Hit Doctor® USA

Having worked with some of the best hitting coaches in college and professional baseball over the years, we have found that great hitters have many different hitting styles and stances. However, it is our conclusion that great hitters & hitting coaches everywhere generally subscribe to certain fundamentals. Keep in mind that there are no “always” … Read more

The first question I ask my prospective hitters at a camp is, “How many people here think all great hitters look alike when they hit?” Nobody raises their hand. So then I ask, “How many think all great hitters look different when they hit?” and everyone raises their hand. Of course, then I say, “Wrong … Read more

  Ken Griffey Sr. once hit me with a hitting lesson I’ll never forget. We were talking shop one day—breaking down swings—and Griffey, long-time Reds star and hitting coach, posed a question that stopped me in my tracks: “If a player has a 10 Swing on the 10 scale and a 4 Body… or a … Read more

Now that we have established the importance of having a two-strike approach let’s discuss some of the different approaches one can employ and how someone can work on them. Let’s begin with the “Splendid Splinter” Ted Williams–one of the greatest hitters of all time—who, as manager of the Washington Senators, took the team from the … Read more

In this the age of technology I would like to issue a word of caution to all the aspiring hitting coaches: it ain’t that easy! There is no one way to hit!  Need proof? Turn on the playoffs or the World Series and look at the great hitters. They are all different! Every great hitter … Read more

  One thing that I learned well after my playing days was the fact that there can be no significant improvement without failure. Watching hitters in my batting center over the years I noticed whenever they couldn’t hit a high pitch, they immediately hit the button so it threw only low pitches. If they couldn’t … Read more

  Over the years, many promising baseball careers ended because certain hitters couldn’t hit breaking pitches if their lives depended on it. I remember playing against a couple of big bonus babies after they were released, and they were still playing in semi- pro leagues. The worst curveballs got them to swing and miss, but … Read more

One modern day philosophy I will never adhere to is the idea that striking out is no worse than any other way of making an out. It had to be a metrics analyst who never played the game to come up with that one!  Nor did he watch the Arizona Diamondbacks upset the Phillies in … Read more

Any hitting coach worth his salt will tell you that AGGRESSIVENESS is perhaps the most important trait a hitter can have. Yet in the United States our feeder systems are definitely not doing a good job of teaching it. Players are rewarded for walking or getting hit by a pitch and punished for swinging at … Read more

  All moves start with the P looking at the split (1) halfway between H and 1B (3). Drill 1 Turn sideways. Look at 1, step at 1, throw sidearm to 3. Bad Move: Come to set looking at 1, lift leg, look at 3, step at 3, throw to 3 chest high over bag. … Read more