We have been to a few over the years... who is the best hitting instructor in the Baltimore/ Washington area? (please, more teaching than talking!)

There are several and primarily dependent upon age, game, gender, pro vs amateur talent.

Introduce yourself in an email with heading = Baseball Hitting with details.

With all due respect to the rest of the fine teachers out there, I worked with Paul Donovan (Columbia Reds) for 15 years. He is a tremendous teacher who has worked with hundreds of kids over the years. He is bright, articulate and extremely dedicated.

We also have worked with Mr. Donovan. Think highly of him, but can't afford to use him too often... anyone else with a recommendation on a good hitting instructor?

I know one I think is very good in Nova. but that may be too far for you.

where is Nova? Any other names, friends?

Think mrmom is referring to Northern Virginia.

We have worked with Gregg Ritchie over the years. He is absolutely superb. He lives in Stafford, VA, about 40-45 miles south of DC.

His availability is limited to the fall and winter, however. He is currently the organization-wide hitting instructor for the Pittsburgh Pirates (used to work for the White Sox), so he is gone from February until September. He gives individual lessons in the fall and then runs group hitting clinics in the winter. At least the past three years, his winter clinics have be held in Fredericksburg, VA.

Try Kevin Gibbs or Derek Hacopian. Different styles but both excellent pros. Kevin will work out of Derek's academy, although he is not listed on the Web site.

http//www.dhbaseball.com (for Derek)
http://www.diamondskillsbaseball.com (for Kevin)

Derek was 1992 Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year, 1992 ACC Triple Crown, batted .490 with 23 Homeruns and 83 RBI as a senior at the University of Maryland in 1992. Holds ACC single season records in Batting Average (.490), On-Base Percentage (.618), and Slugging Percentage (.943); 1992 American Baseball Coaches Association NCAA Division I All-American.

Kevin played college baseball at Old Dominion where he was a three time All-American. Kevin also played on the United States National Team.

Kevin was originally drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Kevin made the Los Angeles Dodgers 40-man major league roster in 1998, 1999, and 2000.

Where do you live? How far and long are you willing to travel? What are you willing to pay?

Here's another issue:

I was talking to a parent on son's hs team. Parent is complaining because after taking hitting lessons, son can no longer hit. Stymied son has never played anything other than rec ball and jv until this year, where son has faced faster, more accurate pitching than he is used to seeing. (I know it's the kid and not the hitting coach.) Parent thinks son got screwed up by hitting instructor. Not exactly.

Long story short: know that progress doesn't often come in giant steps, and know that growth takes time.

I believe there are some excellent hitting instructors out there. I am certainly not one of them. I was a great hitter as a young man, but I think that was mostly because I had terrific bat speed, had a good eye, and had very good hand/eye coordination. As the father of children starting to play softball/baseball, I find myself looking to this board and other sources for guidance on hitting.

With that said, I also think that not every player should necessarily work with a hitting coach. Some players have the ability to translate what they see/hear into action...while others don't. I've seen kids who absolutely mash, in spite of their mechanics. I've seen coaches try to change them, and all of sudden the kid can't hit a lick. I guess you could say I am results driven. I hear coaches saying "well he'll never hit the high fastball when he moves on to the next level, unless he changes now." My only problem with that statement is how many of these kids actually get to the next level? If they are having some success, especially if they have peaked playing ability-wise, then you are probably better off leaving a young hitter alone.

quote:

Originally posted by CapitalBaseball:
Try Kevin Gibbs or Derek Hacopian. Different styles but both excellent pros. Kevin will work out of Derek's academy, although he is not listed on the Web site.

http//www.dhbaseball.com (for Derek)
http://www.diamondskillsbaseball.com (for Kevin)

Derek was 1992 Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year, 1992 ACC Triple Crown, batted .490 with 23 Homeruns and 83 RBI as a senior at the University of Maryland in 1992. Holds ACC single season records in Batting Average (.490), On-Base Percentage (.618), and Slugging Percentage (.943); 1992 American Baseball Coaches Association NCAA Division I All-American.

Kevin played college baseball at Old Dominion where he was a three time All-American. Kevin also played on the United States National Team.

Kevin was originally drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Kevin made the Los Angeles Dodgers 40-man major league roster in 1998, 1999, and 2000.

