figured the following Batting Baseball FAQ was worth doing (works for softball too):

  • Broad v. Fine Focus,
  • Fast v. Slow “Stuff”,
  • Fisherman OR Hunter? and
  • “Start slow and early”.

 

Broad v. Fine Focus

According to Wikipedia, Coach Bob Bennett retired with a 1,302-759-4 win-loss record. #26 was the first number ever retired by Fresno State. He was once president of the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) as well. He was inducted into the ABCA Hall of Fame and College Baseball Hall of Fame (2010).

I was lucky enough to learn batting baseball tips from Coach Bennett as a player for three years, and to have had multiple conversations over lunch, with him since.

When it comes to batting baseball vision and tracking, Coach Bennett talked about having Broad v. Fine Focus.  Broad Focus would be looking at a spot on the pitcher’s chest, overall physique, or delivery.  It’s basically a rest period for the eyes.

You see, the eyes are highly attracted to movement.  They LOVE to dart and “space out”.  And HATE to stop and stare at one object for any length of time.  Broad Focus is good until after the pitcher breaks his or her’s hands.

Then…

A hitter uses Fine Focus by shifting the eyes to the pitcher’s release point window.

 

Fast v. Slow “Stuff”

I tell my lower level batting baseball hitters to look for either fast or “slow stuff”.  95+% of the time, at the Little League level, hitters should be looking for fast stuff.  It’s rare getting a pitcher to throw slow stuff for consistent strikes.

I use the Batting Baseball Random Pitch Drill, where hitters:

  • Are to look for either fast OR slow stuff (they can’t tell me),
  • Have to stick to their “plan” through a 5-swing round (then evaluate after), and
  • Have to hold their “mechanical layers” together (whatever they’re working on).

CLICK HERE to read a Cal Poly baseball study as to why “massed practice” doesn’t develop good game hitters.  The Random Pitch Drill is geared for zero-or-one-strike counts.  Of course, with 2-strikes, the hitter has to cover ALL pitches.

 

Fisherman OR Hunter?

One of my friends and blog readers from Canada, Bob Hall, shared this batting baseball tip with me awhile back.

He took a “beast” of a hitter, his son Quin, to a showcase camp where a scout revealed a simplified hitting strategy.  You’re either a:

  1. Fisherman – throws bait out and waits for fish to bite, OR
  2. Hunter – that stalks their prey…

I tell my hitters, when the pitcher is wild, then be a fisherman.  When they’re throwing a lot of strikes, then become a hunter.  I work this in with my hitters during the Random Pitch Drill…somedays I’m wild OR am trying to bait them in biting on slow stuff (when I know they’re looking for fast), and in these cases, they become a fisherman.

 

“Start Slow & Early”

This was the “magic pill” Jose Bautista swallowed (featured commentary in the video above) before the 2010 season.  It’s a batting baseball glimpse into explaining how he changed his swing.

I explain this to my hitters in this way…imagine an Olympic archer looking to use precision to hit the bullseye of a target.  He or she uses the bow string to load that arrow with potential energy.  They start slow and early.  Once the decision is made to release all that potential energy (the arrow/bow string), BOOM!  The arrow explodes to its target.

The batting baseball hitter needs to think about preparing their swing the same way.  Take it from Joey Bats, one of the smallest big hitters in baseball!

18 Comments/by
Correct Head Position Swing Drill To See Ball Better When Hitting A Baseball & Softball

Correct Head Position Swing Drill To See Ball Better When Hitting A Baseball & Softball While Batting

,

Discover this correct head position swing drill that will help see the ball better when hitting a baseball or softball while batting.

Baseball Batting Drills For Youth: Make This Head Position Mistake And Dramatically Decrease Batted Ball Distance (Neck Brace Drill)

 

 

This is Part-2 of a 3-part baseball batting drills for youth video series coming straight out of the Catapult Loading System online video mini-course…

baseball batting drills for youth: The Catapult Loading System

Sick of struggling with getting your hitters to hit the ball hard with more consistency?  This is a simple 7-module online video mini-course that will help hitters weighing less than 100-pounds, hit the ball consistently over 300-feet in 60 days.  You’ll be able to dramatically increase power without sacrificing swing quality.

