Movement, Muscles, and Mindset

Working with hitters, we use three pillars to guide our development process - movement, muscles, and mindset. Each of these three components is fundamental to being great hitter and standing out from the crowd at any level. Movement Being able to move and control the body in space is a key aspect of any athletic activity. When it comes to hitting, we look for a key few movements that every hitter possesses in order to optimize "mechanics". It doesn't have to be complicated. For the novice hitters, it may be as simple as getting them to load and coil to produce potential energy to deliver to the ball instead of standing straight up and reacting to a pitch moment too late. For more advanced hitters, it could be helping them understand the impact of vertical bat angle data produced by a Blast sensor and what it means to their swings. For any hitter, it can be learning the timing and rhythm of the "dance" between the pitcher and hitter that allows them to deliver the barrel to the ball on time and on plane with a pitch. Regardless of level, it's always easier to teach a hitter how to move in a right way if they have what we refer to as a deep "movement encyclopedia" from which to draw. More on this in another post, but simply put, we believe that athletes move better when they have a wide variety of sports experiences to draw from as they develop. Basketball, gymnastics, soccer, martial arts, tennis, and even just running around and playing tag a help build this internal database of movement capability. Baseball players need to be athletes first. Muscles A hitter can have a great looking swing, but without power, it won't produce a positive result. We've seen countless numbers of 9 year olds that have pretty good looking swings, can't hit the ball out of the infield because they lack the strength, power and coordination to deliver enough speed to the barrel and exit velocity to the ball. We also see 14 year olds playing on the "big field" for the first time that suffer from the same problem - for them, the game often ends in not making their high school team. The solution to this problem, and the path to more fun, is to begin some sort of strength training, and to begin early. That doesn't mean we have to have an 8 year old squatting a barbell to get stronger, but it could. We're not against it, and we know how to train the movement, so we're happy to help anyone who is not swayed by the old myth that "lifting stunts your growth". Our clinical experience strongly disagrees with any notion that lifting hurts growth, as does all of the published literature. Whether they get friendly with a barbell or not, we strongly recommend that whenever a kid is trying to get better at hitting a baseball (or softball) he or she incorporates some form of strength and power development into every hitting workout. Swing overload and underload bats. Throw medicine balls or do push ups and air squats as a warmup . Do something. You cannot expect to improve bat speed or power by swinging and hoping - intent will only get you so far. A kid will grow, and puberty will help them get stronger, but why wait to have the fun that the bigger kids are having? Why are so many kids quitting baseball after age 12? Our theory is that they aren't yet strong enough hit the ball out of the larger infield, and that is NOT FUN. Mindset The most important, and probably least taught, aspect of hitting in a hitting lesson is mindset. We aim to develop hitters that are confident in the batters box and that have an "attack" mentality. The pitcher is there trying to attack you. You attack them back. You are not sitting back waiting to decide on whether it is your pitch or not. As Steve Springer says, you are ready for the "pitch you're going to get" not the pitch you want to hit. Nate Trosky puts it another way, calling the hitters mindset "The Hunter". Are you the hunter, or the hunted? We train HUNTERS. Unless you have two strikes on you, our approach is aggressive at the plate. We approach the plate with confidence. We leave the past behind. We hit like "every day is opening day" (another Springer-ism). We are attacking and swinging hard. It turns our stomachs a bit when the coach gives us a take sign. The light is green, and we are swinging until we are not (not waiting and deciding). We are in the box to do damage, and we are there to hit doubles and triples, not grounders. So there it is, it takes all three of those, and it takes a lot of practice, whether it's in hitting a ball, getting stronger, or working on the mental game. We have the tools and the approach to teach movement, build the muscles and practice the mindset. And we're here to train Gorillas.