The drill that we’re talking about here is what we’re gonna put Brian in, the Pre-Stride Position, to eliminate some of the problems of swinging the bat. First thing we do with Brian is we find out what Brian’s power base is. Okay. With his power base what we’ll do is ask him to get in to the position where ...

by Tim Keown ESPN The Magazine Jason Kidd sees more. He sees more on the basketball court, on the freeway, in the movie theater. After he and his wife watch a movie, he routinely asks her if she noticed some subtleties in the film’s background. She rarely does, even though she has learned to look for them. Reporters who have ...

Baseball is a complicated game in many ways. Yet, as complicated as it is… it can be just as simple. It is very important for the offensive player to simplify as much of the game as possible. Especially in his thinking. Yogi Berra’s famous quote that “You can’t hit and think at the same time” should be the mantra of ...

The Philosophy at BABH is always centered on taking time tested principles of hitting from the great hitters that have played the game. Some of these principles have their roots set so far back in the game that they bring back names like Cobb, Ruth, Mantle, Aaron and others. Typically, these hitting principles focus on some mechanical aspect of the ...

If you are going to be a hitter, a good hitter, one your teammates and coaches can depend on… then you need to know this: Learn how to “Shrink the Box”. OK.. you are probably saying “What the heck does that mean?” Well, this is a fundamental skill that all good hitters possess, and you should too. Shrinking the Batter’s ...

Lets take a look at the correlation of the back elbow, back knee and back hip in the baseball swing. It’s my finding that the synchronization of these in the backside motion are critical to the success of a hitter. On the elite hitters in the game, such as Albert Pujols, these three separate parts of the body work in ...

“I have observed that baseball is not unlike a war, and when you come right down to it, we batters are the heavy artillery.” – Ty Cobb 1. DON’T GRIP YOUR BAT AT THE VERY END; leave say an inch or two. ALSO, LEAVE AT LEAST AN INCH OR MORE SPACE BETWEEN YOUR HANDS; that gives you balance and control ...

Along with ill-conceived promotions that have backfired over the years, baseball has also been the home to many strange gimmicks, used either to hype the game or simply to gain an advantage over an opponent. None is better remembered than the one engineered by Bill Veeck when he owned the old St. Louis Browns in 1951. The Browns were floundering ...

One of the great barometers for a hitter is his ability to really tee off on pitches that look like they should be crushed. You know the ones I’m talking about. Say you are watching a Major League game on the tube, your favorite team is up to bat and your favorite player is in the batter’s box. The count ...

I think there are times when hitters lose the realization that they are competing. I don’t think they place enough importance on this simple fact: You must compete against the pitcher for each and every pitch! Every single pitch he throws has one purpose; to get you out! If you are not placing the same amount of importance on each ...

At BeABetterHitter (BABH) we have learned that the easiest way to teach young players the baseball swing is to break the swing down into parts. Elsewhere on this site you will find the 6 Steps to a Sweet Swing and other articles that refer to this approach. As complex as the baseball swing can be, it can also be quite ...

Coaches, teaching your players to understand the strike zone and to hit the ball where it’s pitched is a huge advantage for your offense. Offense is of course a key component to the game, you must score to win. We all know that It’s not always easy to keep the interest of players during practice. Having a team lose focus ...

Count Hitter’s Expectation (Thought) Expected Batting Avg. 0-0 Fastball (See it-Hit it!) .318 0-1 Pitchers Choice (My Pitch/My Zone) .238 0-2 Any Pitch Close (Put it in play/Battle) .094 1-0 Fastball (Tighten my zone) .359 1-1 Pitchers Choice (My Pitch/My Zone) .282 1-2 Any Pitch Close (Put it in play/Battle) .166 2-0 Fastball (Drive it!) .373 2-1 Fastball (Drive it!) ...

Hitting is Timing. Pitching is upsetting Timing. The core of the game revolves around the hitter and the pitcher. It has, for over a century, been the most compelling aspect of the game of baseball. As a player you should recognize that this “history” essentially dictates the flow of the game between the pitcher and the hitter. When you are ...

If I told you that the only thing any coach ever cares about is your production as a ballplayer what would you say? I mean, in the end… at the end of the season… look back and tell me how productive you were with two outs and a runner in scoring position. Or, how often did you knock the runner ...

