Baseball Positive On-Location Instruction for Leagues, Teams and Individuals Youth Coach Development - Games Camps - Instructional Leagues

BASEBALL POSITIVE ON-LOCATION INSTRUCTION FOR LEAGUES, TEAMS AND INDIVIDUALS YOUTH COACH DEVELOPMENT - GAMES CAMPS - INSTRUCTIONAL LEAGUES

BATTING DRILLS & EXERCISES Lower Half 1) Twist – Feet wider than shoulders; turn feet and lower half back and forth while keeping upper body still – 5 seconds; rest, repeat. 2) Load & Turn* w/hands on hips – “Turn Back, Turn Fast” (turn to ‘contact point’ quickly ‐ 100% effort) ‐ “Switch Heels” / “Centered” / “Balance” 3) Lower Half Turn* ‐ Start in batting stance (with or w/o bat). Hands, shoulders and upper body remain still/in place; lower half load and turn.

Top Hand 4) Sideways Karate Chop*...Turn back, turn fast. Lower half powers the action. Stop at contact point. Elbow bent and near torso; palm up, head facing palm.

Lead Hand 5) Pull to Midline of Torso ‐ “Half Way” shoulders remain still and no lower half turn. Pull ‘knob toward the ball’ while keeping front elbow bent; action stops at midline of torso. ‐ The batter’s hands work independently of the shoulders. Swing 6) Hand Clap at Contact*…top hand ‘straight line’ to contact point (lead hand); continues in a straight line through contact point to full extension.

Swing (fine tuning) ‐‐‐ Top Hand Extension w/Resistance* ‐‐‐ Basketball/Soccer Ball Toss* – similar to hand clap drill; the result of the extension is the ball being propelled toward drill partner (10’‐15’ away). ‐‐‐ Path of Hands*, Hitting off a tee with Lower Half Pre‐rotated. Focus on straight line action of the hands; lower half does not move/rotate at any time during the drill.

Mechanical Keys a) Lower Half is the power source of the swing. Rotation stops when pointing towards contact point. The lower half works like the Handle of a Whip. b) Head Remains ‘in place’ throughout the swing. Head movement is the catalyst for a great deal of mechanical flaws. Eliminating head movement solves many flaws. c) Lead Hand (steering wheel) pulls in a straight line toward contact point. Its contribution to the swing is very brief (~8”). Job ends at the mid line of the torso. …“Half Way”, lead hand also works like the “Handle of a Whip”. d) Top Hand accelerates the barrel of the bat past the lead hand in a straight line through contact point – the “End of the Whip”. e) Anchoring the Lower Half…this is taught, and becomes a focus, later in the Progression of Learning once most other aspects of the swing have a given level of discipline.

Workout Focus (contact points): Tee, soft toss, short front toss: ‐‐‐ Work at two levels: 1) Bottom of Hitter’s Zone ~mid thigh 2) Top of Hitter’s Zone ~mid torso. ‐‐‐ Three locations: 1) In (~4” – 6” contact point prior to front foot) 2) Middle (contact point even with front foot) 3) Away (contact point

Live Hitting: It is the responsibility of the coach/batting practice pitcher to provide good pitches to hit during live work. Batters want to avoid swinging at poor pitches in a practice setting. Instruct batters to not reach for bad pitches during live work – the batter needs to be acutely aware of this error when it occurs. The batter’s focus when hitting live is to replicate the quality swing they developed in their drill and tee work and to be aware of their BALANCE. On a given repetition the swing is what matters, not the end result of the swing. The batter’s goal is to develop the mental discipline to make the quality of the swing their focus (process‐oriented rather than results‐oriented). When the batter remains consistent and balanced in each swing, timing will improve with more repetitions. Over time, the percentage of well struck balls will increase significantly.

* All these drills can be modified by focusing on contact point for outside and inside pitches.

Ichiro ‐ Lead hand’s work ends at mid‐point / lead arm elbow remains bent Henry Blanco ‐ Position of strength at contact; head and torso centered ‐ Lead hand’s work ends at mid‐point / lead arm elbow remains bent ‐ Position of strength at contact – back elbow bent and close to torso

Ian Kinsler Travis Hafner ‐ Lead hand at center of body, ‘half way’ ‐ Lead hand at center of body – head & torso centered between feet ‐ Top hand has accelerated past led hand, ‘all the way’ ‐ Top hand has accelerated past led hand, ‘all the way’ ‐ Top hand ‐ ‘straight line’ through contact ‐ Top hand ‘straight line’ through contact