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by Joe Brockhoff
Hitting for power has always been associated with the big strong player. But in our research, we have discovered it is not so much the size of the player, but rather the strength of his hands.
If strength needs to be improved, it is in the hands and wrists. The ability to use the body is also imperative. From the biggest player to the smallest, if you use your body you will hit for more power and distance. Big guys and little guys can both use their hips (1st) and hands (last), with a forceful snap motion.
It is imperative that the batter develops a quick pivot and quick hands.
Many young players never develop power because they are taught to just “meet the ball.” It’s a common phrase from baseball coaches. As a result, many hitters stop their hands during baseball hitting drills on contact and they never hit through the ball.
A hitter must be aggressive. Hitting is controlled aggression, while maintaining balance and control
Another problem young hitters have comes from watching baseball on TV.Baseball hitters will let the top hand go too early.Tip - you should be finishing with both your hands. This will further incorporate hitting through the ball.
Add to this the problem that many players are taught how to hit a baseball by getting their hands out over the plate on contact. Some times this is as a result of being taught incorrectly to get extension over the plate. Extension does not occur on contact, but rather after contact.When hitters try to extend on contact, it is like sawing wood, using too much arms and shoulders.This technique will not help you hit for more power.
In order to learn how to hit for power in baseball the hitter has to get his hands out in front of the body to contact the ball, with the top hand over the bat, and the bottom hand under the bat.The top hand is then like a hammer on contact.
Using the hands like this will increase bat speed at least 30-40% more than the arm swing.
Baseball Hitting Tips:
1. A strong body
2. Quick hips
3. Especially quick hands, out front on contact
4. Hitting through the ball
5. Being aggressive
Former Tulane Hall of Fame Baseball Coach, Joe Brockhoff, fully explains his baseball hitting tips with the Super 8 Hitting System, completely demonstrated with videos and hitting drills to help you hit with more power and raise your batting average. His site is at: Learn Baseball Hitting
The 3 R’s of Pitching
Realize the basic premise that the pitcher has the advantage. This is the foundation for a successful pitcher. Hitting a baseball is said to be the hardest thing to do in all of sport. The pitcher needs to remember that. “If the swing by a right-hand batter is seven milliseconds (.007) too late, the squarely hit ball will sail foul past first base.” – Robert Adair, a Yale physicist who has studied the science of baseball, referring to a 90mph fastball.
Recognize when you, as the pitcher, lose your focus. How do you avoid a big inning? You avoid it by recognizing that you have been taken out of your game and only then can you adjust and refocus to the task at hand. Many pitching plans include some avoidance of “the big inning”. It is easy to talk about, but after one of these “big innings” takes place, the pitcher usually only understands it when reflecting back on it after the game and on the chaos that surrounded him while it was going on. The pitcher needs a thought-stopping cue from himself to help recognize that he has lost his focus. It is important to do this so he can pitch in the present and not in the past. The thought stopping cue could be as simple as “STOP”, or “play in the now”.
Refocus to the task at hand. Once the pitcher “snaps out of it” and concentrates on the present, then he can pitch to his potential and win the situation. The pitcher who analyzes and frets on how all those guys got on base will not be able to refocus into the present to do the job. A routine or mental cue can help with focus. The pitcher needs to let it flow and let the right side of the brain take over. He can only do this if the mind in clear and free of distracting thoughts. Here is an example of how a pitcher can get back into the now by letting his left brain guide him and set his right brain up for the actual pitch. Use the dirt circle of the mound as the positive / negative ground. Whenever he catches himself being negative he goes into the grass. At that time, he can tell himself anything he wants, he can worry about all the runners, the errors and walks that got them there, whatever he wants. However, the second he gets back onto the dirt he is positive and ready to get the next guy out! A routine like this combined with some proper breathing can get the pitcher to stay in a positive, non-distracting mode. Hopefully he spends most of his time in the dirt and stays in the now.
Every pitcher needs a plan. There is not one pitcher in the history of baseball that has gone through his career, let alone a season, or even a game, without adversity. No matter how good a pitcher is he will face dilemmas in games that he needs to have a plan for. It is too easy to say, “Be a bulldog, go get them”. Sure successful pitchers have bulldog characteristics and competitive success models built in that they do not even know about, but there is no need to analyze that. It is the pitcher’s past experiences, successes, and failures that have given him those built in characteristics. It is the future challenges that the pitcher will face as he progresses to higher levels of competition in his career that he needs the above to help advance his success rate.
By Rick Harig
Copyright 2009
Cognitive Advantage Program
www.baseball-cap.net
Tags: baseball pitchinig, mental game pitching, baseball focus, baseball mental toughness
Play In The Now
The best players I ever played with or against - the George Bretts, the Orel Hershisers, the Todd Heltons - all seemed to approach the game like little kids.
