WSJ Article on Adding Weight to Bat

Not the first time I heard this. I want to say there was a study at UT or Vanderbilt several years ago that showed the same thing. Baseball superstitions are hard to overcome.

I assume it still makes sense to swing a weighted bat as part of a strenghtening program...
any comments on that?

The article only addresses the pre-bat routine when on deck. I'll defer to the experts on swinging a heavy bat for strength but it seems there would more efficient methods for getting stronger. No personal experience on this and my boy is young.

quote:

Originally posted by cabbagedad:
I assume it still makes sense to swing a weighted bat as part of a strenghtening program...
any comments on that?

Yes but less than you might think, +/- 3 oz for over/underweighted workouts.

Some overload underload concepts.

http://www.webball.com/cms/page1302.cfm

Thanks BOF. Informative piece.

As I recall, Coop DeRenne, who is quoted in the article, has supported weighted baseballs (overload/underload) as being effective for building throwing velocity. Logically, he should also support it for building batspeed.

quote:

Originally posted by BOF:

quote:

Originally posted by cabbagedad:
I assume it still makes sense to swing a weighted bat as part of a strenghtening program...
any comments on that?

Yes but less than you might think, +/- 3 oz for over/underweighted workouts.

Some overload underload concepts.

http://www.webball.com/cms/page1302.cfm

We do overload/underload hitting drills over the winter and I also like to use weighted gloves. The gloves are great for one handed drills and don't seem to throw the hitter off balance or alter the mechanics of the hitter like a weighted bat. Make sure to look for weighted gloves that just have weights on the top off the hands and not in the palms that will cause problem with the hitters grip.

Catcher's hitting coach has been saying this for years. Interesting to actually read the full breakdown as to just exactly why it's possibly counter productive.

This study had hitters swing the heavy bat right before the regular bat swing.

The key to this discussion is that the use of a heavy bat has to be used routinely and as a part of a program to increase strength and bat-speed. If "on deck" is the only time the heavy bat is swung (just before an at-bat), the desired increase in bat-speed will not be there.

Professional hitters hit with heavy bats routinely just as they use resistance training (weight training) in the weight room to build strength and speed. Using the heavy bat routinely, builds a stamina and strength that can carry over with an increase in actual bat-speed.

These hitters then use the heavy bat "on deck" to get the muscles in their swing as loose and as "turned on" as possible before their at-bat. Here is the ***BIG KEY FOR HEAVY BAT ON DECK*** They make sure to swing their regular bat with bat-speed at least a few times after swinging the heavy bat!

This doesn't only give the hitter confidence mentally, it actually gets their body and "swing muscles" fully stimulated to swing the bat with as much bat-speed as that player has in their tank.

The study and the article does not have the hitters go from the heavy bat to swinging their regular bat with bat speed prior to hitting.