Hitting and Hitters Discussion Tips to increase bat speed

[Converse Kid]

Looking for any tips my DD can use to help her increase her bat speed. She will be stepping up in competition and will be facing faster pitchers, hence, the need for speed. Besides swinging a drop -20, any ideas?

 

[FastBat]

I'm reading a book about throwing. The same principle would apply, the author is a baseball player turned trainer, talks about movement patterns. So, my thoughts would be teach your dd a quality swing, then practice, practice, practice. Anything that becomes second nature will become faster with more reps.

Another thought, my sister and I are very old (lol!), but we swear cranking up the pitching machine made us when we were kids have a faster bat. Or atleast helps with making decisions faster.

Good luck!

 

[BouldersDad]

Pull the front elbow turn the back hand and pull the back hip around a locked out front leg. Create a swing where the front elbow drives back to pitcher keeping the front shoulder closed. Creating a short to ball swing.

Tim

 

[Fairman]

Instead of cranking up the machine have her just shorten the distance by stepping up.. and then step up some more.....and stepping up some more. If her fundamentals are solid this will work without freaking her out.

Then you have to teach her to wait....wait...wait... and then explode!

 

[tjsmize3]

"Cranking up the pitching machine" is more likely going to lead to reinforcing swinging earlier, not faster. There are training tools that you can find to supposedly help with bat speed, but probably the factors contributing most to improved bat speed are going to be learning more efficient swing mechanics and practicing them repeatedly, as well as developing a loose hands/strong core approach at the plate.
If your goal is to simply hit a faster pitcher I don't think faster hands is what is needed most. Working on timing and a shorter swing would probably be more productive.

 

[sammy]

Think in terms of the bigger picture, which is obviously "becoming a better hitter". Bat speed is just one element of the process. PROPERLY prepare to swing at EVERY pitch, learn effective pitch recognition, and develop excellent REPEATABLE swing mechanics. Swing speed is part of efficient mechanics, but without all the rest, bat speed will do nothing but expedite your butt back to the bench.

Bottom line - don't do batting in chunks - work on ALL the parts. It's all those little parts that add up to a great hitter.

 

[CARDS]

Here is some simple things to help her be a better or stronger hitter.
1st get a squeeze ball... Have her use it in school or anytime she feels stressed. It will build strength in her fingers and wrist allowing her to have a solid but loose strong grip..
2nd wrist rolls..Go light 2lbs and as they develop add weight make sure to Roll up and down
3rd Stretch tubes with and without a bat.
4th work in the cages with Barry Bonds drill... Start at Med 50/60mph and work your way up to High 80mph then fast/very fast 100 mph.
5TH. Lots of Tee work, and golf ball wiffle work ...This will help in keeping your mechanics and allowing her to understand the changes in them from the above.

My DD was hitting the Very Fast baseball with a 34"/27oz bat at 14U.
Now hitting means placing the ball where you want it.. not pushing to the opposite field or pulling foul with just an early trigger...
It takes a lot of work and dedication. If you want to add power it will require even more work with kettle bells, weights, core and legs... As in all learning Chunking is not a bad thing...

 

[Coach Doug]

Rotational swing straight front leg drive the back hip with the back elbow tight to it. Get the bat on plane quick and long in the zone. Remember hands control barrel = contact. legs and hips creat power. Quick efficient swing. A few drills heavy balls off tee. Get in your stance and Throw Medicine balls. Use golf ball size whiffle balls throw them under hand from 5-7 feet. Last one start with 1 and work up to 5 balls softtoss. them quickly. Any of these drills are worthless if the mechanics are wrong.

 

[BulldawgsDirector]

Agreed. If the mechanics aren't good then you're just trying to speed up a bad swing. Use video on your smartphone and break down the swing. Work on the tee and have her break it down step by step: load-hips-hands(short to the ball)-extension (long through the zone)- finish (follow through).
The back elbow guides the hands to the plane of the ball.

But some drills I like for bat speed:
hammer drill- works on front hand pull/ back arm guide
Barry Bonds
Drop toss- from just above shoulder height.

