YOUTH TRAINING

Younger players involved in higher levels of competition will begin to see off-speed pitches, curveballs, etc. at about the age of 10 years old. While players in regular Little Leagues tend to not be exposed to the better pitchers until about the age of 12. The XLR8 SpeedBalls in the YOUTH version are designed to introduce the young player to off-speed pitches and to learn how to recognize and attack the off-speed pitch. The Youth version features two different colors; the FastBall is white and the Off-Speed is Yellow. This will allow the young player to immediately identify the off-speed pitch by virtue of the color of the ball approaching him. This color recognition will eventually be replaced with recognition of the speed of the pitched ball as the player develops the ability to "track" the ball to the hitting zone.

The younger player should stay with the YOUTH version until the coach/parent sees the player in complete command of the different speeds. By this I mean that the player is not lunging for the off-speed ball. The hitter should demonstrate the ability to "wait, wait, wait" on the off-speed pitch and then "accelerate" (XLR8) the hands and the bat through the zone, putting a "fastball swing" on an offspeed pitch. When this is seen on a consistent basis the coach/parent can begin to introduce the ADULT version. Eventually graduating to pitch count training and the random version of practice.

The basic version of XLR8 SpeedBall training is quite simple. The "coach", parent or friend kneels approximately 20-25 feet from the hitter with about a dozen XLR8 SpeedBalls. Don't worry, if the balls are hit directly back at you they will not hurt you! They may scare you, but they won't hurt like the plastic whiffle golf balls! In fact, I encourage the player to try to hit me with the ball because it promotes the proper "use the big part of the field" hitting philosophy.

The molded white ball is the fastball. The coach pitches all of the fastballs in his pile first, each time he picks up a ball he identifies it to the hitter by holding it up and yelling out "fastball!" The coach then pitches the ball. The mere fact that these balls are of smaller size will increase hand-eye coordination, accuracy and the ability for the player to track the ball to the zone. After the coach exhausts the fastballs in his pile, he switches to the off-speed ball. Again, he holds the ball up and verbally identifies it before pitching it. The coach must stress to the player to "wait on the ball and accelerate the bat through the ball", do not allow the hitter to lunge or slow his bat down just because the ball is slow. This is a very common error by young hitters. They see a "slow" ball and match the speed of their swing to the "slow" pitch. The reverse is true; "wait, wait, wait and accelerate" the bat when the ball reaches the hitting zone! Put a "fastball swing" on an offspeed pitch.

Do not let the player "go out and get" the off-speed ball. Make him wait for the off-speed ball to get to him! This is the same philosophy and trick to hitting a curve ball! Let the curve ball come down to you! Don't "go up and try to get it". Let it come to you then Accelerate (XLR8!) the bat head to the ball. You'll be amazed at your success..

Repeat this process until you see the player easily handling the different speed of the pitches. You may then graduate to the random training. Place all of the XLR8 SpeedBalls in a pile in front of you. Randomly select a ball, hold it up and identify it verbally and then pitch it to the player. This will allow the player to adjust to different speeds of pitches in sequence. Instead of all fastballs or all off-speed, the player must continually adjust his visual tracking relative to the XLR8 SpeedBall which is being pitched. Of course, the YOUTH version continues to allow color recognition during it's flight to the hitter.

The next progression in the player's training would simply be to randomly pitch the balls to the hitter with no verbal identification prior to the pitch. Simply pick the XLR8 SpeedBalls up at random and pitch them. The color recognition will aid the hitter in identifying the pitch on his own and allow him to stay in timing with his swing.

The final version of off-speed training is the "pitch-count" training process. For YOUTH players this simply means to announce a pitch count and then pitch the appropriate ball according to the count. As a general rule, for players up to about 13 years, if the hitter is ahead in the count 1-0, 2-0, 3-0, 2-1, 3-1 he will get a fastball. If behind in the count 0-2, 1-2 he will probably get an off-speed pitch. This is the easiest system to follow and statistically correct for youth leagues. In regards to 0-0 pitches, most hitters will get a fastball whereas the real good hitters on the team (3 and 4 spots in lineup) will probably get an off-speed pitch.

