Confidence at the Plate 05/17/2012
This is a quick post today. First I want to offer you a quick tip to gain confidence at the plate. When taking BP that is not before a game, that is during your weekly practice, don't go directly into hitting live, overhand pitching. If you have the luxury of doing this as well before a game, by all means, go for it, cutting down the number of swings you take to at least half or a quarter of what I suggest here. Here's what I recommend to help you build the confidence that characterizes a Pro Hitter (as always adjust as you see fit or can actually do): 1. Start off by taking 5-10 cuts on a tee (of course do this after you've done your dynamic stretching). These swings should be a warmup, but nonetheless doing all you can to be mechanically sound. You want to make sure your bat path is right on, and when you club the ball there's no vibration at all when you make contact. As always, with anything other than game play, don't raise your eyes once you make contact. Throughout the swing, keep your focus right where the barrel hit the ball. 2. After the Tee, have someone throw you front toss. The tosser should do all they can to put the ball in your sweet spot. You want to hit the ball directly back at the tosser behind the screen. Don't try to pull the ball. These tosses should be at medium speed so that you can work on your rhythm. Don't over do it, perhaps 10-15 tosses. 3. Next, the tosser turns into a pitcher and throws overhand fastballs at medium speed. Again, the pitcher should throw "home run derby" pitches, that is right in your wheelhouse. And, again, don't try to pull the ball, but do all you can to crush the ball right back at the pitcher. 10-15 pitches. 4. The next round of overhand the pitcher either ramps up the speed or gets closer. Now you are working on getting your hands to the ball quicker. Your load has to be a bit earlier and slower, and your explode has to be quicker. Concentrate on having quick hands to the ball. Here, just hit the ball where it is pitched. 10-15 pitches. 5. The is the next to the last round. This round I call speed ball. Often at the beginning of the season, this is the round you will be least successful at, but later on your timing and quickness will improve. MAKE SURE YOU WHERE A HELMET! The pitcher gets even closer (no more than 15-20 feet from the plate). Make sure the pitcher is someone you can trust to do this. Here the pitcher is trying to put the ball past you, but right in your sweet spot. 7-10 pitches. 6. The last round, the pitcher backs up to 20-30 feet. The first 7-10 pitches have the pitcher throw curve balls and do all you can to keep your hands back. After the curves, the pitcher should throw fastballs at medium speed. Again, just crush the ball where it is pitched. 7. The last 10-15 pitches you should concentrate on hitting the ball where it is pitched with 90% effort. Crush the ball, that is swing as hard as you can with the most control that you can. Also, at least half of your swings, right handed hitters work on hitting the ball to the opposite field and left handed hitters on pulling the ball to practice advancing a runner. Here's a summary (10-15 pitches each): 1. Tee Warmup 2. Front Toss Wheelhouse 3. Overhand Medium Fastballs 4. Overhand Ramp-up Fastballs 5. Speed Ball 6. Curves 7. Fastball Crush Doing this routine you'll get 70-100 plus swings a BP session. Make sure you maintain proper hand path, rhythm and timing, and keep your eyes locked on where the barrel hit the ball through the swing. As always...Be a Pro Hitter! Add Comment Want to Crush, Then Get Rhythm and Timing 04/13/2012
Four Step Front Toss/Pitch Drill I’ve been on a mini-hiatus, that’s hiding from my blog, but not because I don’t want to blog. I wanted to stop to consider everything that Christ did for us on Easter, and to spend some quality time with family. The food and the fellowship was great…especially since the Knicks beat the Bulls (revealing my colors here). OK, back to baseball. You’ll probably hear me say this often about the different activities I recommend, both physical and mental. I have to say that I don’t have an absolute favorite, but within certain types of drills that target specific movements, I definitely do have favorites. This week I recommend one of those favorites. (IRON CLAD Guarantee: I will never, ever give or sell your email to anyone...ever!) One of the challenges of teaching hitting is getting the combination of proper mechanics, which can often be, well, mechanical, and athleticism. Another way of putting it is getting a hitter’s movements to be smooth or appear effortless. This is, I believe, a function of rhythm (which I misspell every time I write it…thank God for spell check). Hip rotation is awesome and helps a hitter to generate maximum power. Getting a good rhythmic pattern to a hitter’s swing (from the toes to the nose) is maximizing hip rotation, and thus maximizing power. You will get many arguments about whether or not a hitter should be stationary before the pitch or whether they should have some movement. Perhaps it’s the Latino in me, but I believe having pre-pitch movement is essential to being a pro-hitter. Well, it’s even more than the Latino in me, it’s physics. Simply, a body starting in motion will stay in motion until acted on by an equal or greater force. (IRON CLAD Guarantee: I will never, ever give or sell your email to anyone...ever!) So, what’s easier and will generate more force…a static body that just starts to move, or one that is already moving? Take for example a tennis player awaiting a serve. Tennis pros serve the ball into the 100 miles per hour. In order for the player to return the serve you don’t see them standing still until the server lifts his or her racquet to strike the ball (which is similar to when a pitcher’s arm launches back to pitch). No, the player awaiting the serve is bouncing back and forth on the ball of their feet. A hitter should incorporate a similar approach. Of course although it is similar, the particular way a hitter moves as opposed to a tennis player has its differences. This week’s drill is designed to get the hitter to create some rhythm and have his or her body feel the “all-powerful” weight shifting that is necessary to hit a baseball like the pros do. This is one of my favorite drills of all time for this specific Thanks, and see you next week! Coach T. (IRON CLAD Guarantee: I will never, ever give or sell your email to anyone...ever!) Get Even More Explosive Hip Rotation 03/30/2012
Karaoke Swing Drill II The last drill I showed you how to have a hitter use more of the hips to generate power. The idea is to get the movement started from the back part of the hip and instead of simply rotating on the ball of the back foot the hitter pushes the back hip toward the pitcher or pitched ball. The Karaoke Swing Drill helps to accomplish proper hip rotation. We first did it without swinging, then dry swinging, then swinging and hitting a ball on a tee. This week we’ll add a new element to it. To get access to the videos and detailed explanation of this drill, please enter your information below. If you’ve already requested access, no need to do so again. Just visit the drills page and these new drills will be there for you. As always, I’ll be offering another new drill next week continuing on the subject of hip rotation. Thanks, and see you next week! Coach T. IRON CLAD Guarantee: Never, ever will I give or sell your email to anyone for any reason. Let Your Hips Sing! 03/22/2012
Hip Rotation Drill II I can almost remember the exact time and day. A major league instructor was giving a son of mine some pointers. He’d observed him and noted an area where he could use vast improvement: his hip rotation. So he prescribed the Karaoke Swinging Drill. I’ve heard some misinformed coaches and dads say to players that the swing is initiated with the hands and that the hands lead the body into the swing. I can understand where they get their perception, but nothing could be further from the truth. Now, let me correct myself. Anyone can start their swing using their hands and lead with their hands and they could have some success. But they will not maximize their power potential doing this. The energy that is generated by the muscles of the upper body is not comparable to the energy generated by the muscles of the upper legs, the torque of the hips and the stretching and releasing of the muscles of the abdomen (our gut). Combine the legs, the hips and the abdomen and you get the core and the most potential for power. Certainly the hands take the bat to the ball and proper hand path that ensures proper bat or barrel path is essential to a pro swing. But without the blending of the core with the upper body a player will not reach their maximum power. [Note: My Iron Clad Guarantee: I will never, ever give or sell your email address to anyone...ever!) One of the factors in maximizing power is getting proper hip rotation. As we discussed last week, squashing the bug may be a good way of getting the youngest of players to at least rotate their hips, but it is not the best way, and actually will hinder reaching full power potential. This week’s drill, the Karaoke Swing Drill I, is the next step in getting a player to generate the pro style movement by incorporating proper hip torque and explosion. To get access to the videos and detailed explanation of this drill, please enter your information below. If you’ve already requested access, no need to do so again. Just visit the drills page and these new drills will be there for you. Next week we’ll be working on more drills to activate the hips and generate even power. Thanks, and see you next week! Coach T. [Note: My Iron Clad Guarantee: I will never, ever give or sell your email address to anyone...ever!) Don't Squash the Bug! 03/13/2012