CLICK the Link below to…

baseball batting drills for youth

 

In this baseball batting drills for youth video post, I’ll be walking you through the Neck Brace Drill.  We’ll be going over:

  • The One-Joint Rule
  • Head movement that is okay
  • Jace Case Study: BEFORE & AFTER of Neck Brace Drill

 

The One-Joint Rule

Dr. Kelly Starrett from TheReadyState.com, gives a perfect explanation of this in the following video (watch at about the 4:00 minute mark):

 

Baseball Batting Drills for Youth: Head Movement that is Okay

Baseball Batting Drills for Youth: Andrew McCutchen Breaking One-Joint Rule

Andrew McCutchen breaking One-Joint Rule photo courtesy: MLB.com

What’s better, and thanks to Dr. Kelly Starrett’s explanation above, we can look at what head movement IS NOT okay through impact:

  1. Chin to chest,
  2. Head back (like looking at the sky), and
  3. Ear into rear shoulder (for a righty, right ear to right shoulder).

Major League example of #1 is Andrew McCutchen (image to the right).  Major League examples of #2 are Bryce Harper and Derek Jeter.

The only head movement that is okay through impact is a slight head turn.  Generally speaking, the head position we want to model is during the follow through.

 

 

Jace Case Study: BEFORE & AFTER of Neck Brace DrillBaseball Batting Drills for Youth: Jace BEFORE/AFTER Neck Brace Drill

I was able to experiment with the baseball batting drills for youth Neck Brace Drill with Jace, who’s one of my 10-year-old hitters that is 66-pounds.

Tiny compared to his peers.

However, over the last 6 months of hitting with me, and off a traditional batting tee, he now consistently registers 50-54-mph Ball Exit Speed with a non-wood bat.

In other words, Jace has the ability to hit the ball well over 200-feet, depending on the launch angle of the ball.

Now, we’ve been wrestling with his ‘bobblehead’ position for quite some time, and a big THANK YOU for the tip goes out to Coach Todd Bradley, head softball coach at Campbell University, the difference in one 45-minute session using the Neck Brace Drill can be seen in the image to the right.

Just about the same soft tossed pitch height.

Jace is still not perfect yet, but we’re getting there.

I know the baseball batting drills for youth we talked about in this post, will help your hitters and their head positioning up to, at, and passed impact.

Click the following Amazon links to get the same simple foam Youth Neck Brace & Adult Neck Brace that we used with Jace.

6 Comments/by
See Ball Better & Improve Your Swing! | Watch Mike Trout's Swing Breakdown

See Ball Better Examples, Keep Eye On Ball Drills, Head Position In, Or Still Baseball & Softball Hitting Tips For Kids

,

Discover how to see the ball better with batting examples from this Mike Trout swing analysis.  Learn keep eye on the ball drills and head position in and still baseball or softball hitting tips for kids.

Mike Trout Video: Why Consistency Won’t Improve

 

 

Mike Trout: 3 Reasons Why Consistency Won't Improve

Posted to Hitting Performance Lab’s Facebook page…

…This three-part video series will analyze how to optimize vision, tracking, and timing.  This Part-1 video, featuring Mike Trout, will be unwrapping how the best mechanics in the world mean nothing without proper vision.  In this game, we live and die by how consistent we are.

In this post, we’ll go over:

  • Physically impossible to keep eyes on the ball,
  • How much and when head movement is okay, and
  • Building consistency with vision.

CLICK HERE for an interesting academic study on six elite female shot putters.  Results found head movement during rotation can influence the movements of the limbs and trunk.

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

Physically Impossible to Keep Eyes on the Ball

In a study by A. Terry Bahill, titled “Baseball Players Cannot Keep Their Eyes on the Ball”, his findings say this:

“We have shown that no one could keep his eye continuously on the ball as it flies from the pitcher to the plate.  For our professional athlete, the ball was always more than 2-degrees off his fovea before it came within 5-ft of the plate.  However, when the ball is off your fovea, you can still see with peripheral vision.  However, with peripheral vision, the ball would only appear as a white blur, you would not see details.”

