Long Tunnel Tee

The best way to tell if a player is staying "through" the ball is to watch the rotation of the ball as it comes off the bat. The ball's rotation will tell us everything we need to know about the swing. Ideally, the ball will come off the bat with backspin; meaning, the player stayed through the point of contact, behind the ball. A ball with hook spin is a ball the player "got around." A ball with flair spin is a ball that the player was inside but "cut off his swing" before extension. Long Tunnell tee is the best way to gauge this. Check the video.

Doing my first virtual hitting lesson

Tonight I'm doing my first virtual hitting lesson over the computer. I'm really excited that I'm able to share my passion for baseball with people all over the United States now. I will be working with an out of state hitter via Skype. He is taking his laptop with webcam and internet card to the batting cage, and I will give him a lesson through my computer and webcam at home. I'm interested to see how it turns out. I'll post the results soon!

Justin Stone Hitting Camp Results

We had a lot of fun Saturday and Sunday at our "Justin Stone Spring Training Hitting Camp." We helped 60 kids get off on the right foot for their seasons by doing mechanics work and video analysis. One nine year old hitter watched his video analysis with me and said, "Coach Stone, I'm good now!" He had a huge smile on his face, as did I. What more satisfaction could a coach want than that?

Quick tip

This is a quick tip that was filmed by Comcast at Spring Training some time ago. This was broadcast during the pre game show of White Sox games. I found it on my files, and thought it would be a great short tip. So many athletes, even in high school, still hold the bat incorrectly, thus limiting their bat speed. This is something that should have been corrected at age 7, yet players are still resistant to doing it. Here is my tip: If I told you I could increase your fastball speed 5mph in one day, the player would do anyting I would tell them to do. Why is this any different? "Comfort" is the answer. It is easier to stay within a "comfort zone" rather than changing something that is momentarily uncomfortable. Still, that uncomfortable feeling doesn't last very long, if the player practices enough!

Virtual Video Instruction

Whenever I get new technology, I'm like a kid in a candy store. I think it is important in lessons that the parents also learn along with the students. The parent will see more of the player's swing than I will. So, if a parent can reinforce the things we are doing in lessons, it will speed up the adjustment process for the hitter. I've been using a new capture software which gives me the capability of doing graphic and voice-over instruction on my computer to burn on a DVD for the player. Based on the analysis, I can add the drills that would be most appropriate for that player, with an explanation on how to do them. This would allow the player and parent to have an easy reference outside of lessons. Check it out below:

Extension - Tee Extended Drill

One of the extension drills I use here. The idea is to keep the bat in a large hitting window. By moving the ball two inches further out in front, trying to still hit the ball up the middle, the bat stays in that big hitting window. Make sure players are still staying "inside" their front side and not "reaching" with their upper body. It is their hands that need to continue on that path.

Routine Ground Ball - Half Speed Roll

Like hitting, fielding drills become more difficult as you add speed to the ball and distance in the drill. We start all of our hitting and fielding drills, "slow and close" before we move "far and fast." As the player feels comfortable and achieves the necessary fundamentals, you add difficulty by adding speed and distance to the drill. The progression should be done gradually. This video is the second step of my routine ground ball progression.

10 Chicagoland High Schools Using our Hitting System

Since official high school practice began on March 2nd, I have been busy consulting and putting on clinics for several Chicagoland high schools. It's been a lot of fun for me to go out and work with so many players the last few weeks and help them with their swings. What I've focused on is assisting high school coaches with a drill progression that helps teach the "absolutes" of the swing. I finish up my last consultation this weekend on a trip north to Jacobs High School. The clip below is from a presentation at Wheaton Warrenville South High School filmed by head coach Tim Brylka.

Illinois High School Clinic Clip

I'll get back to the posts about the routine ground ball in a few days. A few nights ago I did a clinic for the Nazereth High School varsity team and their coach, John Sime, gave me a DVD of my clinic speach at the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association Clinic. I am honored to have spoken at the clinic of 500+ coaches for five years in a row. This year I spoke on progressive hitting drills. I cut up a clip here that deals with "tempo" of the swing. I will blog a section on tempo and drills in a future blog.

Routine Ground Ball - Angle Step

Here is the start of a series of posts about routine groundball footwork. It is my firm belief that infielders will improve their hands by having good feet. Learning to play through the ball in one motion is the key to this. With that in mind, the first step to a routine groundball is crucial. We call this an "angle step." This gets the player to the correct side of the ball so the player's momentum is going to the target when they field and throw. I break all of my footwork down in drills like this and have had a lot of success teaching it this way.

Extension video

Hitting in 3D!

After leaving Indiana State University as a college coach, I made a stint at a St. Louis High School coaching baseball and football. Because our school dismissed at 2pm, I could finish practice and then go directly to a 4pm game of one of our opponents to scout. I put a scouting report together for all of the competitive teams we would face which I knew would put us at a huge advantage as long as our pitchers could locate. The reason being that 90% of high school hitters that we faced I classified as "1 dimensional" hitters. Here is my classification system:

1 Dimensional Hitter - Can Handle 1 pitch (fastball) on one part of the plate
2 Dimensional Hitter - Can Handle 1 pitch (fastball) on both sides of the plate
3 Dimensional Hitter - Can Handle a fastball and off-speed pitch on entire plate

This system made our pitching and defense plan very easy. In fact, in 2003 our team ERA was below 2.00 for the entire season, and we were the top ranked team in the St. Louis area! If we located, a 1D hitter became an very predictable out. 2D guys we would have to pattern pitch to keep off balance, and we would not let a 3D hitter beat us, pitching around him if necessary.

Now as a private instructor, I see that same 90% of 1D hitters in a lesson for a first time and create a plan to take them to the "next dimension." 1D guys typically pull off the ball or cut off their swing so synchronization and bat path is in order for them. 2D guys typically have stride or weight distribution issues that keep them from hitting an off speed pitch.

My high school hitters are all being evaluated right now by their coaches. My off season plan for all of my hitters was to help them become at least 2 dimensional. If a player can use the entire field, by staying through inside and outside pitches as well as making timing adjustments to both they can have success at any level of baseball and really excel at the high school level.

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