Derek's stats are impressive. What happened with him after college? I've heard good things about his school in G'burg.

The "best" hitting instructor is a difficult question to answer. I think it would depend greatly upon the age, existing skill level, and committment of both the player and the parents (who pay the $$$).

I have found the folks at Frozen Ropes in Glen Burnie know their stuff pretty well and have a great facility.

No question that "best" is a relative term though and that the best instructor for one player may not be the best for another.

quote:

Derek's stats are impressive. What happened with him after college? I've heard good things about his school in G'burg.

Actually, Gibbs had a more storied career and was ranked at one time an MLB top 10 prospect.

Derek on the other hand was a tough blue collar player who worked his way through JUCO and two major college programs. Once Derek got to the minors he really tore is up, and was the top minor league player for his conference. He did get his shot at the MLs only to be immediately sent down before getting to play a game because of a GM change over. Then he got an injury and a not so good surgical outcome...and that was it.

Both Derek and Kevin are two of the nicest guys you'd want to meet, and your son/daughter will get more than their monies worth if you decide to see them. Both can get really detailed about the nuances to hitting, so they're great even with advanced players. Derek also is putting a team in NVTLB Old Dominion League this year if you're interested.

If you're east of the Beltway, I've heard nothing but great things about Al McCormick's programs.

Peace

I agree that "best instructor" is hard to quantify and who may be "best" for one, may not be "best" for another. That being said, I'll tell you what worked for my son.

We met Al McCormick of MVP in Crofton, MD a few years ago. My son has trained regularly with him for about two years. Al, of course, works on hitting mechanics but, what I think has been more important in my son's development, is the mental aspect of hitting. Things like: what to do in the on-deck circle while you're waiting to bat; what's a relief pitcher trying to do when he comes in; what to look for in certain counts; when and when not to swing for the fences. Another very important skill my son learned from Al is to recognize when he does something wrong mechanically, in order to be able to fix it by himself. For example, after popping a curve ball up to shallow right field, I would say, "Fooled on the curve ball?" He would say, "No, I picked up the curve. I just dropped my hands," or "I opened up too soon with my front side and dragged the bat through the zone." Most times the next curve ball would be lined somewhere.

Hitting is like learning anything. The key is to find a teacher you're comfortable with. Then you have to work on your own to practice what you learn. After you practice on your own you have to be able to go back for reinforcement and to tweak any bad mechanics that develop.

In short, I highly recommend Al McCormick for hitting or any of the other programs available at MVP.

As a side note, my son just finished with the highest career batting average in the history of his school and will be heading off to a D1 college. I don't give Al all the credit, but he certainly gets the bigger percentage.

Thanks Al!

I certainly appreciate the kind words, as well the opportunity to work with Corey.

There is no doubt he is special and will do well at UNC Greensboro!

Al McCormick
www.mostvaluableplayer.biz

Well, thanks for all the great responses from this site! Our son has now had two sessions with Al McCormick. Al has given us tons of his time, my son lots of positives to take into the batter's box, and some good actual practice hitting at his facility. We will see if it pays off! Thanks Al, for your genuine concern for the kids you help! It shows!

I agree that Al has the ability to help players prepare for the "at bat", he has been around the game long enough to pick up on certain things to pass on to the ones willing to learn and accept new thoughts.

My son too has benefited from playing for and attending sessions at MVP.

His facility provides a good learning enviroment.

CV

besides my dad, i've had two other instructors who have helped me. coach marc johnson of cherry creek hs (colorado) helped me perfect the fundamentals of hitting, and showed me the mental side of the game. coach matt schilling at the baseball factory (columbia, md) is the best i've seen since moving to md. i'm a more consistent hitter now.

Hey 2deuce...my 17-18 summer team (Columbia Reds) used to travel to Englewood, CO years ago for a tournament. We played some games on the field at Cherry Creek. Coach Johnson is a legend in that area of the country.

coach thompson - i used to live two blocks from creek before we moved to md two yrs ago. i was hoping to play for coach johnson if we had stayed there. he is a legend - bunch of championships, 500+ wins, us olympic coach, mlb scout, etc. the list of pro players that have come through his system is amazing. he has a young team this year and i think they will get him a few more state championships before they graduate.

btw, i played for coach o'b & o'c on the 16u reds last summer - go reds!