Anyone ever make one before? I made one out of a 34" wood bat and a ton of gorilla tape. Thing must weigh a minimum of 48 oz if not more. Had 15 u son hit with it in front toss then thru live to him using the weighted bat. He was absolutely hitting piss rockets with the regular bat after using what he called "big bertha." Pros? Cons? Experience with this before?
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Drilled hole at bottom of grip end of old aluminum bat years ago for son. Made a funnel and filled the bat with playground sand. Thing had to weigh 7-8 pounds when I resealed it. Son simply used it as a warm-up bat to take loose, easy, warmup swings with in garage before hitting off the tee or soft toss work outs, not to hit though. I've still got in the garage. $10 takes it!!!
Later years made an old tire rig** in garage for son to practice "driving through the ball" on contact, and most recently purchases weighted BP balls for same type of philosophy. Personally, I'd be reluctant to mess with the bat speed or mechanics of a weighted bat in live swings. Driving thru a tire on contact or driving thru weighted BP balls gets the added weight component you're talking about without any unplanned changes in the first half of swing due to the weighted bat. But that's just me, sounds like your 15u son is doing fine with it!
**Tire Rig: Got 8' PT 4" round post, cut it down to 4'. Got large 15-gallon plastic tub (most people use these for ice buckets for large parties) centered post down in it, filled with cement. Next day, got old tire, cut 4-6" hole in 6-o'clock end of tire tread, slid tire down over post until it met the 12-o'clock top end of inner tire tread. Voila! End product looked like a "lollipop." Put some grease on top end of post where 12-o'clock position of inner tire tread spun atop round post to facilitate the spinning of tire after bat contact and "driving thru" nature of follow thru in swing.
Well #1 asst coach you are quite the MacGyver aren't you??!!;-) I forgot to mention all the added weight was on the barrel. He still has one of those heavy swings weighs like 50 oz all weight in the handle. Love your tire idea but I'm not very handy with the tools. Lol
I've made a lot of penny bats.... Tape pennies to the barrel using hockey tape. It's about 12 pennies for every ounce of weight.
Tape a few half dollars to the knob for quicker hands as well. Nothing on the barrel for over speed.
edcoach posted:Well #1 asst coach you are quite the MacGyver aren't you??!!;-) I forgot to mention all the added weight was on the barrel. He still has one of those heavy swings weighs like 50 oz all weight in the handle. Love your tire idea but I'm not very handy with the tools. Lol
Thx Edcoach. I’ll take that as a compliment. With each new invention son would roll his eyes.
We laugh about them to this day but hey, I saved a good bit of money by being resourceful w what I had in garage and local hardware store!!
We could probably devote an entire thread to DIY Baseball training gadgets!!
I was being complimentary. I'm jealous cause seriously I have no talent making much of anything. I agree about the thread of gadgets. Some of that stuff is crazy expensive in stores and off websites, etc.
edcoach posted:Anyone ever make one before? I made one out of a 34" wood bat and a ton of gorilla tape. Thing must weigh a minimum of 48 oz if not more. Had 15 u son hit with it in front toss then thru live to him using the weighted bat. He was absolutely hitting piss rockets with the regular bat after using what he called "big bertha." Pros? Cons? Experience with this before?
Don't forget that the general recommendation by science is to not go havier or lighter than 20%.
For a standard high school age bat that is plus and minus 6 ounces. Heavier weight might change mechancis or slow down the speed.
But whatever weight you add make sure that the balance doesnt change. If anything make it more grip loaded.
I have drilled holes around the sweetspot of a wood bat and then inserted cylindric fishing weights of the same diameter as the drill. Look for so called "drop shot" sinkers and glue them in with epoxy glue.
Doesn't change the balance if placed smartly and holds up hitting balls.
My son puts a 1 lb donut on his wood bat and takes a few swings off the tee, making sure to maintain form and not enough swings to tire out and get sloppy. His contact with the ball off the tee is good feedback. The donut sits around the label so does not interfere with contact at all. As he's gotten stronger he takes a few more weighted swings. He picked this up watching an MLB player work out at his batting facility.
Smitty have you seen a noticeable increase in bat speed/exit velo?
edcoach posted:Smitty have you seen a noticeable increase in bat speed/exit velo?
Yes, pretty dramatic increase over the past year. But, he's also been spending a lot of time in the weight room and has shot up to 6' - 2". I'm sure all these factors contribute but the weighted bat trains the ability to swing with max aggression and maintain control, and this has really translated into game performance.
