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
Any hitting coach worth his salt will tell you that timing is critical to becoming a great hitter, yet in close to 20 years of playing baseball for many great coaches I never had a coach tell me how to work on timing. In fact, I don’t think I heard it discussed until several … Read more
During the actual playing season we recommend focusing only on three things: See the ball longer Maintain your bat speed Rhythm and Timing Seeing the ball longer means seeing it as early as possible and following it all the way into the hitting area. Seeing the ball begins before the game even starts. One … Read more
Arsenal grad and Vanderbilt All-American Jack Leiter who has been dazzling in his spring training effort to make the Texas Rangers pitching staff. He has been steadily in the 98-100 mph range with exceptional secondary pitches. Coach Mazz and the whole Arsenal USA group is pulling for you!
At every level of baseball today pitchers are throwing harder and harder. 95 is the new 90 and the number of pitchers who have touched 100 mph is staggering. We have even seen a handful of HS pitchers throwing 100 mph. How can hitters adjust to this kind of velocity? The answer isn’t swinging harder … Read more
Our hitting system is different from any other program I am familiar with. Instead of forcing hitters to hit and move a certain way, we focus on identifying how each hitter makes his outs and then prescribe drills that will eliminate some of those outs. By the time an athlete is 11 or 12 years … Read more