 Hip Rotation Drill I Not long ago my oldest visited several college camps to get some experience and exposure. It was at one of these camps that I tried to engage another parent about a particular hitting instructor. When I mentioned his name the parent said, “Not a fan.” Of course I was curious as to why because I happen to agree with what this particular hitting instructor teaches. “He tries to make everyone a front foot hitter.” I am not one to immediately adopt someone else’s approach without first doing research and getting reasonable agreement that the science is correct first and whether the approach is something that kids (at any level—that is even major leaguers are kids at heart) can do and from which they will grow and get better. The approach this parent criticizes is not one that the particular hitting instructor invented. There is nothing new under the sun. I believe the parent is misinformed or perhaps just obstinate when looking at all of the evidence. At the point of contact, that is when the barrel of the bat makes contact with the ball, every single image and still frame of major leaguers throughout baseball history I have looked at shows the back foot toe either in the air or just barely touching the ground. Every single one. Now I haven’t looked at every single instance of this throughout history. But all of the ones that I have looked at are exactly the same. Their front foot is firmly planted and either perpendicular to the plate or open no more than 45 degrees. The back foot toe—in the air or barely touching the ground. (IRON CLAD GUARANTEE: Your email is safe with me. I will never, ever give or sell your email to anyone, ever!) Don't Squash the Bug So why do we insist on teaching “Squash the Bug” at the outset of hitting instruction? Probably because it is an easy thing to teach, although wrong. Also, it’s probably because whoever invented it was looking at the wrong frame of a hitter’s swing sequence. After contact and going into extension, some hitters’ back foot (not all) collapses back and it looks like they were rotating their foot at that particular frame. The truth is that they coiled or loaded their front hip and then uncoiled or thrust their back hip forward. The foot just goes along for the ride. Squashing the Bug teaches a hitter to force the energy down into the ground as opposed to launching the energy in the direction of the ball. And although it is a good way of getting an athlete to get some hip rotation, it then takes perhaps thousands of repetition for the same athlete to get the most out of their swing and launch the back hip forward maximizing their potential power. This drill I will share with you helps get the youngest of players and older players who don’t involve their hips enough to properly use their hips. I call it the Toe Up/Down Drill or the Heel Up/Heel Down Drill. The Toe Up/Down Drill is a fundamental drill that should be used with Tee-ballers instead of “Squash the Bug.” It is not any more difficult for them to do or for a coach or a parent to teach. I have done it with the three year olds successfully. It is also the best way to get the most hip rotation out of older players. To get access to the videos and detailed explanation of these drills, please enter your information below. If you’ve already requested access, no need to do so again. Just visit the drills page and these new drills will be there for you. Next week we’ll be working on more drills to activate the hips and generate power. Thanks, and see you next week! Coach T. IRON CLAD GUARANTEE: Your email is safe with me. I will never, ever give or sell your email to anyone, ever! High Tee Drill 02/28/2012
 Correcting Eye Level This has been one of the most interesting few days of this winter. On Saturday we had near white-out conditions. (For those of you in the south where you don't see the white stuff that much, a white-out is when it's snowing so hard you can't see--everything is white.) You can imagine the problems this causes when trying to travel in that weather. Thankfully, the weather changed just as drastically and now, Tuesday, it's nearly 50 and the snow's gone! Com'on Spring! Fittingly, this week I want to address a flaw I see in many young hitters--their eye level. My oldest son had this issue when he was coming out of Little League. He was fortunate enough to work hard enough one winter to correct this doing High Tee Drills. This drill is simple enough, but remarkable in helping a hitter to see the ball better, and as a consequence of adjusting the angle of the eyes he will also maintain better balance through the swing. Get instant access to an explanation of this drill by submitting your information below. As always, my IRON CLAD GUARANTEE is that I will never, ever give or sell your email address to anyone. Bonus Hand Path Drills 02/22/2012
