As we seek to build offensive skill in our Valor Baseball players, there are many things that we could discuss with our athletes. Our entire goal in building skill will be to simplify – simplify physical understanding, simplify approach, and simplify execution. This document will address all three of those areas – the physical, the approach, and the execution aspects.
We desire Valor Baseball players to be receptive, that they be sponges, to the information presented to them. By teaching the proper physical mechanics, we can enhance confidence in all players and transform their lives. Something happens inside the soul when you hit a baseball, something akin to “feeling God’s glory” when you square up the baseball. We will work so all of our players get to touch that experience.
Physical
We do not promote a cookie-cutter or one-swing-fits-all mentality here at Valor. We believe that there are important physical markers to a great swing that will be in common with all hitters while the hitters maintain a personal element of comfort and style. Our articulation will mirror that of professional and college teams, as well as national-level baseball academies such as IMG. The end goal for a rep in practice or an at bat in a scrimmage or game is to hit the ball hard. Players must clear their mind and pursue define success with those four words – hit the ball hard.
The Cincinnati Reds articulate their approach to the physical in this way:
Five Absolutes:
• See the Ball
• Separation
• Stay Square
• Rhythm and Timing
• Weight Transfer
• These absolutes apply to every good or great hitter that has ever played the game. They happen regardless of size or ability. The key to teaching these is to adapt them to the individual and his strengths and abilities as opposed to conforming the individual to the system.
• Each individual has a different type of learning method, such as audio, visual and/or kinesthetic. Identifying each player’s learning method or combination of learning methods is vital for his improvement and advancement.
• The overall goal is to implement these absolutes allowing each hitter to maximize his abilities. It is imperative that each coach and or manager be on the “same page” with both philosophy and lingo so as not to confuse the hitter. The purpose is to put the player first and do what is best for his development. Creativity among coaches is encouraged as long as it falls under the five absolutes and any major changes in a swing will be a group decision. Communication about hitters and their plans is a must.
See the Ball
The first element, See the Ball, is the simplest, yet most difficult element to master. Seeing the ball requires consistent concentration throughout the game. The following quote by Hall-of-Famer Reggie Jackson, and anecdote highlighting Carlos Pena show how seeing the ball is important at all levels of baseball.
“Hitting is concentration. Free your mind of everything. Study the flight of the baseball. Do not think of fine summer nights or fine wine or beautiful women. Think of seeing that white baseball, that spinning sphere, those seams turning over and over again as it gets closer to you. See it from the pitcher’s hand to the contact of the bat. See it, see it, see it.” - Reggie Jackson
I posted Reggie's advice in my locker my senior year of high school and read it on a daily basis. Being focused on such a simple element of hitting, training and trusting my body to react to what I was seeing, helped me to succeed as a high school and small-college hitter. The following ESPN article titled “Pena, Rays keeping it simple” from October of 2008 also illustrates this importance of seeing the ball.
After Carl Crawford got hurt and Evan Longoria suffered a broken hand, Tampa Bay hitting coach Steve Henderson approached Carlos Pena and asked, "You want to help this team out?"
Sure, said Pena.
"OK," said Henderson. "Then see the ball."
The message contained within Henderson's words was clear to Pena. Don't try to do too much; don't put pressure on yourself to make up for what is lost with the absence of Crawford and Longoria. Rather than letting your mind get cluttered by internal pressure, just focus on the most basic element of hitting, which is to see the ball, and this is what Pena has been doing -- what all the Rays have been doing.
They took two of three from the White Sox in Chicago over the weekend, and with just 33 games remaining, Tampa Bay leads Boston by five games in the loss column, and the Yankees by 10 games in the loss column. The Rays' magic number is down to 29, and they've shown no signs of faltering, no signs of being incapable of closing the deal. They have five healthy and productive starting pitchers and a deep bullpen, and the lineup continues to generate enough runs for success.
"We're very confident," Pena said Sunday morning. "We don't look anywhere else and worry about anybody else. We don't see any advantage in looking at the standings. This is a young team, but it impresses me that at such a young age, all of these guys are handling things very maturely."
What manager Joe Maddon has asked his players to do is to maintain this train of thought as they walk through the clubhouse doors every day: What can I do to help the team win today?
"Imagine what you could do if everybody walks through asking the same question -- that could be pretty special," said Pena. "I think that's what we have here now."
Pena knows all about trying to keep everything simple. He believes that the early struggles in his career, as he bounced from Oakland to Detroit to the minors, were rooted in his inability to free his mind of too many thoughts. "As players," he said, "we tend to over-think things."
Pena once asked Manny Ramirez about his approach at the plate, hoping to mine some gold-standard advice. "I see the ball," Ramirez said, and Pena initially walked away thinking that Ramirez was holding back information and not really revealing anything. "I was like, 'C'mon, Manny; don't be like that. Don't be so greedy. Share some of your secrets,'" Pena recalled.
