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
It’s a given that very few players hit quality breaking pitches well and it’s also a fact that hitters see nothing but fastballs in practice and games 99.9% of the time right from the beginning. When they are finally introduced to breaking pitches at the middle school level most of them are outside of the … Read more
Hitting coaches world-wide will agree that TIMING is the key to hitting! Ask them to define “timing” and the methods they use to teach it and they are stumped. There are a ton of drills to teach swing mechanics, bat speed, etc., but not a lot of ideas on how to teach TIMING once our students … Read more
I agree with most experts that the “torpedo bat” is pretty much a sales gimmick that may sell a ton of bats but will have very little effect on baseball hitting performance!! Hitters make their outs two ways in baseball. They are either too fast or too slow. MLB hitters make their outs on fastballs … Read more
Lately, I have had numerous parents brag to me that their son had recently gained 10-15 mph bat speed or exit speed and the first thing I ask them is, “Did he get better or worse?” The race to increase bat speed and exit velocity has actually confused the issue and in many cases made … Read more
One thing we think is really important for all our hitters before the season starts is to make sure we know where each player’s Home Run Alley (or extra base lane) is. Years ago when I first started charting every swing in both practice and games I had a young hitter nicknamed “Cheese” who was … Read more