Posted by: rql () on Sun Oct 12 09:13:24 2008

hitting drills and swing training.
A. There are various drills besides the ones I have mentioned and a few more that I can expound on,I like drills that are reaction drills that make you make game like adjustments.
Once you have got a feel for the rotational swing via the bag,and then have found the swing at best contact points for you on in and out pitches you can work on up and down.This can be done by strapping the bag up a little higher on a telephone pole or whereever you have it if needed so that you can tape a spot for thigh high pitch and letter high pitch,go back and forth making the adjustments with tilt to hit each pitch squarely,[if unsure how this is done ask us],learn how to think high pitch and set for it and swing and then the low one the same,then on your own set for low and adjust up,this is the hard 1 that gets hitters missing the high fb so finding out your ability to adjust to it will help you learn what to lay off of and what you can try to adjust to based on ability.Next you can add a coach that will learn the point in your swing where you are reading a pitch and as you prepare low he will say high or low and either you stay with low plan or adjust hi to hit bag location.
I have also used a tee at low area and a ball on a rope and bungi hanging down from above to a letter high location ,this helps you see how well you are adjusting to that pitch,finally go to soft toss,either low and away or up and away or low and in or up and in.,practise looking for one and laying off the other and then adjusting to what you see,remember the adjustment is look low and adjust up.
My other drill is for away and in,you can do this on the bag by moving yourself away and forward or closer and back based on location.
Next I use a 2 tee drill one on outside corner and back near point where tee angles back toward catcher,this tee is around knee to lower thigh heigth,the other tee is set up on inside corner and out front a little to point where you can hit it hard and keep it fair.This tee is about waist high or a little higher if needed.Put a ball on each and work out and in adjusting so you do not hit but 1 ball,the slight upper cut and body tilt allows this happen.after comfortable with each ,have coach[dad] call out location as you are in your load about mid stride,work til you each are in good rhythm.I strongly believe that you must look away and react in ,think os and adjust to inside pitch.Try it the otherway if you like and see how it works and you decide.Finally progress to soft toss out and in working to hit each at contact points established from tee work.
Last drill pitch from about 30 feet and screen and work on fb and change or curve,finding out how you adjust your weigth and sit on rear leg to wait on offspeed but at same time look for fb 1st.
These drills will help you to learn to adjust to all pitches to a point,dont think about looking high and away and adjusting low and in too much difference will cover that in mental segment.

Training and flexibility and conditioning.
I have found that core power moves and ballistic type exercises that work fast twiitch muscles will help far more than just static slo moves of normal lifting.Flex and cond can be tied together at times.
Weigths should be under supervision until you know what your doing but briefly,I like Squats along with 1 leg squats which call on balance and core stabilizing.Dead lifts are great powercore moves[be taught technique though]Picking up 30 to 80lb dumbbells and walking 40-200 feet with good posture will help all core muscles,go heavy .I also find that dumbbell clean and jerks work core and fire fast twitch muscles through body,this incorporates the whole body and speed move.I use a cable machine that allows me to adjust the pulley up and down and away from me so I can hold the grip with 2 hands and swing using hips to turn and arms tight to body to rotate shoulders,the cable and pulley are in back of me like where the catcher sits,build this up with weigth and make it a power move.Then go to medicine balls and go heavy to light with a hitting action move,load and unload and throw it with 2 hands as hard as possible[good form] against soft area to not mess up ball.Stepping up on a bench with dumbbells are a good leg exercise for strength and speed work,always stretch in between,cable lat work and lots of forearm and hand exercises help strengthen the weak muscles that will be put under great strain.Garciaparra had a great flex routine on hbo on demand sport training if you can find it,it was directed toward baseball,but hi leg kicks as you step up on small bench,stepping over a low hurdle and under a high one back and forth helps stretch and strengthen groin to save from injury,this area is put under alot of load in the swing so work it.Loaded situps hanging from a chinup bar with a medicine ball will build that core,crossover right to left or left to right depending on how you bat.Cones and speed drills like 4points drills and zig zag motion,short bursts of movement,side step 3 step bursts help you get foot quickness,duck walk will help with groin but not much at 1st or you will be sore.Do a lunge wide then crossover your right elbow outside your left knee and vice versa.
I could go on but last I will point out that swing training with overload and underload bats and the bag is a great way to build your swing and batspeed ,if anyone is unaware of this program I can detail it,I see it on sites for sale but is pretty easy to follow but tough to do.Later I will talk about the mental game and if there is any interest lay all this out as a program