Have you ever played the game inside the game? You know… the game between the pitcher and the batter. That really is “the game”. Ok, ok, you do have to field your position, throw accurate, know all of the defensive plays, offensive plays and be a team player. But.. if you just break baseball down to its bare bones, the ...

I’m sure you have heard the saying “Be Short to the ball and Long through the ball” at least once if you have been playing baseball for any length of time. The problem is, nobody really explains what that means. The same goes for “keep your hands inside the ball”. Well, I’m hopeful that I can shed just a little ...

Some younger players may not even know who Pete Rose is .. others may identify with him as a bad role model. The plain fact is that Pete Rose is the All-Time leader in hits for Major League Baseball!! So, putting aside whatever issues haunted him as a human being off the field.. Let’s just take a look at what ...

In keeping with the power concept of the XLR8 Speed Bat Hitting System, I’m going to show you a drill here that’s really really good for developing the power from the fingertips to the elbows. We’ve talked about it before and it’s extremely critical. If you’re going to be a power hitter you have to develop that portion of your ...

Okay we’re getting into the accuracy component of the XLR8 Speed Bat Hitting System. And one of the drills that we really like to use is it separates the step from the swing because we’re talking about Load, then Step, then Swing instead of a load, step, and swing. We want to load, step, then swing. So it’s a complete ...

So we have some exercises designed with the Speed Bat that are gonna increase that power and develop the strength, the fast twitch muscle fibers from the finger tips to the elbows. In the first exercise they’re gonna do, is called The Fan. You’re simply gonna hold the bat out in front of you… hold the Speed Bat out in ...

One of the neat products that we’ve identified.. it really works extremely well with the XLR8 speed bat hitting system is called The Bob Stick. And essentially what this is, is a tool that has a very small target, a foam ball that you can hit over and over and over. There’s no shock transmitted to the person who is ...

The Strike Zone. How many hitters can actually say they go up to the plate and “know the strike zone”? What is “the strike zone”? Good question… there are many answers! Who’s “strike zone”? The Pitcher’s? The Catcher’s? The Hitter’s? The Umpires? Today? Tomorrow? Yesterday? The “strike zone” changes. It’s an amoeba. That’s one of the things that makes the ...

What do we mean when we say “Pure Hitter?” It’s simple actually. We want our hitters to swing to hit the ball “Pure,” not swing to hit the ball “Hard.” In the process of hitting the ball “Pure” (hitting the big part of the ball with the big part of the bat) you will naturally hit the ball “Hard.” Pure ...

Football Change.. that’s what. Football what? Football Change. It has also been referred to as Football Curve. It is a devastating pitch that hitter’s should learn to immediately recognize. It not, you will likely have a very difficult time laying off of this pitch. If thrown by a Right Handed Pitcher, the ball falls away from a Right Handed Hitter. ...

Baseball soft toss drills. These baseball soft toss drills will help with your timing and with your trigger mechanism. When used properly in conjunction with the other drills, you should be able to develop a fluid, easy swing. Let’s get started! The objectives in this drill is to develop good timing and good balance. Take your stance, have someone toss ...

Tips from the Pros Cal Ripken, Sr: The Ideal Hitter The ideal hitter would probably have a combination of these qualities: strength, determination, coordination, confidence, vision, rhythm, style, body control, quick hands, and the will to learn and to take advice. The following is a list of batting tips that can help anyone become a better hitter. Select a bat ...

The batter stands about 20 feet away from the pitcher. The pitcher takes a tennis ball and bounces the ball so that the ball ends up in the strike zone. With bouncing the balls the hitter will tend to jump out on his or her front foot. This drill will allow he or she to stay back in the load ...

As you may notice in the numerous articles appearing on this site, we are big proponents of seeing the ball well. You must see it to hit it! There are many drills that have been around baseball for years and years that deal with seeing the ball, tracking the ball, identifying pitches, etc. Here are a few of our favorites. ...

Yankee Stadium July 4, 1939 Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about a bad break I got. Yet today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth. I have been in ballparks for seventeen years and I have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans. Look at these grand ...

Purpose: To determine the degree of head movement in the baseball swing. We all know how difficult it is to hit a baseball. Every hitting instructor worth his salt acknowledges the importance of a steady head during the swing. The reason is simple: The eyes are the source of information for the body. The information we see (the approaching pitch) ...

