I am taking over a varsity baseball program that has been taught to hit using linear fundamentals for the past 11 years. The team has struggled to hit consistently during that time period. I would like to try to change these kids to rotational, but have no idea where to start. Any suggestions?
Posts: 4 | Location: Ohio | Registered: November 05, 2007
First, order John Cohen's dvd at bestbaseballswing.com. A lot of good tee drills, good trigger drills, etc.
Second, go to hittingillustrated.com forum, then join the site (free first 30 days), then go to the "Private Hitting Forum" and at the top there's a 'sticky' titled "Donny's Total Presentation Web Version". Click on that and read and absorb every bit of it. You will come away with a good understanding of swing mechanics and some good thoughts on drills to use with your kids.
These should help you get organized and develop a 'game plan' for hitting practice.
Third, get a good video camera and record all hitting sessions. It's really hard to see everything full speed, especially if you're feeding front toss to the hitters. View everything in slow motion to really understand what the kids are doing. Apply the hitting drills/techniques you learned above to each kid's situation.
Mike Epstein has some very good teaching concepts on rotational hitting. My son attended one of his 3 day camps and the methods and progress were very measuable and effective. I think the url is mikeepstein****ting.com
Further, although it may be time consuming if not difficult to video the entire team, you will get a significant payback on your teaching time to have the focus that slow motion/stop motion video will provide.
Posts: 8 | Location: Medway, MA | Registered: November 23, 2007
Originally posted by Seattle Swing Coach: As YHF said, you definitely need to videotape sessions to show progression/regression in swing patterns fo the kids.
Hitting Illustrated is good, but I highly recommend Dr. Chris Yeager's DVDs. They are a must-have for varsity hitting coaches, IMO.
Good luck!
How many and what kind of drills do the Yeager DVD's have? Thanks.
Posts: 213 | Location: Iowa | Registered: July 28, 2005
I would suggest going to englishbeyhitting.com. The site has a free public area, but, of course, he wants you to buy his DVD. His strong point is in teaching. He uses lots of props and drills to help ingrain the lessons.
There is also a great community that regularly discusses and helps analyze videos of swings.
Posts: 57 | Location: western NY | Registered: January 18, 2008
Originally posted by bbdoug: I would suggest going to englishbeyhitting.com. The site has a free public area, but, of course, he wants you to buy his DVD. His strong point is in teaching. He uses lots of props and drills to help ingrain the lessons.
There is also a great community that regularly discusses and helps analyze videos of swings.
I agree! (Ok the hate pms can start again that I posted my opinion on this. LOL!)
"... and if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plan."
First, order John Cohen's dvd at bestbaseballswing.com. A lot of good tee drills, good trigger drills, etc.
Second, go to hittingillustrated.com forum, then join the site (free first 30 days), then go to the "Private Hitting Forum" and at the top there's a 'sticky' titled "Donny's Total Presentation Web Version". Click on that and read and absorb every bit of it. You will come away with a good understanding of swing mechanics and some good thoughts on drills to use with your kids.
These should help you get organized and develop a 'game plan' for hitting practice.
Third, get a good video camera and record all hitting sessions. It's really hard to see everything full speed, especially if you're feeding front toss to the hitters. View everything in slow motion to really understand what the kids are doing. Apply the hitting drills/techniques you learned above to each kid's situation.
Best of luck.
I couldn't agree more...
Posts: 48 | Location: CA | Registered: February 24, 2008