 

[Tripel]

pull the front elbow turn the back hand and pull the back hip around a locked out front leg. Create a swing where the front elbow drives back to pitcher keeping the front shoulder closed. Creating a short to ball swing.

Tim

push swing.

 

[BouldersDad]

Pulling the front elbow and firing the back hip around the front creates a push? You have been reading dfp way to much. There isn't a single push on the swing I teach. Every thing is pulled thru the ball.

Tim

 

[Coach Doug]

I'm confused Bouldersdad are you commenting to me ?

 

[LADY_KNIGHTS]

Bat speed is created with proper swing mechanics and a good hand path where the bat head stays inside the hands as long as possible before being released to contact.
Hitting faster pitching, either live or off a machine is about "timing" and has little if anything to do with bat speed. By hitting faster pitching with poor swing mechanics the batter will just swing earlier to catch up with the speed.

 

[BouldersDad]

Nope sorry coach Doug someone made a post And removed it while I was typing a response

 

[tjsmize3]

Not to turn this into a physics discussion but the ONLY 2 things that are going to affect bat speed are 1. the mass of the bat -- or more specifically the MOI (swing weight) and 2. the acceleration of the bat through the zone (higher rate of acceleration per unit of time = faster bat speed). Item #1 is controlled at the point of sale of the bat. Item #2 is controlled by improving your ability to apply a force through the bat (or in this case torque) to maximize the bat speed at the point of impact. The only 2 ways known to man to improve your application of force through the bat is to apply the given force more efficiently (proper swing mechanics) or simply apply more force (better core/hand strength). To be the best hitter you clearly want to do both at a very high level. However, if I had to be good at one and great at another, based on my experience, I would want to have good mechanics but great/superior core strength. Back to the OP's question I think the single most important (and quickest) thing you could do to improve bat speed is significantly improve your daughter's core/hip strength. Cross fit is a great option for this... especially in the off season!

 

[travelball]

I feel compelled to chime in on this one. I agree 100% with the necessity to build core strength, use the legs, proper mechanics, etc. But that is not going to effect bat speed...not completely, anyway. I feel the greatest impact on bat speed happens in a very narrow window in the swing process. Specifically, between contact and extension. It's the release of the power that the hitter has collected up to that point that must happen in a very specific time in the swing in order to create the most impact. It must happen very quick because, obviously, there is a very short window of opportunity to put all that power to the pitched ball. All that other stuff (timing, legs, hips, weight shift) is equally important to assure that power goes through the pitch, but for the specific question of bat speed I vote for strong hands whipping that bat at contact through extension.

 

[sammy]

Bat speed is created with proper swing mechanics and a good hand path where the bat head stays inside the hands as long as possible before being released to contact.
Hitting faster pitching, either live or off a machine is about "timing" and has little if anything to do with bat speed. By hitting faster pitching with poor swing mechanics the batter will just swing earlier to catch up with the speed.

Excellent advice - as always LK. Pitchers just hate it when batters figure this out!

 

[brownsfan]

Hitting faster pitching, either live or off a machine is about "timing" and has little if anything to do with bat speed. By hitting faster pitching with poor swing mechanics the batter will just swing earlier to catch up with the speed.

Mostly true but where bat speed comes into play is when a batter is down to her last strike, strong bat speed allows more time for the batter to track the ball longer into her hitting zone to decide to hit it, let it become a ball, or foul it to look for a better pitch.

But I will agree in order to build more bat speed, you must have proper mechanics before anything else.

 

[Dougk30]

My daughter has a very fast bat but always struggled hitting fast pitching. She improved dramatically after she learned proper toe touch. Timing is everything.

 

[LADY_KNIGHTS]

I totally agree with your comment brownsfan...Bat speed is the key to becoming a successful hitter! I preach to my travel and college players all the time that with bat speed you gain an advantage at the plate by being able to see the ball a split second longer and adjust to pitches.

Just seeing or hitting off faster pitching will not increase bat speed.