Hitting and Hitters Discussion Hitting

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This is for the hitting Guru's out there:

I would like to hear what you would do to help a girl get better timing on the pitch at the plate. Mechanics are all there and is a really good hitter, just takes a little bit more time to adjust to pitch speed between a fast and slow pitcher. The obvious sit and wait for slow and swing earlier for fast is not what I'm looking for. What drills or other methods do you have to help.

 

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The Barry Bonds drill works well for this. With a pitching machine start at the plate and move one step closer to the machine each pitch till it is to fast than move one step back to you are at the plate again.

 

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The Bonds drill is great. Also don't allow batters to always pull the ball when facing a pitching machine. Ask them to hit it up the middle or slightly to the first base side of the machine. I also made lines on the machine for different set speeds so I could change the speed of the machine match up the lines and still make the ball a hittable pitch.

 

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Howard's timing drop drill...I'm sure it's on here. Do a search for it.

 

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Any link for bonds drill?

 

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Our dd's TB coach was putting her through the paces with the Bonds drill on Friday night. It's going to be interesting to see how she does this spring in schoolball dealing with the relative slower pitchers she will be facing. It really hampered her in 8th grade and in JV ball last year. She's adjusting faster and faster now already.

 

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From "Hitter" or "Howard", I finally found it... took me some time but this is well worth it. Very good detail as always from da' man!! Thanks again Big Guy.


"The Barry Bonds Drill

A drill we do termed the Barry Bonds drill allows for this to happen and is indeed a great drill in my opinion and demonstrates what must take place to establish the data base or swing DNA. So if I need to move my players they have a least seen it before.

The pitchers job is too upset/ change/ or cause timing and rhythm issues with the hitter and our job as a hitter is to be able to keep our hands back and hit the pitch we like and that does not mean it will necessarily will be a strike! As I have said before the only thing I want the umpire to do is call safe or out and feel it is the hitters job to call balls and strikes as it is their job to train for what balls to hit and adjust for in/ out up or down as to pitches and speeds.

We set up a pitching machine or you can go to your local batting cage and start at 45 MPH and set the machine up at about 34 to 36 feet and that will depend on if you are using 40 or 43 feet pitching distances.

Set the machine up so it throws down the middle of the plate and belt high. Have a hitter hold a bat with one hand as you adjust height. Make sure they have a helmet on!

A very important point when doing this drill is for the person feeding the machine to be consistent when feeding the balls into the machine. We want the feeder to hold a ball in their left hand at the opening to the wheel and another ball in their right hand and show a pitchers motion by taking the ball rearward and then on the upswing the hitter loads. This is going to be very important as to the age and athleticism of the athlete. The better athletes will be able to wait until the pitcher is at the K position and will step when they see the ball in the wheel.

The variables to this is if it is a public cage their wheeled machines usually have a slot or chute down the side and the ball drops and that is when we load.

When you see the ball in the wheel or wheels step to hit and think slow to load and soft to step and land on a flexed front knee and separate the hands rearward slightly. For the arm machine as the arm touches the ball to pick it up load and step when you see the ball come off the arm. You can gain information on timing by standing there as someone else hits and see what the machine is doing.

We start beyond where the umpire sets up or as far back as we can swing a bat and not hit the back of the cage. We are moving forward after each swing and thinking slow to fast low to high as we progress forward. It has been my experience that everyone does pretty well until we start getting beyond 4 feet from the back corner of the home plate. Remember some coaches do not think it makes any difference as to up or back in the box however it does!

Why because this is new data or DNA being created being seen possibly for the first time and we need to store it! Do not attempt to move forward until you can figure out why you can not time the pitch. For example is your front knee stiff or flexed which prevents your linear weight shift from being effective or ineffective during your stride? Did you land open or closed with your lead foot which could cause the front side to open too soon or did you start your back elbow to lower or slot and stop or pause? Many of these situations will or could cause your timing to be off the closer you get as you are speeding up the ball and the ball is getting higher as you move forward. Make a game of it and you can not move forward until you hit the ball and sometimes that means going backwards to figure out what you need to do to move forward. Be careful not to get more than 5 feet to the machine as we have had kids bounce it off the tire of the pitching machine before.