Tennis Drills I remember vividly a sweltering July day in Hudson County Park in North Bergen, New Jersey in the early 80s. I was waiting for our team’s first baseman, a crusher, to play some tennis. When he showed, we went back and forth—of course I remember winning the match (of course…wink, wink). But that wasn’t what I really remember. That same evening we had a game to play in our semi-pro Hispanic league. What I do remember is hitting the ball well that night. I thought back to what I did differently to have consistently good at bats. I concluded—playing tennis. So, I tried to repeat that same routine through the summer. Invariably, whenever I was able to play tennis before a game, I hit better than when I didn’t. Now, decades later, I have the scientific connection between playing tennis and my being able to square the ball on the barrel. Proper muscle memory. This week’s drills center around the using a racquet and hitting a ball. I am not advocating just going out and playing tennis as the pill to cure all hand path problems. However, I will say without reservation that using these contollred drills in conjunction with the others will dramatically improve a player’s ability to be on plane with the pitched ball for a longer time. The keys are consistent, perfect practice over a long period of time. As Brian Cain puts it, “Do a little a lot, not a lot a little.” To get access to the videos and detailed explanation of these drills, please enter your information below. If you’ve already requested access, no need to do so again. Just visit the drills page and these new drills will be there for you. Next week we’ll be moving up the body to the head and correcting a flaw that I see often…Eye Level. Thanks, and see you next week! Coach T. As always, my IRON CLAD GUARANTEE is that I will never, ever give or sell your email address to anyone. Hand Path Drills III 02/14/2012
Fence Drills Two of the most common flaws that I see in young or inexperienced hitters are either having a loop in their swing or casting of their hands. These two flaws cause a hitter to be long to the ball. The result is usually that they are either late, missing the ball altogether, or if they are on time they are either hitting the ball off the handle or off the tip of the bat (just thinking about it makes me cringe…ouch). These flaws are hand path problems. That is, as with the drills I introduced the last couple of blogs, the direction of the hands taking the bat to the flight of the ball is the problem. In conjunction with the drills I showed you the last couple of blogs, when you do these fence drills you will have a huge smile on your face, or you will help put that smile on the face of the kid you coach. Why? The result will be that when the player does make contact, the contact will be solid (the bat being on plane), resulting in more well hit balls (the average that identifies the better hitters) and more line drives. Now remember, there are other problems which I have not gone into yet. Those problems are timing, rhythm, balance and strength problems. We’ll address those in future blogs and how to fix those. For now, the two drills you want to do to eliminate the loop and the casting of the hands are fence drills, because you do them with a fence or netting. To get instant access to the videos and detailed explanation of these drills, please enter your information below and submit if this is the first time you are requesting the FREE drills. If you’ve already submitted your name and email address, you don’t have to do it again. I will email you the link to the new set of drills. Remember—Be a Pro Hitter! Coach T. MY IRON CLAD GUARANTEE: I WILL NEVER, EVER GIVE OR SELL YOUR EMAIL TO ANYONE. Hand Path Drills II 02/07/2012
Top Hand Bottom Hand Tee Drills I recently traveled with my two oldest sons to a college baseball camp. The school’s hitting instructor asked a group of kids what was more important the top half of a hitter or the bottom half. The hitting coach went on to argue that the top half was more important. Part of his rationale I elaborate on below. BOTTOM HALF What is the bottom half versus the top half? The bottom half I will describe as anything below the chest. So it includes the core (abdomen, hips, legs and feet). The top half is everything above the chest (shoulders, head, arms and hands). The bottom half is also largely (but not exclusively) responsible for balance since it is the foundation of the swing. The bottom half is where a hitter generates power. So many kids are being taught great techniques to generate power (a subject of a later post). The swing arguably begins with lower half movement (or what many call creating the rubber band effect—again, a later post), that is