But as he thought about what Ramirez said, Pena came to understand what Ramirez was really saying. "His ability to keep it that simple," said Pena, "is genius. Such a mastery of your emotions, that's incredible."
Pena mashed 46 homers and drove in 121 runs for the Rays last year, and finished ninth in the AL MVP voting. He started slowly this year, however, hitting just five homers from April 13 to June 3 before landing on the disabled list with a .227 batting average.
As he came off the disabled list in late June, Pena decided to re-focus, again, on two elements:
No. 1: See the ball.
No. 2: Trust his mind and hands to react properly to the pitches.
"When you keep it small like that, then good things happen," said Pena.
Since July 4, Pena has 39 RBIs in 44 games, with 15 homers, and a slugging percentage of .608. He's hit five homers in the 10 games since Crawford went down.
On a team filled with young players, Pena's production continues to be pivotal, but he's not thinking about that. He will walk through the clubhouse doors Tuesday, before the Rays resume their schedule against Toronto, and wonder, How can I help my team win today?
As you can see from the examples of Carlos Pena and the Rays as well as Manny Ramirez, seeing the ball is the first, and most important, element to the approach to hitting. To bring the idea of seeing the ball down to an even finer detail, we want our hitters to see the inside of the baseball. The side of the ball is different based on whether the hitter is right-handed or left-handed. The inside of the ball is marked as the side of the ball closest to the hitter’s body as it enters the hitting zone. The inside of the ball is what we want our hitters to see as early as possible in the hitting process. Players will be encouraged to attack the upper inside part of the baseball on every swing.
Separation
The separation of the hips and shoulders is vital in any movement requiring rotational power. Very simply, the hips rotate while the shoulders stay closed, allowing the hands to stay behind the lower half. When viewed from the pitcher, you will see both hips and only one shoulder. When viewed from above the hitter, the hips and shoulders create the letter X (hence called, the “X factor” by some instructors). See the photo of Josh Donaldson below:
The hips are initiated by the planting of the heel on the front side. The player must solidify his foundation by having both feet on the ground before beginning rotation. If a player begins his rotation from toe touch instead of heel plant, he’ll lose the ability to swing from the ground up. Having both feet on the ground provides us with rotational power and the ability to separate. Players must seek to keep this kinetic chain intact.
The player’s hips will reach a full hip turn going through contact, not before or after. This allows the player to stay square, which is the next section. Finally, the player should reach extension at his finish. This “straight-line” finish should indicate the player has stayed in the strike zone for a prolonged period of time and hit through the ball. It is important to stay through the ball, and not hit to or around the ball for the sake of consistency. Ultimately, the finish of the swing is just a by-product of the player doing the right things physically throughout the rest of this phase.
To enhance our players’ ability to separate the hips and the shoulders, we’ve created a Torque Rotational Warm-Up to activate the rotational muscles:
On back, Table Top Rotations, knees and shins at 90 degrees, touch ground side to side
On back, Ground Cross Twist, foot to hand, touch side to side
On stomach, knee to middle of chest, push shoulders to the ground
Standing, lunge, opposite hand to opposite back foot, other hand to sky for balance
Standing, lunge, praying hands, opposite elbow to outside opposite shin
Movement, high-knee carioca
Med ball, forward facing rotations
Med ball, chest pass rotations, both right and left
Med ball, Powerball toss, sequence separation, both right and left
We have also created eight drills to enhance our players’ ability and physical understanding to separate the hips from the shoulders. These separation drills will largely be executed with no stride so the player can learning to initiate the lower half upon the heel plant. This will help our players to not be in a hurry while hitting and stay behind the baseball, making contact inside the body’s rotational axis. Drills such as hitting with the opposite hand enhances the body’s understand of separation while building symmetry in the core muscles which are vital to the power and health of the player.
Area of Impact double tee w/ Powerballs, slow motion to straight-line finish
Running man (counterbalance, load scap – start at straight-line finish, rewind, pitch) – fastballs
Running man (counterbalance, load scap – start at straight-line finish, rewind, pitch) – hanging curveballs
Ride the saddle, on toes, sequence legs – front leg has to run/open first to create separation (Lock & Push)
No stride, inward turn, two strikes – fastballs
No stride, inward turn, two strikes – hanging curveballs
Opposite hand tee w/ Powerballs, running man
Opposite hand, no stride – slow fastballs
Stay Square
Staying square to the baseball speaks to the shoulders staying closed and not flying open. This is an important element, especially when partnered with maintaining separation. In addition, the shoulders will be square to area of the field to which the ball is hit when executed properly.
