From the first time we pick up a bat until the last day we lace up our spikes there is one training tool that remains a constant throughout, the batting tee. The batting tee should quickly become a hitter's best friend and remain within close reach throughout their careers. It is the only training tool that has withstood the test of time and can be found on little league fields all the way up to major league batting cages. A training tool with an extremely impressive track record indeed.
What makes the batting tee such a worthy companion? Simply put, it's simplicity. The batting tee takes away all the variables; pitch speed, pitch location, pitch movement. The ball is stationary, placed right where you want it. It's just you and your swing that determine what kind of contact you make with the ball. A poor swing results in poor contact and a quality swing results in quality contact. But what is quality contact off of a tee?
A good approach to hitting off of a tee is to drive the ball on a level ( line-drive ) or slightly downward plane ( hard ground ball ). The reason being, a hitter wants his / her swing to be direct to the ball. A quick and direct swing with extension is a hitter's primary objective when the ball is in motion. Thinking logically, the hitter's hands will start above the ball. In order to be direct and quick, the hitter will then descend down and toward the ball to make contact. Thus, creating the level to slightly downward angle of the driven ball from the tee.
The hitter must learn to trust that his / her swings off of a tee that result in well struck line-drives and low line-drives ( hard ground balls ) will translate into pitched balls being struck with backspin. These pitched ball contacts with backspin will cause the ball to carry, which in turn will result in well struck singles, doubles, triples, and home runs. Continue to practice a quick and direct swing for the best results. A hitter's swing is sculpted in practice and the batting tee is a great way to create a mold to build from.
So do as thousands of major leaguers have done befor you, get yourself a batting tee and make friends with it. Continued success in all you do and play ball !!!
- More Posts on specific drills with the batting tee to follow -
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Friday, May 21, 2010
Why Ask Why?
A baseball / softball player will receive advice, tips, drills, and general coaching knowledge from a wide variety of people in their lives. Whether it be from a former professional player like myself, little league coach, or dear old Dad, the job of a successful baseball / softball player is to take in all of that information with an open mind, practice it relentlessly, and after extensive trial and error evaluate if that information works for them. The difficulty lies in the fact that not all the information a young player will be given will be good information. Nobody wants to waste their time and effort practicing something that isn't going to help them. But fear not, the beauty of baseball / softball is that the fundamentals and mechanics are all logical. This means that anyone who is giving information should be able to back up that information with an explanation that makes sense. The best advice I can give to a player, regardless of age, is to politely ask "why?". Any source of good information will be able to give you an answer that makes sense as to why they are suggesting you to do a certain thing.
For example, Dad stands behind the batting cage and readily repeats the same mantra, "Keep your back elbow up, keep your back elbow up". This one is a personal favorite of mine. Now let's take a second and think about that, "why Dad?". I'm yet to hear a good reason for this one. The most common responses are, "that's how the big leaguers do it" and "that's how my Dad taught me". Let's think logically now. A back elbow that starts up must come....? You got this, "down" during a swing. Nice job. When that back elbow starts to come down, more often than not, so does that young hitter's hands. when the hands drop, so does the bat and that means they are now swinging underneath the ball or coming from under the ball. The end result will almost always be a swing and miss, pop-up, or weakly hit ground ball. So why do the big leaguers swing like that? They are super strong, grown men. When they drop the back elbow they are strong enough to keep their hands up. Even if they don't keep their hands up, they are strong enough to hit the ball 300+ feet and clear the fence with a swing that comes up from under the ball. So why did my Dad teach me to swing like that? Well, probably because his Dad taught him to swing like that and his Dad's Dad taught him to swing like that. Unfortunately, being a man doesn't always qualify Dad as a good source of baseball information.
I teach young hitters to swing with a relaxed, slightly pointing down back elbow. "Why?", you ask ( hopefully you will ask now ). Well, a relaxed back elbow allows the hitter to keep their hands up ( above or on the same level as the ball ) during their swing. Therefore, they can now attack pitches from the height of their hands down to their knees, the entire strike zone, with a direct and level swing. The key word there being "direct". Now that the back elbow is relaxed, when the swing starts the hitter can take their hands directly to the ball instead of waiting for the elbow to drop or dropping with the elbow during the swing. A successful line-drive swing is a direct and quick swing that meets the baseball on a nearly level plane.
I hope this example helped to illustrate my point that not all instruction or information will be good information. But, fortunately, we can start to weed out some of the bad information just by asking a simple question, "why?". I will do my very best in all of my posts on this blog to explain the "why?". If for any reason, you have any more questions or need a better explanation, please do not hesitate to ask. I pride myself on being an instructor and person of knowledge on baseball / softball that can back up the information that I give. Thank you for your time and play ball !!!
For example, Dad stands behind the batting cage and readily repeats the same mantra, "Keep your back elbow up, keep your back elbow up". This one is a personal favorite of mine. Now let's take a second and think about that, "why Dad?". I'm yet to hear a good reason for this one. The most common responses are, "that's how the big leaguers do it" and "that's how my Dad taught me". Let's think logically now. A back elbow that starts up must come....? You got this, "down" during a swing. Nice job. When that back elbow starts to come down, more often than not, so does that young hitter's hands. when the hands drop, so does the bat and that means they are now swinging underneath the ball or coming from under the ball. The end result will almost always be a swing and miss, pop-up, or weakly hit ground ball. So why do the big leaguers swing like that? They are super strong, grown men. When they drop the back elbow they are strong enough to keep their hands up. Even if they don't keep their hands up, they are strong enough to hit the ball 300+ feet and clear the fence with a swing that comes up from under the ball. So why did my Dad teach me to swing like that? Well, probably because his Dad taught him to swing like that and his Dad's Dad taught him to swing like that. Unfortunately, being a man doesn't always qualify Dad as a good source of baseball information.
I teach young hitters to swing with a relaxed, slightly pointing down back elbow. "Why?", you ask ( hopefully you will ask now ). Well, a relaxed back elbow allows the hitter to keep their hands up ( above or on the same level as the ball ) during their swing. Therefore, they can now attack pitches from the height of their hands down to their knees, the entire strike zone, with a direct and level swing. The key word there being "direct". Now that the back elbow is relaxed, when the swing starts the hitter can take their hands directly to the ball instead of waiting for the elbow to drop or dropping with the elbow during the swing. A successful line-drive swing is a direct and quick swing that meets the baseball on a nearly level plane.
I hope this example helped to illustrate my point that not all instruction or information will be good information. But, fortunately, we can start to weed out some of the bad information just by asking a simple question, "why?". I will do my very best in all of my posts on this blog to explain the "why?". If for any reason, you have any more questions or need a better explanation, please do not hesitate to ask. I pride myself on being an instructor and person of knowledge on baseball / softball that can back up the information that I give. Thank you for your time and play ball !!!
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