The finding that was most interesting in the study, using University students as a control for the study, was:

“Most of our student subjects tracked the ball with either head movements alone or eye movements alone, but not both…After the ball crossed the plate, the students usually made large eye or head movements, whereas the gaze of the professional athlete was quite steady…The stance of our professional athlete was very repeatable.  At the beginning of the pitch, his head position was the same (within 1-degree) for each of the three experimental pitches we recorded.  When he was looking at the ball in the beginning of the experiment, his eyes were rotated 22-degrees to the left; his head was rotated left 65-degrees (yaw), was bowed down 23-degrees (pitch), and was tilted right 12-degrees (roll).”

The professional hitter in the study was right handed.

What’s interesting with hitters like Mike Trout, is that they have to use a bit of head and eye movement when tracking the incoming pitch.  Not one or the other. However, nobody on earth, EVER, has been proven to keep both eyes on a pitched ball continuously to home plate.

In the study, A. Terry Bahill said, in order to do that, the ball would have to be traveling at around 25-mph, in which case, it would NEVER reach home plate in softball or baseball.

 

How Much and When Head Movement is Okay

Olympic throwers move their heads forward (including Javelin, Discus, and Hammer).  Lacrosse players do too.  And so do Pitchers!

For a hitter like Mike Trout, forward head movement, dropping the “eye-line”,  are okay…until landing.  I say, get head movement out of the way early.  Mike Trout does strikeout quite a bit, which may be attributed to the dropping eye line.

The hitter told to “Sit back”, keeps the head still early, but moves it after the landing position and during the Final Turn.  This is not good for improving consistency.

 

Building Vision Consistency like Mike Trout

How-to improve consistency with vision:

  • Understand the swing is a “snapping towel” (forward first, then back),
  • Keep head in-line with spine,
  • Use the study finding parameters above, to know how much head and eye movement keeps consistency, and
  • Maintain a moderate swing tempo and relax the jaw (not over-swinging).

CLICK HERE for the Josh Hamilton Part-2 Video: Coaches Don’t Tell You This (About Timing)…

10 Comments/by
Sybervision Systems: How To NOT Squish A Bug, Transfer Weight, & Keep Head Position Still

Sybervision Systems Motor Skill Acquisition: Why Squishing Bug During Baseball Softball Swing Is Bad | Weight Transfer & Footwork Modeling | Keep Head Hitting Position Still, Down, & Eye On Ball

, , ,

Discover the power of Sybervision systems motor skill acquisition.  Using elite swing modeling, you can easily see why squishing the bug during the baseball or softball swing is bad.  And what weight transfer and footwork is suppose to look like.  Learn how the best keep their head hitting position still, down, and their eyes “on” the ball.

Watch Perfect Action Over And Over, Subconscious Mind and Muscle Memory Will Start To Incorporate The Actions…

 

 

(Disclaimer: my swing isn’t perfect, so please be nice in the comments.  Not even the fat old guy with the burner accounts and glasses has a perfect swing).

I had heard of Sybervision back in the early to mid-1990’s, when someone told me about a Baseball With Rod Carew instructional VHS hitting video you could watch over and over of him hitting, and “magically” you’d start moving just like him!  At least that’s what I thought about it at the time, but there actually is some merit to it.

Some call Sybervision the Neuropsychology of self discipline, and has a basis in visual modeling — how we  learn and assimilate (neurologically, psychologically, and cognitively) skills and behaviors from the observation of others.

It is based on research conducted by Steve DeVore, and Dr. Karl Pribram, a brain scientist (who postulated the holographic brain theory) at the Stanford University’s Neuropsychological Research Laboratories.

One of the grand-dads of two hitters I worked with this past summer, Paul Rosemont, said this of Sybervision:

“The Sybervision concept is that if someone watches perfect action over and over, their subconscious mind and muscle memory will start to incorporate the actions. It’s ideal to view it before practicing but just viewing it is still supposed to work. The system was used years ago on college and Olympic level athletes.”

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

By the way, Paul took the time to have my swings edited into the above video we’re sharing with you today, using the Sybervision technique.

Along the same lines, utilizing shorter clips of Big Leaguers, and without the different views, one of my online lesson dads Victor Canseco made the following two videos using the same Sybervision concept.  They’re cropped to specific aspects of the swing, to help his son Harrison get the concepts we were working on with him…

 

Back Foot Skip

 

 

Please CLICK HERE for the Back Foot Variance Drill I use with my hitters.

