One thing that I learned well after my playing days was the fact that there can be no significant improvement without failure. Watching hitters in my batting center over the years I noticed whenever they couldn’t hit a high pitch, they immediately hit the button so it threw only low pitches. If they couldn’t hit a curve ball, they had the machine throw nothing but fastballs and so forth. It is important for parents and players alike to know how the human brain and body work together.
You see your brain doesn’t know anything about baseball. For all it knows, you are throwing rocks at a grizzly bear for survival. When you fail it registers with your brain and your brain automatically begins to strengthen you for your next confrontation. When you swing and miss it registers and your brain sends out a message to give you more myelin, adrenalin, and more growth hormone. Myelin tells your muscles to move faster. Adrenalin fires up your muscles and an extra bolt of growth hormone stimulates muscle growth. In effect your failure triggers your survival instinct which in turn makes you slightly bigger, stronger, faster in a short period of time.
Figure 1: Diagram illustrating Brain and Muscle Activation
If a hitter wants to hit 100 mph pitchers, he cannot practice every day against guys who throw watermelons. We try to hit 5 rounds of 8-10 swings every day that trigger our “survival instincts.” We start out with rounds at a speed where we are comfortable to loosen up. Next, we elevate the speed to a level where the hitter is “uncomfortable” and has to concentrate to hit the ball square. He should have to put a good swing on a good pitch rather than take mindless reps. Lastly, we like to raise the speed to an “overpowering level” where the hitter has to fight just to hit it or foul it off. A couple rounds of overpowering, then we back it up to “challenging” and finally to
“comfortable.” We always want the hitter to leave feeling good about himself but also knowing he worked hard. Hitting is a total body movement, and most players are not physically strong enough to hit game speed or above for very long.
Figure 2: Practice Progression Diagram
Each week we score every swing on every round using a 0-5 scale and when the numbers start to improve, we jack the speed up 2 mph for each round. The results have been very good, and our players have built confidence in their ability to put the ball in play with two strikes as well.
The video shows Coach Joe Barth coaching a drill demonstration
Want to know more about how to hit and pitch like a pro? Visit my website at https://thehitdoctorusa.com/
Get exclusive expert training drills from the founder of The Hit Doctor USA, Coach Joe Barth.
📝 Sign up now and get your first insider tip right in your inbox!
👉 https://thehitdoctorusa.com/contact/