a coiling of the hips and core. There is more to this, but this is essentially what occurs. The bottom half is what the top half rotates around. So, you could have a great coiling movement and then an explosive uncoiling movement generating all kinds of torque and pounds of pressure…but… …if the top half is not connected properly (all parts working in unison and efficiently), that is, if you have poor bat path to the pitched ball, all that stored energy that is transferred up to the shoulders, arms and hands is useless. In other words, lets say you were demolishing a building with a wrecking ball. If you had a phenomenal, monster crane that could generate explosive whipping action, but the crane operator had no clue how to swing the crane’s arm so that it would hit the stationary building…you ain’t gonna tear down nothin’! TOP HALF Proper top half movement is critical to successfully hitting a baseball. Proper top half movement involves a coordination and connection between head movement (or lack of), rotational shoulder movement, front side arm and back side arm swing (a pull-push effect) and path of the hands toward the pitched ball. Proper bat path increases efficiency, which increases the chances of hitting the ball squarely (that sweet feeling of nothing (no vibration) when you crush a ball), which increases power and potentially your batting average (depending on how well you are scouted and the opposing team positions their players). [Side note: increasing power is objective (or within a hitter’s control)—you can do that and measure it. Increasing your batting average is relatively not objective—it is out of your control—ask all those guys who crushed balls in the majors who were robbed of home runs!] So, in order to improve bat path (or hand path), get the second recommended or prescribed drill set to do after the Pit Ball Drills. This I call Bottom Hand—Top Hand Tee drills. These drills work on coordination of the head, relatively level rotation of the shoulders, a pulling of the front arm with proper hand path (palm down) to the ball, and a pushing of the back arm with proper hand path (palm up) to the ball, then the connection of both arms (front side and back side) together. Please enter your information below and submit if this is the first time you are requesting the FREE drills and you’ll have instant access. If you’ve already submitted your name and email address, you don’t have to do it again. I will email you the link to the new set of drills. Remember--Be a Pro Hitter! Coach T. MY IRON CLAD GUARANTEE: I WILL NEVER, EVER GIVE OR SELL YOUR EMAIL TO ANYONE. Baseball Dreams... 01/26/2012
Do you have a baseball dream or do you know someone close to you, a child, close relative or a friend that does? Does the dream go something like this: When the sun comes up in the hot summer morning, you awake, and the dream is still fresh.…You were just banging the clay off the bottom of your clete with your bat. You took a moment to look around, and the stadium was packed, all the fans calling out your name in perfect unison. The bases are loaded, bottom of the ninth, you've been in a battle with the pitcher and the count is 3 and 2. He rocks and delivers and you see the ball the size of a watermelon and...YOU CRUSH IT! Millions around the world dream. Are you one of them? Do you want to do whatever it takes (good of course) to make that dream come true? Do you want to help someone else realize his or her dream? Be A Pro Hitter Blog is about helping you become the best hitter you can or helping you learn how to help someone else crush the ball consistently. Why should you follow my blog? I want to give you proven techniques that if practiced consistently will help players of all ages reach their potential as hitters. Drills, exercises, and more...all with the intent of making you or your favorite player the best possible hitter he can be...confident, courageous, and content.  In this first blog I want to give you access to a series of three drills that will improve a hitter's bat path. That is these drills will help the hitter keep the barrel of the bat along the flight of the pitched ball longer, increasing the hitter's ability to hit the ball solidly and consistently. MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR DISCLAIMER here...The only way that these and future drills I prescribe work is if there is consistent work, doing these drills as perfectly as possible and at least for the amount of time prescribed. In other words the prescription works, like any prescription:
MY IRON CLAD GUARANTEE: I WILL NEVER, EVER GIVE OR SELL YOUR EMAIL TO ANYONE. | AuthorHi. Coach Mike Torres here. I am passionate about baseball and using this great sport as a means to help educate great people to become the best. ArchivesMay 2012 Categories
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