 

Head Movement & One-Joint Rule

 

 

Please CLICK HERE for the One-Joint Rule Drill I use with my hitters.

Thank you Paul and Victor!

5 Comments/by
Keep Head Position Still, Eyes On, & See Ball Better Baseball Softball Hitting With Stride Length

Keep Head Position Still, Eyes On, & See Ball Better Baseball Softball Stride Length Hitting | Swing Drills For Batting

Learn how to keep a hitter’s head position still, eyes on the ball, and see the baseball or softball better hitting with stride length.  Discover how in these batting swing drills.

Why Late Head Movement Fails & Early Head Movement Succeeds

 

 

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

Softball Hitting Tips for Kids: 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…

Get Access to The Reaction Time Mastery Online Video Course

In this softball hitting tips for kids video post, we’ll be answering the following reader questions:

“What is your opinion of FOMO’s [Forward Momentum] impact on being able to hit the curveball? Wide stance vs. Narrow Stance in relationship to FOMO. Does wider give more balance and ability to see the ball better, recognize curveball?”

We’ll discuss:

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

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

Myth of ‘Keeping the Head Still’ 

Softball Hitting Tips for Kids: Sierra Romero Head Movement

Use the blue pole (red arrow is pointing to) as a frame of reference, and compare to Sierra Romero’s head position…down and forward. Photo courtesy of YouTube user: Tony Jimenez

CLICK HERE for a post I did analyzing Mike Trout’s swing titled, “Why Consistency Won’t Improve”.  I cited a study that found it’s a physical impossibility to continuously follow the ball to the plate (for both baseball and softball), with both eyes, unless the ball is traveling 21mph, in which case, it wouldn’t make it to EITHER plate.

As the Bahill study in the above article suggests, it’s critical the hitter uses both head AND eye movements for tracking.  And even more vital, is that the hitter is consistent with the pitch, roll, and yaw positions of the head.

CLICK HERE for a very candid Washington Post article featuring Greg Maddux titled, “Baseball Hall of Fame: Greg Maddux used methodical approach to get to Cooperstown”.  He discussed how to make every pitch he threw look eerily similar to the hitter.

He likened this strategy to how the eyes make adjustments to driving on the freeway at high speeds.  In other words, even though the odometer has read 70-mph for the past hour, your eyes may perceive your speed to be 30-mph.

According to A. Terry Bahill, their are four eye movement systems that help keep the eye fovea on the object of interest (a pitched ball):

  1. Saccadic – used in reading text or scanning a roomful of people,
  2. Vestibulo-Ocular – used to maintain fixation during head movements,
  3. Vergence – used when looking between near and far objects, and
  4. Smooth-Pursuit – used when tracking a moving object.

Bahill says these four eye movement systems have four independent control systems.

You see, we have the necessary equipment to move, track, and hit a moving object…especially when pitch speeds are being manipulated.

Which leads us to softball hitting tips for kids involving…

 

Proprioception & Dynamic Movement

Softball Hitting Tips for Kids: Head Movement During Stages Leading up to Contact

For more clarification on this, please CLICK this graph, from the Dan Farnsworth FanGraphs article, and read under the “Keep Your Head Still” sub-title & below the graph.

So I don’t have to cover material that I’ve already covered in depth…

CLICK HERE to read a post titled, “Perfect Swing Hacking with Forward Momentum”.  Pay special attention to the section sub-titled, “Balance without Thinking”.

In the same post, read the next section sub-titled, “Debunking a Common Objection & a Study”. In that part of the post, I mention a FanGraphs.com analysis that Dan Farnsworth did about the top 50 hitters in 2012.  ZERO of them had zero head movement pre-Final Turn.

The verdict is in…

Here’s an important ABSOLUTE to hitting…

Early head movement is okay, pre-Final Turn.  But late head movement isn’t, during the Final Turn.

First Baseman Stretching to Receive a Throw

Softball Hitting Tips for Kids: Chris Davis stretching to a throw

Chris Davis doing the splits to receive a throw. Photo courtesy: i.ytimg.com

Every dynamically moving athlete, whether they’re throwing a ball, hammer, javelin, discus, or swinging a bat moves their head and eyes towards their target before actually throwing or swinging their respective objects.