Here’s an excerpt from Charley’s Lau’s Book: The Brain: It Can Help and Hurt Your Hitting Ever notice when you get into a slump in any athletic endeavor the amount of people are eager to help you? Fall into a 1-for-25 slide in baseball and it seems everyone has a solution for you, from your teammates to your coach to ...

There is no doubt that the baseball talent throughout the United States is overwhelming. The difficulty in deciding who to watch is increasingly demanding for the professional scout. Especially given the tremendous increase in High School talent as opposed to the more established and polished college prospect. Consider that fact that the average Major League baseball team is allowed 50 ...

This simple little drill is an outstanding tool to help the player to make more consistent contact with the baseball. Designed to ingrain the proper path for the lead hand to attack the ball, it also develops proper top hand action. When correctly employed, the drill helps the hitter to understand the role of each hand during the swing. A ...

If you have played under a good hitting instructor at any time in your baseball career, you have heard those words before. Releasing your hands to the ball is vital to good hitting. The top hand on the bat is the “power hand” in the baseball swing. It starts out on top, trails the knob of the bat and lower ...

This is the key to creating quickness. Wrist roll exercises are to develop strength from the fingertips to the elbows, which is important. But this is the secret to creating Bat Speed!. If you have been playing baseball for a few years, you probably have a few different sizes of bats laying around in the garage. Go get them. They ...

To develop a quick bat you must have strong hands, wrists and forearms. Some hitters are blessed with these attributes naturally. Others will need to work on getting stronger in this area. I will say this, if you have naturally strong hands, wrists and forearms, you would be silly not to improve on what you already have. You could be ...

I find it interesting that so many coaches and parents are quick to change this and alter that when it comes to a young player’s hitting. Young players are advised to open their stance, close their stance, keep their elbow up, keep their elbow down, squash the bug, don’t squash the bug, keep their head in there, and on and ...

As I mentioned earlier, much of hitting is understanding the game. Baseball is a game of situations. Because baseball is a team game, a successful at-bat may not be one that results in a base hit. Your time in the on-deck circle should be used to analyze the game situation. How can you help your team when it’s your turn ...

Everybody wants to be a great hitter. Most young players dream about hitting the ball like Alex Rodriquez or David Wright or Prince Fielder. What they don’t realize is that All-Star players like that have such deeply ingrained muscle memory built into their swing that they can totally forget about their swing and concentrate solely on hitting the ball. The ...

Enlist the help of your father, mother, brother or a friend. You will need a whiffle ball or other soft ball. Have your training partner get in a safe position at about a 45 degree angle from you. The partner should toss the ball up softly in front of you. From a good, fundamentally sound batting stance, try to hit ...

Boxers learn how to develop power in their punch by trying to power through a heavy bag that weighs anywhere from 120-200 lbs. Why is that relevant to a baseball player? Well, certain players are power hitters and are necessary in the makeup of a baseball team. These players generally occupy the “corners” of a team; LF, RF 3B and ...

Here’s a drill to emphasize the importance of the hands to the ball. This drill can be incorporated with a soft toss or a short screen. It is very effective even without the luxury of hitting a ball during the drill. Find yourself an old plastic chair, or a bucket with a lid and sit on it. Lock your ankles ...

Wertz hits it. A solid sound. I learned a lot from the sound of the ball on the bat. Always did. I could tell from the sound whether to come in or go back. This time I’m going back, a long way back, but there is never any doubt in my mind. I am going to catch this ball. I ...

How many of you have been in a position to win the game in your final at- bat? You know, 2 outs… bases loaded… your team losing by one run in the last inning. The other team changes pitchers as you step up to the plate. The “Big Kid” moves from first base, saunters up to the pitcher’s mound and ...

The swing is grooved, the concept of matching your swing plane with that of the pitched ball is clear and understood. The next step in the act of successfully hitting a pitched baseball is timing. Timing your swing so that it meets the ball at the proper impact point, at just the right moment. Not a moment too soon, not ...

The pitch count should have a direct impact on each swing you take at the plate. Certain pitch counts favor the hitter and certain ones favor the pitcher. Just as the smart pitcher takes advantage of the times he is “ahead in the count,” the smart hitter understands when he has the advantage. In these situations, the hitter must capitalize. ...

During the 1920s and into the period just before World War II, my family lived in various apartments in the Bronx, New York. In those depression years, it was cheaper to move than pay the rent, and so they did. Those were also the years before television, and, indeed, before the times when baseball salaries became rather high. I am ...