Once you have reached that point then reverse your direction backwards or from high to low fast to slow again and that is one cycle. Get out of the cage and rest. Then repeat only this time step away from home plate to simulate outside pitches and then crowd the plate for inside pitches.

To build confidence especially for the little ones or less experienced hitters, as a right handed hitter use a left hander’s glove instead of a bat. We start off with standing in front of the hitter and bouncing a tennis ball off the floor sharply so they must track it from my hand to their glove using their eyes while striding forward to toe touch. After they get the idea then under hand the ball to them as if it was a pitcher motion.

Now they graduate to the pitching a machine and do it with the glove. Look for them to be pushing the glove and that is incorrect as we want them to lower the back elbow to the slot and go palm up to catch it.

Now if called upon to move forward or up in the box we have a much better chance of adjusting as we have created a swing DNA or data base and can recall it.

Combine that with thinking as we make each move we are taking our window of opportunity with us as we move forward or backwards and we have a special hitter within our mist…in my opinion.

We must be able to adjust to slow or fast pitchers in any situations!"

 

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Les thanks for digging up that post. One thing we have changed is we load at the 3 to 4 o'clock position of the arm position.

Another way of teaching timing is to start it at the tee. We have a spot on the wall the hitters look at and then track the ball to the tee using the head and eyes. You would be surprised how many kids just look at the ball on the tee.

Getting a good two look must be taught if they are going to have a chance against live pitching.

Being able to shift the weight from a static (standing) position to a dynamic position (as you are moving the weight forward) is critical to be able to see the ball as well as your swing developing from the ground up.

Think of the feeling you have between your knees when fielding a ground ball. Sway left to right and feel how you feel the pressure in the knees and on the inside edges of the feet. You can throw from this position and hit from this position.

We coil to load by turning the hip towards the catcher while holding their hands out to their side like an airplane. This is too assure they do not turn the shoulders with the hips. Then they pick up the front foot and gravity takes over. Slow to load and soft to step on a flexed front knee.

Another drill we do is to put a person behind the catch net at a safe distance withe a pair of socks. NO BALLS WHAT SO EVER SHOULD BE USED!

Place a ball on the tee and you are on the other side of the net. Go through the pitchers mechanics without the power leap, just using the circular hand path. When the hand position is about at the 3 to 4 o'clock position the hitter says EEEEE out loud as they load the hips. As the pitcher releases the ball we stride and say R. If timed correctly the ball from the tee and socks will hit the net at about the same time.

The EEEEE is number one in Chinese and the R is number two. It makes no difference in how fast or slow the pitcher is when you buy into the concept we load and step at the release and are on time.

Remember do not use a ball as the thrower. The hitter gets lucky and will hit the softball and will put any ball back to you with force. Even the socks can be intimidating at times.

Ask Les as he wears a face mask and a cup with his kids! :lmao:


Howard

 

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Les thanks for digging up that post. One thing we have changed is we load at the 3 to 4 o'clock position of the arm position.

Another way of teaching timing is to start it at the tee. We have a spot on the wall the hitters look at and then track the ball to the tee using the head and eyes. You would be surprised how many kids just look at the ball on the tee.

Getting a good two look must be taught if they are going to have a chance against live pitching.

Being able to shift the weight from a static (standing) position to a dynamic position (as you are moving the weight forward) is critical to be able to see the ball as well as your swing developing from the ground up.

Think of the feeling you have between your knees when fielding a ground ball. Sway left to right and feel how you feel the pressure in the knees and on the inside edges of the feet. You can throw from this position and hit from this position.

We coil to load by turning the hip towards the catcher while holding their hands out to their side like an airplane. This is too assure they do not turn the shoulders with the hips. Then they pick up the front foot and gravity takes over. Slow to load and soft to step on a flexed front knee.