Here’s another good example,

For a moment, imagine a first base-person stretching to receive a throw from the left side of the diamond…

What are their head and eyes doing in anticipation of the catch?

Are they traveling forward and down?

To ensure the catch, they moving their eyes to as close to impact with the glove as possible.

Same with hitting.  Hitters should ‘get shorter’ to landing, and ‘stay shorter’ during the turn.

So far, we know that the brain is fully capable of thriving in a forward moving environment.  Additionally, Forward Momentum’s impact on hitting a curveball has more benefits than cons…

One of the benefits comes from the first of Newton’s 3 Laws of Motion…

“An object either remains at rest or continues to move at a constant velocity, unless acted upon by a force.”

In other words, it’s easier to keep a body moving that’s ALREADY MOVING (meaning transferring Forward into Rotational Momentum).  Contrary to getting a body at rest, moving again.

Let’s finish these softball hitting tips for kids with…

 

Watching TV Upside Down

Softball Hitting Tips for Kids: Watching TV Upside Down

Photo courtesy: http://www.farah.net.au/

Have you ever done this?

Try it as an experiment.  Watch a movie/show and note how strange everyone looks as they seem to ‘bob’ up and down when they walk.

Yep, when we walk OUR HEAD AND EYES move!!!

By the way, this also happens when we run, grab a can of soup out of the pantry, or are a part of a Navy Seal team doing a ‘sweep’ in a hostile target’s house.

Remember when I brought up the Greg Maddux article about the eyes adjusting to speed and movement?

Remember the four eye movement systems that A. Terry Bahill mentioned in his study?

Remember us talking about the role that proprioception plays in dynamic movement?

Returning to the original softball hitting tips for kids reader questions:

 “What is your opinion of FOMO’s [Forward Momentum] impact on being able to hit the curveball? Wide stance vs. Narrow Stance in relationship to FOMO. Does wider give more balance and ability to see the ball better, recognize curveball?”

Forward Momentum is a MUST to have the ability to CRUSH  curveball.  Wide or narrow stance doesn’t matter, just as long as the hitter looks like they can make an athletic move, and not in the extremes of the two.

However, Forward Momentum or shifting foot pressure MUST be present to be an effective hitter.

The question of balance and the ability to recognize off-speed pitches, has to do with the environment that we train our hitters in.

Think about the Navy Seal ‘sweep’ team…if they trained at the gun range by standing still and shooting a stationary target…I don’t think they’d be very effective at hitting their ‘target’.

They’re trained not only to hit moving targets from a stationary position (think snipers), but they’re also trained to shoot a moving target while moving themselves!

The bottom line to softball hitting tips for kids is this…

Softball hitting tips for kids MUST include:

  • Practicing some form of Forward Momentum or shifting foot pressure,
  • Varying batting practice distances,
  • Hitting random pitching during batting practice,
  • Doing active sit-ins during pitcher bullpens,
  • Training to recognize not only pitch spin, but pitch shapes…

We cover ALL of these softball hitting tips for kids in The Reaction Time Mastery online video course mentioned at the beginning of this post.

6 Comments/by
Hitting Drills To STOP Pulling Head Off In Baseball Or Softball Swing

Hitting Drills To STOP Pulling Head Off In Baseball Or Softball Swing | Balance Position When Batting

, ,

Learn hitting drills to STOP pulling your head off the baseball or softball.  Discover a more balanced swing position when batting.

Batting Practice Secrets To Fix Swinging Too Hard

 

 

Batting practice and training seems to be met with a caveman’s mentality…Me see ball.  Me swing bat hard.  Me crush ball far.  I can always tell when a young hitter is swinging too hard by the following:

  1. Pulling the head,
  2. A clenched jaw, and/or
  3. NO balance upon the follow through.

One great Big League example of caveman swinging is Yoenis Cespedes of the Boston Red Sox.  In this video, we’re going to talk about how to correct swinging harder:

  • Problem with Reciprocal Inhibition relating to improper batting practice,
  • Cadence is key, and
  • Proprioception and swinging blind…

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

Problem with Reciprocal Inhibition Relating to Improper Batting Practice

Watch this simple demonstration on Reciprocal Inhibition (RI) from a Physical Therapist (start at the 0:38 mark):

 

 

Consider this:

  1. Imagine bicep curling a 25-pound dumbbell…bicep contracts while brain tells muscle on opposite side (tricep) to contract less,
  2. Now think about holding the same 25-pound dumbbell in mid-curl, arm is at a 90-degree angle, and forearm is parallel to the ground…
Reciprocal Inhibition

The quad (green) contracting more, while the hamstring (red) contracts less in this stretch. Photo courtesy: BandhayYoga.com

What’s happening there on #2 above?

