Longoria Drill

What drill?

During the game they were talking about a vision drill in which they shoot tennis balls out of a machine. On the tennis balls their are numbers in different colors and the players work on their tracking abilities.

quote:

Originally posted by socalhscoach:
During the game they were talking about a vision drill in which they shoot tennis balls out of a machine. On the tennis balls their are numbers in different colors and the players work on their tracking abilities.

Yeah, Edgar Martinez has been doing that drill for years. I heard that Matt Holliday actually hits balls being shot at 115mph. Most of them just watch them at those speeds and try to track and identify.

It's good to see that you baseball boyz have finally stepped up to what the softball girls have been doing for some time.

We have an ATEC Hitting Streak that uses the white or yellow foam balls. We colored the seems red and put numbers on them, similar to the tennis ball trick. Had the guys identify the color of the ball and how the seems are turning and what number the ball is.

Obviously the better you get, the more you can identify.

Basically, all it does is slow the game down in your brain. The first time someone walks into the box and faces a 98mph fastball after hitting upper 80s fastballs, they actually say, "oh sh**!" But, after awhile they get more used to it and many actually end up being able to hit them. That 92mph fastball you get after that doesn't seem nearly as fast.

Probably, but it may help you focus more. They say when you are thrown a slider, you can see a red dot, but I never saw it. I could see rotation and just followed the flight of the ball. Larry Walker always said he didn't know what the Pitcher was throwing, but I'm not sure I believe that either, but only he knows that for sure.

I can see that focusing on the numbers can help with seeing the ball, but doing that and swinging the bat at the same time would be difficult.

I still dont know if you can see the spin on the ball while waiting for a 90 mph. Power said he didnt. Anyone else able to see the spin on the ball when batting?

Blue...so you are saying that US softball team and multiple major league baseball teams are doing drills that are useless? In regards to the red dot yes I have seen when I was playing.

Ok let me rephrase that since the rhetorical question has apparently escaped you. Explain why you think it is useless.

socal,

How dare you ask bluedog to explain himself. BTW, he won't. I too have hear that Edgar Martinez was one of, if not the first to use this drill. The object is not to swing at them, just reach a point where your eyes can track a 100+ mph ball.

bluedog, if you weren't always so sure that you knew everything, you might actually learn something.
Just a guess, but if it wasn't of some use, the guys who get paid to hit the ball would probably not waste their time, ya think.

Drill;

Several years ago, when I attended the Mariners Spring Training *our Australia coaches are Mariners coaches]
I observed Edgar, Gullian and Ichiro using this machine with tennis balls at 150 MPH.

Edgar was traching the ball, Gullian was bunting and Ichiro was actually hitting the tennis ball.

Later, Edgar and I discussed hitting for one hour.

Bob Williams

Back to the circular discussion. You don't know what I'm telling you and I'm not going to tell. So since you don't know, and I won't tell you, then you are worthless and don't deserve the blessing of my instruction/advice. Because after all, I know everything, but I won't tell you anything because you just don't seem to understand it.

Now this thread will fall right into the useless column. At least it started out well.

You can recognize it and put a good swing on it.

You can recognize it and not put a good swing on it.

You can not recognize it and put a good swing on it. lol

You can not recognize it and not put a good swing on it.

The colored balls have little to do with it, other than make someone feel smart.

Ok Blue what is your definition of doing it properly?

Actually bluedog, it's people like yourself that let nothing of any use happen on this forum. Every conversation you get into turns into a series of riddles and rhymes and then blamed on us poor uniformed souls. You're entirely too smart to talk in anything but secret codes, and if we don't understand...well, we're not worthy.

Focal vs ambient huh? Perhaps we could include rods, cones, optic nerves and the associated blind spots?

I would assume that during batting you use ambient vision? though this sounds counter intuative.

This is all I could find:
http://www.autism.com/ari/editorials/ed_visualmanage.htm
Focal vision, which involves the central visual field, is largely a conscious process. Focal vision, which works independently from other sensory systems, allows us to answer the question, "What is it?" This is the visual system that traditional optometrists and opthalmologists address with eyeglasses or surgery.

Ambient vision, which involves the entire visual field, is more dynamic and largely non-conscious, and integrates with other sensory systems. This is the visual system that answers the questions, "Where am I?" and "Where is it?"

Funny its in an autism article but makes sense.

sometimes, we go on long journeys to find what is in our own backyard:

http://hsbaseballweb.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/8291034941/...911085552#7911085552

quote:

You're entirely too smart to talk in anything but secret codes, and if we don't understand...well, we're not worthy.

Sounds like someone should take their own advice:

quote:

However, with your thin skinned approach thus far, I'd suggest you be very very careful in the hitting forum.