Another drill we do is to put a person behind the catch net at a safe distance withe a pair of socks. NO BALLS WHAT SO EVER SHOULD BE USED!

Place a ball on the tee and you are on the other side of the net. Go through the pitchers mechanics without the power leap, just using the circular hand path. When the hand position is about at the 3 to 4 o'clock position the hitter says EEEEE out loud as they load the hips. As the pitcher releases the ball we stride and say R. If timed correctly the ball from the tee and socks will hit the net at about the same time.

The EEEEE is number one in Chinese and the R is number two. It makes no difference in how fast or slow the pitcher is when you buy into the concept we load and step at the release and are on time.

Remember do not use a ball as the thrower. The hitter gets lucky and will hit the softball and will put any ball back to you with force. Even the socks can be intimidating at times.

Ask Les as he wears a face mask and a cup with his kids! :lmao:


Howard

I can tell you that tracking the ball in training actually increased our team batting average by about .125 in a matter of no time. We had been working "the system" religiously for about 1.5 years and climbed steps if you will with our hitting and batting averages and then plateaued big time. So I called Howard and said "we are flat and not doing well hitting but are doing all the steps"... he then said are the girls "tracking the ball ALL THE TIME" when on the tee, soft toss, etc.... "uuuuum, gulp, nooo,....", it made such an immediate impact for we had been doing all the other steps and ignored that one. I'm telling you, take it FWIW, it is huge! And "always" overlooked. The girls DO NOT WANNA do that simple step!!!

 

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Here is something that I do for my high school team. I set up two pitching machines. 1. Fastballs 2. Change ups. The girl in the cage doesn't know which ball will be feed from the machine as the person feeding the machine rotates her arm in the pitching motion. One my dd does outside on concrete that we picked up from Howard and Bustos. Hold the ball up high drop it on the concrete and then hit the ball on the bounce up.

 

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I do the exact same thing. It's great!

 

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I think this drill has helped my daughter with her timing and focus. I saw her hitting coach do this with her and its easy enough to do in our basement. Toss 3 tennis balls on a bounce to the batter and they decide which ball to track and hit.

 

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The three plate drill is good too if you don't have access to a machine. Set up three plates about 3'-4' apart and have them move from plate to plate while doing front-toss. Don't let them drive the ball into the side net constantly either, make sure they are driving it up the middle and make them go back side sometimes (have to wait longer) even on down the middle pitches. Lastly it needs to be emphasized and talked about way more. I see far too many coaches who talk about it and then let their hitters stare at the ball on the tee, or use poor eye discipline on front toss and wonder why they can't adjust in game situations. This factor needs to be over emphasized in drills and practice so when the stress of a game or a new slower pitcher coming into the game happens they know how to adjust. Try to see the ball hit the bat in my mantra, because that is how long your head and eyes should be in the "hitting zone". It is called hand/ eye coordination and both need to be used fully!
I use the bouncing tennis ball drill, bouncing two or three at a time and tell them to hit the one that is best. I also throw a tennis ball and a soft white baseball and call out the color of ball I want them to hit. You can call the color right away or for more advanced hitters you can wait until they are in the air. If anyone is wondering I use baseballs simply because they are easier to hold along with a tennis ball in one hand and still throw accurately

Jack Jenkins
Workhouse Fastpitch

 

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I would like to add something else because vision and timing are a huge part of being an elite level hitter: I mentioned eye discipline previously, the muscles around and functions of the eyes need to be trained like every other part of the body. Many athletes can have very sound mechanics but have poor eye discipline. Eye discipline is simply training your eyes to see the object you are hitting throughout the process of delivering the bat to it. I see hitters all the time who on medium speed front toss are not even looking at the ball, but rather looking in the area of the ball. They get away with this inside because the ball is traveling slow and straight and then struggle against live pitching that is neither slow or straight. Muscle memory for the eyes needs to be factored into all drills. Lastly, don't have hitters do 50 swings and expect them to have full and total focus with their eyes. Do some drills in "game mode": 6-7 good solid focussed swings then step away and refocus. Keep drills in small focussed patterns (just like an at bat in a game).

