THE ULTIMATE HITTER

I. MENTAL PREPARATION

Hitting is 90% mental, 10% physical

• Know your strengths and weaknesses • Stubborn Self-Confidence at the plate at ALL times= positive reinforcement, especially in the face of adversity. The more you fail at the plate, the cockier (inwardly not outwardly) you need to be. Expect success, failure is a fluke—Believe it! • Self-image is learned and improved with practice. Batting average goes up in proportion to a player's self image. Always believe you are the best hitter in the park when you step into the box—feed positive mental food to yourself and you will improve performance. • Enthusiasm always conquers adversity • Hitting is much more of a TEAM mindset than an individual mindset Selfishness v. Selflessness • Hitting is always situational. • Don't let pitchers or their stats dictate what you do as a hitter—hit according to your strengths and weaknesses—PLAY THE GAME, NOT THE OPPONENT • Clear your mind—when step into box, focus on task at hand—simplify and don't overthink. Game time is not the place to mechanically change yourself.—Make adjustments during the course of the game but don't try to do too much or think too much. Trust your training. Trust your instincts. • Making Adjustment v. Changing your swing during game

• Have a plan for each at bat— A. Pre-Game Preparation • Visualization—envision past and future successes at the plate—see yourself executing in the clutch—do this the night before and day of—DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE the practice of positive visualization! • Maximize Batting Practice—Make each cut count—Be a student of your swing—Take pride in execution of each swing and round. • Practice does not make perfect, Perfect practice makes perfect.

B. On Bench Preparation

• Player to player communication about pitcher to a MAN • Individual Prep—recognize P's delivery subtleties—i.e. release point, arm speed, deception, RHYTHM.

C. In-The-Hole Preparation

• Understand game situation at hand • Continue mindset from bench

D. On Deck Preparation

• Recognize pitchers rhythm • Establish your timing and rhythm • Feed self positive thoughts/energy=Cocky self-talk • Visualize self hitting baseball and succeeding

E. Batter's Box

• Clear your mind-when step into box focus on task at hand— simplify and don't overthink. Game time is not the place to mechanically change yourself.—Make adjustments but don't try to do to much. Trust yourself and trust your training. • Know your strengths and weaknesses—know what to look for and what to do with the baseball on each count. • GET A GOOD PITCH TO HIT AND HIT IT HARD • Never concede anything mentally to the pitcher. Once you allow your mind to say the pitcher's got good stuff, you give him the edge. No sense getting in the box unless your mind tells you that you'll succeed. • Be loose and relaxed. Fact: Trying too hard is a conscious act that causes excessive tension and may, therefore, program a person to fail. Instead of allowing body to do what it is capable of doing, the player tells it to do more—make corrections, etc.—which usually leads to forced rather than fluid action.

II. KNOWING THE ZONE

• Developing your eye through practice and knowing the strike zone will increase batting average (BB's go up, AB's go down) • Use every pitch seen in practice to develop your knowledge of the strike zone—swing only at strikes and make an aggressive take on each pitch that is not swung at. • Be a student of the game—Use your first AB of the game to get into the flow—see as many pitches as possible to get a read on pitcher. Make pitcher work to get you out…Hitting the first pitch can be a great weapon that greatly disrupts a pitcher’s rhythm, but only if a hitter is smart about going about hitting a pitch he anticipates and that he can drive.

. III. COUNT LEVERAGE/SITUATIONAL HITTING

• MLB averages per count: 0-0=.318 0-1=.359 0-2 = .094 1-0=.238 1-1 = .282 1-2= .166 2-0= .373 2-1=.363 2-2=.271 3-0=.250 3-1=.365 3-2 =.263

• Hitting with count leverage is to work the count to your favor to give yourself the best chance of success. You must know likely FB counts (hitter counts)—0-0, 2-0, 3-1, 3-0. The highest MLB average is with a 2-0 count (.373)—when the hitter has a distinct advantage and is only looking for one pitch in one zone.

• When you have count leverage, attack the baseball and swing hard staying in control. You should never take a weak swing, but particularly not with count leverage. These are counts where you should only swing if you get the pitch (usually fastball) you are looking for. Thus, you should never be fooled on these counts and therefore should have the goal of never making a “weak” out when hitting with count leverage.

IV. PHYSICAL PREPARATION BEFORE AB

• Every DCAT hitter should work on load/stride portion of swing and then actual swing in on deck circle—get your body focused with your mind • Get loose—have the same pre-AB routine each time that you use-make it your own

V. THE SWING • TED WILLIAMS—Best Ever "Wait and be Quick" "See the ball and hit it hard" "Know the zone and hit your pitch" • Good hitters are aware of: where the ball is and where the bat head is.

• WAIT—On the outside pitch let the ball get to you deep, do not rush to get to the ball. The hitters who wait the longest don't tend to have slumps as often.

A. GRIP • Hold in fingertips, not palms—do not choke bat • Align "door-knocking" knuckles • Crease in both wrists at about 45 degrees

B. STANCE • Body weight balanced 50-50 • Hands in power/boxing position • Both eyes seeing release—chin over front shoulder • Slight knee bend (athletic stance)/ chest over toes • Knees pointed slightly inward/ weight on inside of feet—don’t want to duck bat foot toward catcher • Plate coverage with bat • Back elbow—no high chicken wing, be loose with lead arm (about 90 degrees) C. RHYTHM • Reduce excessive movement before swing—only takes away from compact, swing. • Be loose, not tense before pitch—too much movement shows nervousness, not relaxation • Along with a balanced stance comes rhythm and movement—but controlled, useful movement. • "Get back to go forward"—don't want to start swing from dead start—analogy of pendulum or a coiling spring

D. LOAD (STARTER) / STRIDE • The loading of hands and the stride happen simultaneously and help give rhythm • Soft stride or no stride—While striding, load weight/tension onto back quadriceps, preparing to explode backside into pitch

E. SWING PRINCIPLES • Power in swing comes from lower body, speed from upper. To have speed must be loose --“Drop” of front heel initiates the “pop” of the back heel and “drive” with the backside toward the ball,. • Hips initiate swing, but shoulders must stay closed. Hips lead the hands from launch position— bat path is then elbows-knob-barrel to the ball for the most direct route so barrel remains above hands into hitting zone. --Keep hands “inside” the ball and attempt to strike the inside half of the ball • Braced front side so hip torque can be used- explode lower half into a firm front side for maximum torque/power • Keep tension in back quad through swing to maintain balance/power • Weight shift is not all or nothing. It is a flow through pitch. • Be short to the ball to contact but long after contact (hands separate from body) to reach maximum extension. • High follow through after extension allows for complete hip rotation • Let the baseball get deep and trust hands to react • Don't rush to load position and get beat "going back" with hands • Use lower half to hit ball—lower half delivers hands to ball • Back elbow tucked against body through swing until extension • Stay on the hitting plane/arc( A-B-C-D) through contact zone • Hands stay back in launch position as hitter strides and don't fall forward, drop, or keep going back once front heel lands • Keep head still and eye level constant by using a controlled, balanced stride --Proper Contact Position= top palm up/ bottom palm down; arms still have some flexion in them because they should not fully extend before contact • Swing must achieve extension"through" ball and not be satisfied to make contact, immediately pulling “off” ball and cutting swing off from proper completion • Top hand should roll after contact—never before