It’s called an isometric muscle contraction, and is when both the bicep and tricep are contracting equally on both sides.

Your brain is smart.  One of it’s many jobs is to manage tension around a joint (i.e. the elbow).  To protect it.  When you have bicep tendinitis, the length-tension relationship is upset.  What happens is, the brain tells a muscle to tighten protecting a particular joint, until length-tension balance is restored…

How do you fix this?

According to the Physical Therapist in the above video link, you strengthen the muscles opposite the tight area.  The brain can then contract the tight area less and restoring the length-tension relationship around the joint.  And this ADDS more efficiency to dynamic movement…

Otherwise, this would be like driving your car with the parking brake on!

During batting practice (or in games), when we swing too hard, we’re driving the car with the parking brake on.  It seems counter-intuitive to what we normally would think.  But bio-mechanically speaking, this would be like the #2 scenario of the bicep -mid-curl above.  We see the head pull out and jaw tighten because the brain is protecting the joints in the neck (C-Spine) and jaw from overload.  And this can cause the hitter NOT be balanced in the follow through.

Cadence is Key

Did you know there’s a specific cadence, or tempo, to repetitive human movement?  According to the book Chi Running: A Revolutionary Approach to Effortless, Injury-Free Running, by Danny and Katherine Dreyer, consider these two popular long distance movements:

  • Running – count how many times the right arm swings forward per minute.  It should be between 85-90 times.  Whether uphill or downhill.
  • Cycling – count each time the right knee floats up per minute while pedaling.  Should be 85-90 times.  Top cyclists change gears uphill or downhill to keep within these guidelines.

Faster than that, and tempo gets disrupted…parking brake gets applied.  Batting practice is no different when it comes to a specific tempo.  I once read someone say in a hitting forum that you have to swing as hard as you possibly can…wait for it…under COMPLETE control…

 

 Proprioception & Swinging Blind

Batting Practice Secrets To Fix Swinging Too Hard (a al Yoenis Cespedes)

Yoenis Cespedes swinging blind photo courtesy: MLB.com 😛

I know that’s a big scary word, but experiencing it is easy…stand on one foot, now shut your eyes.  You’ve just experienced Proprioception.

The best fix for swinging too hard is…drum roll please….

Swinging with your eyes closed.  Remember what I wrote about a hitter swings as hard as possible…under COMPLETE control?

This is how to practice taking the parking brake off during batting practice and games.

Also, remember the symptoms of swinging too hard I mentioned at the beginning of this video post…?  Here are the fixes:

  • Pulling the head – the chin should be somewhere slightly out front of impact,
  • A clenched jaw – get the hitter to keep a small gap between their molars as they’re swinging, AND
  • NO balance upon the follow through – have the hitter practice swinging as hard as they can with their eyes closed, while keeping balance.  If they fall over, then they’re swinging too hard.

The latter one, please DO NOT have them do this around any sharp or breakable objects that might hurt them :-/  You see, Yoenis Cespedes can win two All-Star home-run derbies in a row because he knows what pitch is coming, at what speed, and what location (for the most part).  He can get away from pulling his head.  In a game?  It’s a different

 

BONUS Material

Want to help put the batting practice parking brake on vacation?  Here are my two favorite corrective exercises that a majority of my new hitters have a problem with:

  1. Passive Leg Lower (hip mobility) – week one: 1 set X 12 reps each leg, week two: 1 set X 15 reps each leg, week three: 2 sets X 12 reps each leg, and week four: 2 sets X 15 reps each leg…do once daily.  Will increase running stride length, which indirectly can help them run faster.
  2. Ankle Circles (ankle mobility) – do three circles clockwise AND counterclockwise at each ankle position…do at least 2-3 times per day everyday.  Can get rid of shin splints and plantar fasciitis.
0 Comments/by