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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Extension - Hitting in a big window

The most important component of extension is hitting in a big window. Mechanics are not the most difficult part of the swing; timing is the most difficult part. Therefore, one of the benefits of having good extension is keeping the bat in the hitting zone to maximize opportunities to intersect the baseball. Thus, hitters can afford slight timing errors and still make solid contact.

Those that are familiar with my teaching know that I am big into video analysis. Through my research of literally 1,000 big league swings on slo mo video, three stand out in my mind when I think of extension. I often ask this question to the kids I teach: What do Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols, and Joe Mauer all have in common? The answer they start with is usually home run related. Though that answer is true, it's a by product of the answer that these guys hit with a high average every year. Those hitters will continue to do so because their bats are in the hitting zone as far or farther than any hitters that I've studied.

So what I jokingly tell hitters I'm working with that cut off extension is that for them to hit well, their timing has to be better than Albert Pujols' (which we know isn't going to happen) because their bat is hitting in a very small window. The bigger the window, the more of a chance for solid contact. The smaller the window, the likelihood of solid contact decreases unless the timing has to be nerarly perfect.

Bat Path / Extension

My next segment of blogs deals with extention. Extention is simple in thaught and difficult to accomplish. I find myself teaching this less than I have in previous years. Here is why: Extention (or lack there of) is easy to see for an instructor. Because it's easy to identify, instructors immediately begin working to correct this flaw. As a younger instructor, I was guilty of doing the same thing. What I've learned after giving thousands of hitting lessons is that every phase of the swing must be correct for extention to be correct. If there is a flaw early in the swing, that flaw will translate into a bigger one later in the swing. Cutting off extention ends up being the result of several flaws earlier in the swing. The point is, when an instructor sees that extention is lacking, it is usually something earlier in the swing that needs corrected. Finally, when every phase up until contact is correct, extention can then be worked on. Tommorrow, I will post an extention video.

One Knee Tag Drill

Another in the "knee drill" progression. Great lead up drill for those getting ready to start practice indoors.

One knee backhand drill

It's been a few weeks since my last post, as I was on vacation. Here is a great drill for those getting ready to start their indoor practices. Backhands are tough for all infielders. I believe it is easier to learn the backhand from the kneeling position because the eyes stay connected to the glove. Infielders who struggle with this play often straighten their upper body too much, disconnecting their eyes from the glove. Notice throughout this drill that the fielder's chin will always stay over his front knee.

Two knees exchange video

This is the final "two knee" drill, in which the exchange to a throwing position is made. Here, make sure that the fingers of the glove come to the bare hand on the way to the throwing side shoulder. That will make the infielder have a short arm break. This is one reason I do not teach funnelling into the belly button. From the belly button, the break of the hands turns into a longer arm arc. Use this drill in conjunction with my previous "two knee" blog drills.

Walk through drill

This drill is designed to get the hitter to use his back side efficiently. It will also get hitters to start his synchronization from the ground. You will see in this drill that I walk all the way through the tee upon finish. You can also do the drill by walking up and swinging against a firm front side.

Feet Together Drill

This is my favorite tee drill. I like it for several reasons. First, since my last blog was on lower body mechanics, the momentum created by the elongated stride will help the hips pull the foot onto the toe. This ensures that the hips are turning my lower body instead of the foot (for the players that are still "squishing the bug") Next, this drill creates correct synchronization and torque because the hands go back as the stride goes forward. To add, I will soon blog about the "pace" of the set-up. This drill helps control the tempo of the body during the stride.

Lower Body Mechanics

This video is a very simple approach to correct lower body mechanics. During the next week I will post a few videos of drills I like to help teach the lower body mechanics efficiently.

Two knees glove drill

The next progression in the infield series. Starting on the knees makes it easier for the infielder to keep his hands out in front of his chin for first contact with the ball.

Tee Tip

Follow this simple tee tip to ensure you are working inside and through the baseball!

Bare Hand Isolation Drill

This drill helps infielders understand that we must make first contact with the ball out in front of our chin. Starting the players on their knees with a slight chest lean forward will help them learn to keep the glove hand out in front of them. Next, I equate "soft hands" with a "loose wrist" when fielding. You will see the players taking their fingers through the baseball by bending at the "wrist hinge." When this "hinge" is not present and the wrist is stiff, it hardens the hands.

Top Hand Drill

A great drill to learn barrell whip and staying through the ball is another warm up drill we'll do with the top hand. When done correctly it helps a player stay through the ball with added whip.

John Mallee Hitting Camp Results

John Mallee, Hitting Coordinator for the Florida Marlins, hosted a hitting camp at our facility this past weekend. John is, bar none, the best hitting coach I've come in contact with. A few times a year, I get together with John, break down video, and pick his brain about hitting. What John confirms is that with the amount of body parts moving in the swing, there are a lot of things that can go wrong. Before coaches start to work on fixing one piece or another, there is always one thing that has to come first: Is the synchronization of the swing correct?

Dads will come to me during lessons and tell me they want their son to hit for more power. While I can't magically add twenty pounds of muscle to their son, I can make sure that their synchronization is correct, thus giving them a chance to maximize their bat speed.

The swing begins from the ground, up. To create torque and to maximize bat speed, the hips have to begin to fire while the hands are still back. Kids do not do this naturally very often. 99% of players we have come through the Academy have to be taught this.

Beyond creating bat speed, keeping the hands back at launch allows hitters to recognize the pitch before they swing. While players that have their hands and their stride foot coming forward at the same time, are swinging, then trying to react to the pitch. That is why so many players struggle with fastballs away or any off speed pitch. To wait on those pitches the hands have to remain back.

The stride-seperation drill is a good one for this. Check below in my blogs to find the video for that one. I'll add some more good "torque" creating drills soon!