 

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Not having a chance to sort through the replies and I'm sure it's been covered and there are fantastic drills for timing but IMO timing or lack of timing starts at the Tee. I see to many kids staring at the ball on the tee, measuring the ball up and swinging. I suggest pick a focal point away from the tee like if possible where the pitcher might be standing and tracking like you would a pitch while doing tee work. Just my 2 cents lol, got that suggestion from Howard a few years back and it's worked wonders!

 

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Uber: EXACTLY! This must be done every time on the tee..."get a two eyed look at the pitcher, track your eyes (as if you are watching a ball come toward you) and start to load when your eyes are on the ball deliver the bat to it. I think that tee work done improperly creates bad habits. Like standing too far from the ball, standing too far in front of or behind the ball and constantly hitting the ball from one position on the tee. Move it up and down, get set in the right place based on your stride and train your eye muscles to do what they should do in a live pitching situation, two eyed look at the pitcher, track the ball into the tee and so on. When you get away from these basics and allow kids to hit off the tee without paying attention to these details you create bad habits and then want to find a new drill to fix their problems.

 

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Jjen....you may find this helpful. I posted it several years ago.

From Outside Magazine October 2004

The drill is called rapid eye movement from Burton Worrell's ocular drills. He recommends spending at least three minutes a day on doing the drills. That is very little time for what I believe will improve your ability to not only track the ball better but improve your balance and ability to field the ball while changing direction. He calls the drill "Walk the Plank".

The challenge as he puts it is, "When you are multitasking at full tilt, balance is one of the first things to suffer. Forcing yourself to focus on a moving object throughout your line of sight-while you're moving and keeping your balance-trains you to maintain your inner equilibrium."

The Drill: Lay a two-by-four flat on the floor and stand on it with one foot in front of the other. Pick up a pen that has text printed on the side and with your arm fully extended; lift it (the pen) to eye level. Make a wide, sweeping figure eight pattern (in a horizontal path not vertical) with your arm and moving only your eyes (not your head) stay focused on the letters on the pen. Finally walk forward and backwards on the beam while continuing the figure eight pattern."

The way I have found to use this is to first have them stand still and get the motion of the horizontal figure eight path first. Then walk a straight line next while doing the figure eight pattern. They will be unbalanced as they begin. Once they can do that then put them on the board. I've seen when they begin this drill the head trying to move in the pattern of the figure eight and that is when they get dizzy and start to stumble. Keep working on this as the kids say it improves not only their vision but also their balance.

Another great drill he recommends is Ocular Acrobatics.

He goes on to say in another drill, "One of the trickiest aspects of most sports is staying focused when everything is moving around you. Think of a wide receiver in football: He has to concentrate on the ball while he and the other players around him are in motion-a situation that easily overtaxes the brain. Skiers face the same task when speeding down a line on a crowed slope."

The Challenge: "You want to be able to identify objects instantly, says Worrell. If you're kayaking and you can't ID that gnarly rock on your right and then quickly shift to the waterfall straight ahead, your system (vision) becomes disoriented and you might miss the safest line through the Class V rapids."

I think trying to watch a ground ball when a runner is passing in the line of your sight or sliding towards you is another example of why this drill is important.


The Drill: "From a deck of cards, pick out the ace through six of one suit. (I like using 10 cards) Tape the cards randomly on a wall close to eye level, spacing them about one foot apart, with the ace in the center. Memorize where each card is located. Standing seven feet from the wall, jump your eyes (move the eyes not your head) from card to card in sequential order (ace through six) as quickly as possible, starting with the ace. You want your eyes to land on the card without having to refocus, but you don?t want to move to the next card until you can clearly see the current card. If you loose focus return to the ace and start over."