Actually, the forum tends to drag when BD isn't posting. There have been a few very good hitting guys in this web site. But, they come and they go. BD sticks around...my guess is he likes to have a little fun with it.

Try not to be so thin-skinned.

I suppose you could take it as I have thin skin, but that's probably not the case. This is a great place to hang out. But it's still just the internet. I won't tend to stomp my feet and cry about it, and I surely won't lose sleep about it.

You can just count me in the camp that reads the hitting forum often, and posts every once in awhile. I'm also in the camp that would love to see Blue Dog do something more than give tidbits of information indicating that he's got the code and we have to figure it out on our own.

There's no doubt in my mind he has an extensive knowledge of hitting, he just has trouble sharing it in a usefull manner.

I'm extremely impressed that you wayback, would go searching for something I said to use against me...how cool is that???

One more thing... I appreciate the fetch on the vision post, interesting reading.

Every student of hitting will respond differently to the variety of techniques used to improve a batters power and average. Different instructors have their favorite drills that they point to in order to prove their value to a player/team.

If a colored ball, or a numbered ball, help a player to focus better, then for whatever reason the drill may be viewed as a success. The key is obvious enough to all that post here, developing the ability to recognize and track trajectory and movement. Pitch Recognition.

To me it does not matter if there is a number or color on the ball, the key is to just focus.

Many years ago when I thought I knew more about baseball then my son (that changed after he was 11 or 12) I would do a drill with him where I would soft toss a 2 seam or a 4 seam ball to him and he would call out whether it was a 2 seamer or 4 seamer after each swing. This is perhaps the same drill at slow speed and encouraged him to focus on reading the pitch and looking at/for the seams. I believe that it was a helpul drill but have never seen it used by anyone else. Maybe that should indicate something to me...not sure...

Question...I'm assuming that the tennis ball machine doesn't impart very much spin on the ball, could that be the reason for the numbers and colors? Maybe it's supposed to simulate the concentration and focus required to see spin???

quote:

Originally posted by BlueDog:
Power, you gotta put "focus" in perspective.....

You see spin by not looking for it.....

So do you think the reason hitters have a hard time hitting a knuckle ball is because it is too easy to focus on just the ball? That it draws their attention?

quote:

Originally posted by LAball:
I still dont know if you can see the spin on the ball while waiting for a 90 mph. Power said he didnt. Anyone else able to see the spin on the ball when batting?

I saw spin on pitches, even at 90+.

quote:

Originally posted by redbird5:
I saw spin on pitches, even at 90+.

Do you see the spin on every pitch when your batting. More importantly - where you able to use the ability to see the spin on the ball to help you judge what kind of ball (fast, curve, slider)was coming at you? I truely am courious..

quote:

Originally posted by BlueDog:
Power, you gotta put "focus" in perspective.....

You see spin by not looking for it.....

Picking up spin is a relational thing. I agree that if you're looking at a specific spot "hard" you won't see it. If is spacial and so, that is how I believe I saw it. I believe I did see spin and "dots." (slider) However, I don't think I ever saw contact but once. I know they say you can't see contact which I agree with. However, one at bat sticks out in my mind and might have been the most focused I've ever been in my life. I'd just lost a close friend/teammate and was distraught I had a friend tell me I had to hit the big fly if we were going to win a crucial game. I did. However, that is the only time I think I ever did see contact.

quote:

Originally posted by LAball:

quote:

Originally posted by redbird5:
I saw spin on pitches, even at 90+.

Do you see the spin on every pitch when your batting. More importantly - where you able to use the ability to see the spin on the ball to help you judge what kind of ball (fast, curve, slider)was coming at you? I truely am courious..

EVERY pitch? I can't say I did every pitch but the majority of them? Yes. I looked simply for something that wasn't FB spin like sideways rotation or a dot for CB/Slider. It depended on the pitcher and our scouting report. Most of the time, I simply looked for FB to hit hard unless I knew I was in an offpeed count (via charts and tendency).

I saw contact quite a few times.

Thanks for the reply Red.

LAball,

You are welcome. One other thing as it relates to vision...I am left eye dominant. Most of the RHH I know are right eye dominant. Not sure how it relates butthought I would throw it out there.

Being honest, I don't see how anyone could pick up a number written on all ball traveling at a high speed that is rotating. I think I MIGHT be able to call out a number written on a ball if Tim Wakefield through it. Still doesn't mean I could hit it.

I dont believe that anybody has ever seen the ball at contact and keep it fair! I think I did see contact once and that was just because I let it get so deep and kept my head down. But of coarse I hit it way foul cause I let it get so deep....