Thx Smitty. That's what I'm after. He went to a showcase and exit velo was 75mph. He was 14 yrs old but that didn't match what he was doing in games....I don't think you can hit a 360 ft homerun with a bbcor bat with 75mph exit velo...his catching coach is from the DR he said his buddy is training a top Dominican 15 yr old prospect who's hitting 450 ft bombs attributed to using weighted bat all off season...
Find a Richie Allen bat 35" and 38 ounces or take a old wood bat drill a hole in the end, pour liquid lead and seal. My bat is still with me after 70 years. Swing every day. Now on to Australia and New Zealand with our Goodwill Series teams.
Bob
edcoach posted:Thx Smitty. That's what I'm after. He went to a showcase and exit velo was 75mph. He was 14 yrs old but that didn't match what he was doing in games....I don't think you can hit a 360 ft homerun with a bbcor bat with 75mph exit velo...his catching coach is from the DR he said his buddy is training a top Dominican 15 yr old prospect who's hitting 450 ft bombs attributed to using weighted bat all off season...
I think showcase exit velo measurement is a bit of a crap shoot. If he really squares one up and hits a bomb I think you'll see decent exit velo, but if he doesn't pound the ball you might see 75mph which doesn't represent what he's capable of (but accurate for that showcase).
Smitty for the record exit velo was off of a tee
edcoach posted:Smitty for the record exit velo was off of a tee
With wood? I think it is reasonable to hit 360 feet with 75 off the tee because live pitching can add like 10-12 mph if you square it up well.
Not exactly the topic but....
No...exit velo test was off a tee with bbcor. The homerun was in a game with bbcor off live pitching
Somebaseballdad....I've seen that and thx for posting. I just wonder if there's a difference in training with weighted bat long term and swinging one short term like in on deck circle...?
75 is pretty good for a 14 year old, he likely will be at 80 next year just from natural growth.
But an overload under load program can't hurt. I gained double digits mph bat speed in a couple months with it.
I would again stress however to stick with the plus/minus 6 ounce guudeline to avoid negative side effects on the mechanics. The axe bats are also adhering that guideline.not sure it was ever proven with baseball bats though, I think the 20% come from soviet shot put studies, but too heavy or light can hurt mechanics.
Thx dominik
I had an old aluminum softball bat (34"). Cut the end off, scraped out all the foam that was inside (why was it foam-filled? No idea, but it was like Great-Stuff insulation), filled it with sand, then welded it back together and polished it up. Weighs a ton, but good for loosening up--wouldn't hit with it, though, for fear of messing up mechanics. For under/overload, my son has hit jacket weights. They slide on (various weights) and are designed to be used for hitting. He'll put the 12oz on a 24-ounce bat for the over, and simply remove it for the under. No need to switch bats, and he can take full swings.
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I like Matt Lisle's OL/UL training explanation (https://thehittingvault.com/wp...ningProgram_2016.pdf). Driveline has a nice program too. My kid is transitioning to a 32" bat so I purchased a 32 in/35 oz bat from beaver bats $32 with a 20% coupon for his OL training. He is using his old 30" drop 5 for the UL.
Btw there are studies suggesting that swinging a donut or heavy bat on deck actually decreases batspeed. Ol ul training is not the same as jerking around a 50 ounce bat or donut.
You take bats that are 5-6 ounces lighter and heavier and then swing as fast as you can.
I did 5 swings each bat for two sets. It was just 30 swings but I was totally spent after that because I swung really at 100% (actually with a radar). Half assed swings don't bring you gains better 20 swings at 100% than 50 at medium intensity.
It is intensity, not volume.
Yep...agree Dominik....went to cages yesterday and I had him cut back on the swings with the weighted bat...went and measured exit velo, he maxed at 88 mph and lived pretty much lower 80's....I know its too soon to tell but we'll keep at it and see what comes of it...I am being careful not to mess with his mechanics.
edcoach posted:Yep...agree Dominik....went to cages yesterday and I had him cut back on the swings with the weighted bat...went and measured exit velo, he maxed at 88 mph and lived pretty much lower 80's....I know its too soon to tell but we'll keep at it and see what comes of it...I am being careful not to mess with his mechanics.
What was his bat speed?
not sure about bat speed...exit velo was 88 max