What I mean is, regardless of circumstances, they all performed in the moment.
Strike out with the bases loaded...on to the next at-bat. Take a bad swing...on to the next pitch. Give up a homer...focus on the next pitch. Moment to moment, pitch to pitch, game to game.
To have consistent success, you must give 100% attention to the task at hand. For example, in hitting, this might mean seeing the ball. Preoccupation with the past (dragging your last 0 for 20 into the at-bat) or preoccupation with the future (hoping to get a hit) splinters your attention and diminishes your ability to simply see the ball.
Great players have short memories. And why shouldn't they? The past is gone and the future hasn't even happened yet. The only "real" thing is what's happening right NOW. Baseball's a tough enough game as it is. You don't need to compete against the ghosts of the past and the demons of the future - and play the game all at the same time.
Don't get me wrong. Reflection on your past mistakes or successes can be very helpful. So is visualizing the future and what you want. Just make sure to do it at the appropriate time...not when you're playing.
Focused attention on the moment will make you a better player and help you have more fun. You'll play "lighter" without the burden of expectations or fear of past mistakes. The joy of the game might just come through you...just like a little kid.
"Once my catcher and I determine the pitch, that's all there is. There's nobody standing there then. I don't think about the next game, the next inning, the next hitter, the next play. There's only the next pitch. It's the only job I have." ~Orel Hershiser
Till next week, good luck, have fun, and keep your eye on the ball.
By Brent Mayne
Tags: play in the now, visualize baseball, baseball performance, baseball focused attention
Are You a Right-brain or a Left-brain Baseball Player?
Read the following list of words. Say the color of the word instead of the word itself. For example, if you see this: RED - say "blue" (the color of the word) instead of "red". See how fast you can do this whole list:
RED GREEN YELLOW BLACK BLUE RED BLACK
GREEN RED PURPLE GREEN BLUE YELLOW
BLACK PURPLE RED GREEN BLUE YELLOW
PURPLE YELLOW GREEN BLACK RED BLUE
What you just experienced was left-brain / right-brain conflict. Your right brain saw the color but your left brain insisted that you say the word. The conflict made this activity cumbersome, slow and often frustrating. You have been forced to be this way because it is how you learned how to read. You have read this way for many years and it is ingrained in you. Your left brain first wanted to say the word, but then it analyzed the color. Meanwhile, your right brain knew all along the color, but was dominated the whole time by the left brain trying to do a simple right brain job.
How does this apply to baseball? First, let’s look at common right / left brain traits. The right side of the brain is where many subconscious functions are. Right brain functions and traits include imagination, circular motion, creative thoughts, flowing thoughts and actions, and rhythmic movement. The left side rationalizes and analyzes. It is linear, dogmatic, practical, and logical. Things like counting and verbalizing are left brain activities. Things like focusing on images and movements are right brain activities.
A baseball player wants to be a right brain player as much as possible. The problem is that our left side makes easy jobs hard. How can we develop a system to put the left side at bay? How can we keep the left side quiet long enough to get the right side to carry out the baseball task? As baseball players we need balance. We still need the left brain to stage the event (the pitch, the fielding play or the swing) but then need to "turn it off" just long enough to carry the event out - a right brain activity.
Baseball is the most "on" then "off" again sport. Left brain, right brain, left, right...etc. The problem comes when the left side won't shut up. It can be distracting – just like the colored word samples above. You can practice the words above over and over and train your left side to tone it down and let your right side get to work. You still need your left side to verbalize (even if just in your own head) the color at the end. True (learned) balance will eventually occur. The same is true with baseball. We practice and practice until we get to a point where the right side is flowing and the left side keeps track of the things it needs to. Then comes all the variables in a game that takes us out of the flow. In exchange, we get the slower left sides dominating attempt to play the game. The left side can't just sit idle and allow the situation to self correct. It starts chattering (self talk) and slows everything down to the point where the at bat or the pitch is lost (thrown away). Yogi Bera’s, “You can think and hit” at the same time is actually very profound.
What the player needs is to develop a system that will put him in the right mindset where he can let his natural ability play the game undistracted when it needs to. The players that develop such systems and that also have the physical ability keep getting to advance to higher and higher levels of baseball. Even those advancing faster than others can use some help in the development of this part of their game. Such development is beyond the scope of this introduction to right-left baseball. The “how to” will be discussed in future articles.
Rick Harig
Copyright 2009
Cognitive Advantage Program
http://www.baseball-cap.net
Tags: baseball mental game, baseball mental skills training, baeball articles, mental toughness