Remember to stress to your players that at all times he should "look" for a fastball. Be prepared to hit a fastball. Every pitch! Merely adjust to the off-speed pitch. If you are looking fastball, an off-speed pitch cannot be blown by you. On the other hand, if you are looking "off-speed" the fastball will blaze right by at all levels of baseball. That is why you stress the "wait, wait, wait, accelerate" system upon recognizing off-speed pitches. If the player is looking fastball, you will likely see a slight hesitation and adjustment on the off-speed pitch. This is a good thing! To emphasize this point make sure that you incorporate a few fastballs during off-speed counts and see whether the player was "looking" off-speed or not. If he was, he will be late everytime.

This concludes the process of training with the XLR8 SpeedBalls. You may use any combination of the training principles as you accustom yourself to the XLR8 SpeedBalls. Continued use of these balls will improve a hitter's timing and accuracy, two very important compenents in hitting supremacy. . Good Luck and I hope this helps you or your player to Be A Better Hitter!

XLR8 Your Game! Colleges using XLR8 SpeedBalls :

ADULT TRAINING

Working with the older youth players or players from High School baseball to the Professional ranks is an entirely different ball game. The game gets more complex, pitcher's develop strategies that are unpredictable, and hitting becomes even more difficult at each level. The best way to prepare for these higher levels of competition is by using the XLR8 SpeedBballs in the ADULT version. The balls are of the same color, but still fly at different speeds! This requires intense concentration on the hitter's part to identify the pitch and react accordingly.

The basic form of practice with the ADULT version is simply to get the player comfortable with pitch count tendencies. Obviously, there is still a tendency for pitcher's to throw specific pitches on certain counts. If this were not so then they would not be referred to as "fastball counts". Players should be familiar with basic fastball counts, but if not you may wish to announce the count and that you will throw fastballs (white molded ball). For instance "1-0, fastball", etc. Throw fastballs on 1-0, 2-0, 3-0, 2-1, 3-1 and 3-2 counts and off-speed pitches on 0-1, 0-2, 1-2 counts. On 0-0 and 2-2 counts you can vary the pitch selection to check the player's understanding of the "always look fastball" hitting philosophy. If you are blowing fastballs by him on these instances then you need to reiterate the importance of always looking for a fastball and make sure the player adheres to this practice religiously.

Progress to regular batting practice beginning with 0-0 count and choosing the pitch relative to the count. Either the player or yourself can act as "umpire" and decide on the pitch being a strike or ball. The next pitch would be based on the existing pitch count. For instance if the "umpire" decided that the first two pitches were balls, the count would be 2-0... player gets a fastball. This will continue to ingrain the basic pitching philosophy of most levels of baseball.

The advanced method of use for the XLR8 SpeedBalls is to utilize pitching strategies of the Major League level. Sure, there are still "fastball counts" but at that level of play pitchers are constantly taught NOT to be predictable. This means you could get any pitch in any count situation.

However, they still fall into strategies such as "fastball in, off-speed away", "off-speed down, fastball up", etc. Pitchers are constantly trying to "upset the timing of the hitter!" Almost everything is based on the hitters reaction to the fastball. As the coach, or pitcher, adapt your use of the XLR8 SpeedBalls to game type situations. Always ask the question "What did I just teach the hitter to do?" with the previous pitch. Did he have to speed his bat up to get to an inside fastball? Should I go away with off-speed or show him another fastball in a different spot? Constantly try to educate the hitter to pitching strategies. But, at all times.... . stress to the hitter to "ALWAYS LOOK FASTBALL, ADJUST TO THE OFF-SPEED"!

When working with the advanced hitter pay attention to his ability to "wait" on the off-speed pitches. Especially in predictable counts. When you see your hitter in perfect timing more often than not while using the XLR8 SpeedBalls, you will be amazed at how well he performs with a normal baseball! Remember, these balls are very small. The concentration required to hit these balls successfully is amazing all by itself, let alone when they are traveling at different speeds. BeABetterHitter!