Bat Speed

like other have said, take a worn out bat and swing it in a pool underwater. the resistance helps with bat speed and also power.

I think a combination of strength training, working on mechanics and repition all have to be involved. My son went to a seasoned hitting coach in our area. He changed his swing to taking a quicker stride step and swinging more of a downward motion. This along with push ups, dips (un-weighted), sit ups, natural growth and constant practice has increased my son's bat speed along with his ability to hit the ball (with more power).

Bat speed is great, but the good mechanics will produce a short and compact swing that improve hitting, because that way you can wait longer to start your swing and reconize the pitch more easily.
With a long swing, even with good bat speed, will be harder to have hitting success.

Agree with Racab.

Without good hitting mechanics - all the bat speed in the world wont get you anywhere.

IMO.

quote:

With a long swing, even with good bat speed, will be harder to have hitting success.

Do you mean take the hands and barrel of the bat straight to the ball?

Bluedog - Is that a question - or a statement posing as a question?

LOL

Do a lot of forearm workouts, but don't get too bulky, you want to get your whole body in condition to the point where you won't get fatigued as easily after 100+ swings. Then, do one handed hitting drills...top hand and bottom hand to get that nice short compact swing. I agree with Racab that good mechanics is a key to being a good hitter, but no one can be a great hitter if they don't have quick hands.

quote:

Originally posted by Doubleuneal12:
Do a lot of forearm workouts, but don't get too bulky, you want to get your whole body in condition to the point where you won't get fatigued as easily after 100+ swings. Then, do one handed hitting drills...top hand and bottom hand to get that nice short compact swing. I agree with Racab that good mechanics is a key to being a good hitter, but no one can be a great hitter if they don't have quick hands.

Since your body adapts to specific activities, one handed drills will do nothing for bat speed unless you only have one arm and will only be swinging with one arm. In fact I believe they actually harm your mechanics. Swinging a bat fast is specifically done with two hands on the bat so what is the sense of swinging with one hand? They work together as a unit so train them that way. This is old school junk. Just like swinging 5 bats or using a heavy donut on your bat before you go to the plate. (which also will DECREASE bat velocity)

Several studies have also shown that forearm strength programs have no play on bat velocity either when compared to a group who just did str training without the forearm program.

If you want to increase bat velocity use the over/under load plan. Stay with in 4 oz of your game bat weight and make sure you do every swing with 100% effort and proper mechanics. Once the mechanics suffer due to fatigue its time to rest.

gameth
I like that: "every swing at 100% with the proper mechanics" that is exactly right. Now, the drills and exercises will increase the bat speed with direct relation to the natural skills that a given hitter borned with. What I mean is that a hitter with slow swing may improve his mechanics and also the speed of his own swing a little, with drills and exercises, but he will be always a hitter with a slow bat.