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Coach, I see hands leaving their slot early on....

If the shoulder muscles stretch, and they do in MLB hitters, the shoulders must move when the hands fire, since they are a linkage....

And, those hands are leaving their slot early on....Those hands are going to find the swing plane....

MLB hitters drop their hands to swing....



Even on high pitches...



This is what I see......
Last edited by BlueDog
Gentlemen, this thread has become an eye opener for me. May I pick a few brains that are more experienced and knowledgeable than myself?

If you had 1 hour to work with a hitter. You have a tee, personal pitcher, and a hands back hitter at your disposal. How would you work it? I would love to know for my son's sake.

dazed63
quote:
Originally posted by Coach May:
The stroke - is timing along with the actual swing. There can be nothing gained imo with working on your stroke if timing is not part of it.

There are a ton of guys that can get on a t - slow everything down and hit a non moving object very well over and over again.

There is no reason you can not work on the stroke which is also timing by doing front toss drills or soft toss.

When a player is hitting off of a t the timing process is taken out of the equation. The ability to adjust to the pitch is taken out of the process. The ability to adjust to change in speeds is out of the process. Now you just went from a situation where you were working on your stroke with no timing and now your hitting in a situation where timing is critical. How does that equate?

You have a T swing and a live swing. You should have one swing process not two. You have guys that hit very well in the cage. The guy throwing the bp throws everything the same speed and right down the heart everytime. Now you take that kid put him against a pitcher who is changing speeds and location and you see a totally different hitter.

You take a kid that has just taken 100 swings off a t. He is mashing everything clean and perfect. Now you put him up against a pitcher and you will see serious timing issues.

It usually takes numerous pitches and swings before a good hitter starts to adjust and hit the ball solid on a consistent basis when he gets a good pitch. A t never throws a bad pitch. It does not change speeds because its not moving. It does not move in flight up or down or left and right.

Any drill that does not simulate reality is worthless. The reason so many coaches and players use t work is because its easy to do and it requires no work by the coach. Grab a bunch of t's guys and go to the cage. No one has to toss the ball. The player does not have to take any pitches. You get alot of swings in in a short period of time. And a player can do it all by himself.

With soft toss , front toss etc the player is working on his swing which is timing as well. He is having to make decisions on what to swing at and where to hit it. He is having to work on his timing process.

Cage BP can be just as bad as T work. How many coaches or dads have you seen throwing bp in a cage the same speed in the same location over and over again? The kid is mashing the baseball. There is no timing process here. He already knows how fast the ball is going to be coming and where it is going to be. You can strike these kids out in the cage over and over again. All you have to do is change speeds and location on them. They basically will make predetermined swings based on their experience of having grooved same speed pitches at the same location over and over.

The t does the same thing.

BP should be constant change of speeds and location. It should be designed to help kids work on the ability to time within their swing process and make adjustments as well. The t can not do this.

I know that there are many fine baseball people that use the t. I know that my views on the t are radical and many will think I am crazy. That is fine with me. All I know is from experience over many years of coaching players. Good hitters can work on a t and overcome it with a few swings of live arm pitching and get their timing back. Guys trying to become good hitters by working on a t are not only waisting their time but they are taking steps backwards.

Again timing is the most critical element in hitting. Any hitting drill that does not incorporate the timing of hitting in it is worthless imo.




Coach,

On all hitters (if they don't know it or do it already) I use the tee to teach hitting different locations with power. I show them the body positions and hand positions. You would not believe how many players have shown me the way to hit an outside pitch is to keep the bat cocked all the way through the pitch. I also use the tee to teach the FEEL of stretch/hip open against hands and it is usually a one session teach if they don't already do it. After a couple of swings from Epstein's #2 position, they FEEL the difference. I agree that the tee should be used sparingly, but so should an axe if you have a chainsaw, though there are occasions that you need one.
quote:
Originally posted by XV:
quote:
Originally posted by CoachB25:
How about:



and:




Why do you like using partial clips?

There are several reasons:

  • These clips are on someone else's server and I have access to them from various websites.
  • In these clips, you can see connection for "frames of film."
  • I have too many enemies to actually posts the stuff I have created on a public site. I'm thinking that if I did, MLB would get a quick phone call. Smile
  • Many posters, if not most, have access to some video software that will allow them to take any video and count frames and thus see if what they think they are seeing is really what is happening. Also, I use RVP for my viewing. I can edit the video with things like frame count and so, I'm content with my beliefs because I can see in on video at any speed.
  • Whenever I engage too much in any discussion, I threads turn into something other than what they should be and so, I can make my point with a clip or two. Thus, this doesn't get into a battle of personalities. I enjoy reading some of the perspectives although I don't always agree. If someone wants to know what I think, they can always pm me and I'll let them know where I stand. That has worked well this past year. I don't have to win arguments.
  • Finally, I'm sure that most posters understand my point posting in this manner. I'm equally sure you understand.
Last edited by CoachB25
In my opinion, another important aspect that a tee doesn't teach players is how to know their strike zone (I say "their" strike zone because I don't think the real strike zone means much until you get to two strikes). I constantly see players either swinging at balls or swinging at strikes they can't handle because in their practices everything is served up on a platter either in BP or on a tee.

As a side note, I'm not a big fan of pitching machines either because they're almost too consistent, and they don't help hitters pick up a ball out of the pitchers hand. However, I would like to find an old school pitching machine with the arm that slings the ball....are any of those still around?

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