Staying square begins with the shoulder staying closed and the hands staying behind the lower half until being released at contact. With the hips and shoulders leading the swing, the player must develop the proper hand path. The most consistent slot begins with the bat over the button of the cap and the bottom hand staying inside the bottom elbow at launch. This allows for a clear path for the hands through the ball as the hands stay close to the body. The barrel stays above the hands as the back arm creates a “Power V”, cutting the shoulder with the barrel, until reaching a “Power L” position at contact. This creates the “palm up, palm down” position as the body is square through contact. From that position, the hands push through contact to a straight-line finish, not going around the body until reaching full extension. Below is an example of Kris Bryant from beginning to straight-line finish:
To help our players stay square, we’ve created the following eight drills to enhance their understanding of the concept. Just as we did in the separation phase, we will introduce offspeed/slower pitching to the stay square phase so the players can re-create the swing with different stimuli. To hit the offspeed pitch successfully, players should load late, read the arc, look for it up, and take a fastball Players can add a small stride (no high leg kicks yet) during this phase as they experiment with the concepts.
Inside Track (start at straight-line finish to pull side gap, rewind, pitch) - fastballs
Outside Track (start at straight-line finish to oppo side gap, rewind, pitch) - fastballs
Overweight bat (Head) tee – line drive up middle/Overweight bat (Hand) tee – line drive up middle
3-Plate Drill – Fastballs
Inside Track (start at straight-line finish to pull side gap, rewind, pitch) - curveballs
Outside Track (start at straight-line finish to oppo side gap, rewind, pitch) - curveballs
Underweight bat tee – line drive up middle
3-Plate Drill – Curveballs
Rhythm and Timing
Rhythm and timing is necessary for a hitter to hit the baseball hard consistently. Rhythm and timing, and elements included in this phase such as the leg kick, allow the body to deliver power and force to the baseball. The elements of rhythm and timing do not themselves create power. Separating the hips and shoulders to create torque energy generates power. Rhythm and timing delivers the power.
All hitters create and collect energy with some sort of negative or backwards movement. The hitter should go back, a lot or a little, to go forward. This doesn’t have to be something big and elaborate as too much movement creates inconsistency and a lack of repeatability. We’ll refer to this as the hitter’s “negative move” and it is an important first step to create potential energy in the swing. After the negative move, the hitter will “fall” forward catching himself on the front foot with a toe touch leading to a heel plant to start the swing. The “fall” will look almost as if the front leg is getting a running start at the pitcher.
Another way to explain the “fall” is to tell the hitter to “walk away from the hands.” There is an important distinction to make here as many refer to this as the load phase. While the hitter is loading potential energy, he should not drive his hands backwards, but rather move his body forward while leaving his hands behind. This will prevent the hitter from being too tense in the early phase of the swing. In addition, the fall forward allows the hitter to stay on the centerline of his body’s mass with his nose over his belly button.
The hand position at the fall is very important. The hands must be at or inside the back foot. If the hands are outside the back foot (meaning the hands are too far backwards), the hitter will be operating outside the axis of rotational power he is trying to create for his swing.
We’ve selected eight drills to enhance our player’s ability to work with rhythm and timing in their swing. Again, we’ll present the player with a variety of stimuli in order to allow the player to re-create a great swing in a variety of circumstances.
Tee, Overweight (Head) bat – Step behind, stride into swing, line drive up the middle/oppo gap
Machine batting practice – Fastballs
Tee, Overweight (Hand) bat – Happy Gilmore, stride & shuffle to swing, line drive up the middle/oppo gap
Machine batting practice – Curveballs
Tee, regular bat – Feet together, stride into swing, line drive up the middle/oppo gap
Machine batting practice – Change-Ups
Tee – Karate Kid, Underweight bat, line drive up the middle/oppo gap
Front toss, outside track – Oppo gap focus
Weight Transfer
The weight transfer phase launches the barrel into the baseball. The weight transfer ends at toe touch as the front leg begins to lock or get strong. It is here that the hitter transfers potential energy created in the previous phases into kinetic energy. The power of the swing comes from the lower half of the body sequentially transferring energy through the shoulders, arms, and then the barrel.
Players will hear us talk about “lock and push” and “let the bug live” at this phase. “Lock and push” refers to the front leg locking while the back leg pushes the back hip into the ball. The push is achieved by “letting the bug live” on the back foot. Too many kids have been taught to “squish the bug” erroneously, which prevents proper weight transfer through the ball.
As the player puts all of the elements together, we’ve selected these eight drills to enhance the player’s understanding of weight transfer and all of the pieces of the swing.
Tee, Underweight bat – Step behind, stride into swing, line drive up the middle/oppo gap
Machine batting practice – Fastballs
Outside Track (Overweight-head bat, oppo side gap) - fastballs
Machine batting practice – Curveballs
Inside Track (Overweight-hand bat, pull side gap) - fastballs
Machine batting practice – Change-Ups
3-Plate Drill – Curveballs
Front toss, outside track – Oppo gap focus
Final Words
One of the most important elements in teaching the physical fundamentals is to never allow the player to fall blindly in love with his mechanics. The end goal is simple – to release the body and barrel of the bat into the baseball together. This allows players to experience success and joy on the field.