While doing this drill I put my hand on top of their head and usually in the beginning you can feel them want to move the head versus using just the eyes.

Another drill I think really works well to drive the point home on tracking the ball is called the pencil drill.

While at the Cleveland Clinic in March 2002, I was reading the Sports Illustrated March 2002 edition. An article called Hitters Rule by Tom Verducci, talked about vision training and how players exercised their eyes by focusing on objects up close and then looking at objects in the distance to improve what is termed accommodation. The hitter while in the on deck circle held his bat up close to his eyes looking at the trademark on the bat and then looked at the center fielders position. Go back to pages 6 and 7 and reread it again.

The Drill: Get two pens or pencils that having writing/ advertisements printed on it. Holding one pen in the left hand slowly move it at eye level toward your nose until you get it up close to your face and it is difficult to read. Your eyes are doing what is termed accommodation or moving closer together to focus on the object that is nearer your face. You will feel the strain on your eyes as you do this. Now holding the other pen in your right hand at arms length repeat this movement with the left hand and when you feel the strain switch your gaze to the pen/pencil in your outstretched right hand and your eyes will feel rested again. Doing these 6 to 30 minutes a day improves your ability to track a ball and hit it in my opinion.

The string drill is another great one to do. I've seen this drill recommended by Dr. Bill Harrison and Dr. Worrell for what is termed ,Eye Teaming."

The Drill: "Thread a half-inch bead on a 6 foot cord. (I found small key chain softballs to use) Attach one end to a doorknob. Face the doorknob and hold the other end taut to the bridge of your nose, so you're 16 inches away from the bead. (I put a leather patch at the end of the string that is placed by the bridge of the nose/ forehead) Look at the bead. You should see two strings, as if one is coming from each eye. The two strings should appear to meet at the bead, (baseball) forming an X. (If they form a Y or only one string, the information from one eye is being suppressed: blink your eyes rapidly to "turn on" both eyes. If you X is in front of the bead, your eyes are aiming closer than it really is. In baseball or tennis, that might cause you to swing too early for the ball. Practice deep breathing and "looking softly" to move the X into the bead. If your X is beyond the bead, your eyes are aiming further away than it is-hence, a late swing at the ball. Practice looking in front of the bead to slowly get the X to the bead. When you find it easy to see the X at the bead, move the bead further out, according to your sport. Then add more beads and shift so one appears as one and the rest as double. (I mark the cord every 16 inches and move the ball as I see the X on both sides of the bead/baseball.)


Howard

 

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Howard: Thanks, I use some of these and will work the others in. I think specific vision training and excersizes are lacking in most training. Vision training will be the next "big thing"

Thanks again!

 

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One of the coaches I work with bought me a pair of the Niki Strobe glasses and working very well even in the sun light.

The hitter learns to anticipate where the ball will be and during the process they tend to hit the top of the ball. When we are done using the glasses they center up on the ball very well.

I like being able to darken one lens out while the other still strobes for inside and outside pitches. They will give the head a head start or they will not see the ball.

I have a strobe light also mounted above the hitters head and darken the garage. If they do not track the ball they do not hit the ball.

I have the parent/ coach stand behind me as I soft toss and if the head does not turn first (I use the nose as a point of direction) and then the eyes they will not hit the ball.

It drives the point home about giving the head a head start as the eyes move faster than the head can.

Great confidence booster also.

I agree with you that tracking the ball starts with tee work and must be in every drill you.

Howard

 

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Not having a chance to sort through the replies and I'm sure it's been covered and there are fantastic drills for timing but IMO timing or lack of timing starts at the Tee. I see to many kids staring at the ball on the tee, measuring the ball up and swinging. I suggest pick a focal point away from the tee like if possible where the pitcher might be standing and tracking like you would a pitch while doing tee work. Just my 2 cents lol, got that suggestion from Howard a few years back and it's worked wonders!

I agree, also in quick toss, I have them look out front at an imaginary pitcher then I call "ball" as I flip and they have to quick track to find it