HITHARDERNOW.COM

Pro Hammer Specific Results: Miles Bice

2011-11-17T10:18:00.000-08:00

Before Video Recorded in 1000 fps.
Specifically look at the head at contact.

This is after 2 months of lessons using the Pro Hammer in short toss drills.

The results are cleaner strikes near the sweet spot of the bat.
Then when a bat is used there are more consistent strikes near the sweet spot
producing harder hit balls more often.

I'm sold. You should be to. Call me today and order you very own Pro Hammer.

BBCOR or BBCRAP!

2011-09-19T10:20:00.000-07:00

Over the past few months I have personally tested and test some of my hardest hitting students with the newest BBCOR metal 5.0 bats, what I have discovered may just surprise you.
These are the models I have tested

Personally I hit over 30 balls with each bat. I understand why home runs in college baseball went down 49% this past year. I used my Zelocity Radar gun to get an exit speed off these bats. To give you and idea of my past results over the years here are some numbers. in 2010 I hit and average of 95mph with the DeMarini Vodoo, 96 mph with the TPX EXO, 93 mph with the 5150 and 91 mph with my BAUM Bat. I topped out at 103 mph with the EXO, but my average was 96 mph. With my 34 inch 31 once Baum bat I topped out at 98 mph.

In my controlled testing I hit 10 balls with each bat 3 times and took a 5 minute rest in between rounds. If i miss hit the ball and did not put a clean swing on it I tossed out the result. My purpose was to test for clean and hard strikes on the ball to get a maximum exit speed average.

5150
Average Exit Speed (AES): 83 mph
Top Exit Speed (TES) 86 mph

Surge
AES:84 mph
TES: 88 mph

EXO
AES: 85 mph
TES: 87 mph

Then I tested it against a BBCOR DeMarini that was given to me on my birthday.

AES: 87 mph
TES: 90 mph

What bat got the best result? It wasn't a metal bat at all. It was the Baum Bat and the new on I just got has a BBCOR 5.0 stamp on it. The model is a AAA Pro Standard Knob.

AES: 90 mph
TES: 94 mph

What do these speed mean? Well a ball traveling at 90 mph at 45 degrees of angle will travel on average about 360 ft. A ball traveling 85 mph at 45 degrees of angle will travel on average about 280 ft. Clearly 90 mph has a chance to leave the yard a lot more than 85 mph. Bryce Harper hit a ball at Tropicana Field with an exit speed of 105 mph and it hit up in the top of the stadium some 470 ft away with a Non-BBCOR DeMarini Vodoo.
So my advice is to swing wood. It will hit the ball harder and force you to change your swing to one that drives the ball. The days of the ball exploding off the bat are over thanks to BBCOR. I prefer the Baum Bat because it is an composite that last a long time. Hits consistently the way real wood does but does not have the breakage that real ash or maple does. I test other students and the results were very similar that is why I am just sharing my numbers.
In conclusion these $300.00 to $400.00 BBCOR bats are straight crap. My students are going to wood and I think you should too.
The Baum Bat is also a great way to learn how to swing a wood bat properly with out breaking bats in the process. Metal bats are great because in the past they have been explosive when the ball is hit in the sweet spot and forgiving when hit on the handle or end. I have seen balls leave the park when not even hit that well or even above or below the sweet spot of the barrel. Wood bats are not forgiving at all. If you hit a ball to far down on the handle the bat cracks or even breaks in half. If a ball is hit on the end the same result happens and there is no chance that ball is going to leave the yard. BBCOR bats perform truer to traditional wood, but based on my testing results they under perform overall.
I will preface this also. I am not paid by any of these companies to test these bats or sell these bats. I am a professional hitting instructor that only wants to see my students perform their best. I think these new BBCOR bats actually hurt their chances of being seriously scouted by college and professional teams because they perform below what I would consider a Major League Baseball standard.

WAY TO GO KRYSTAL!

2011-07-26T20:25:00.001-07:00

Krystal came 4 weeks ago to get some softball hitting lessons. She has worked so hard and this past Sunday she hit a hard hit that tied the game and set up the next hitter to hit the game winner. I love to here success stories like this.
Awesome job!

Pro Hammer Update: Pure Honest Feedback

2011-04-20T10:25:00.001-07:00

Well I have tested this bat now for 5 days and here is the feedback.
I tested 10 hitters with the Pro Hammer bat and this is the breakdown of their personal feedback.
7 out of 10 say they liked it.
3 out of 10 say it was alright, but they needed to hit with it more with it.
0 out of 10 say that hated it.
4 said they would buy this.
0 have bought it.

Okay so here is my honest feedback. I have some other devices that I use and I get very immediate feedback from them. The Pro Hammer is a bat developed to promote sweet spot or center line contact.
Tee Test:
I have hit some balls with this and it did take me about 10 swings to get my hands right or get the head right so when I put the bat head in the zone it is level. Once I got use to it I was able to hit solid line drives over and over.
10 students have hit with this off the tee. All of the my 10 students did not hit the ball off the tee very well from the start. Just like me they had to hit a few balls so they could figure out their hand position. Then they could tell when they made solid contact. I see the hitter really trying to get their hands inside the ball to get the head in the zone.
Front Toss:
This is like soft toss, but I am in front of the hitter instead of on the side. It is more real than the soft toss in getting true timing and contact area. Hitters also take a few swings to get the proper contact area but they do hit the ball. About 2 out of 10 hits are solid sweet spot hits, meaning almost or perfect contact. The rest of the contact is noticeably softer.

What I expected:
I expected the hitters to just light balls up after swinging the Pro Hammer and then picking out there bigger barreled bat. I only saw this happen with one hitter. So to say I am satisfied yet I would be lying if I said yes. I will continue to use this and test more students and keep you posted. It is too soon to rule out if this bat is a success or a flop.

The ProHammer Bat

2011-04-08T11:05:00.000-07:00

I will be testing this bat here in the next few weeks.
The ProHammer is designed to maximize sweet spot contact and correct errors in the swing like dipping and roll over. I'm going to put this Bat through a rigorous test with at least 20 students. I will be posting their feedback.

I like gadgets that focus on timing, so if this one really works I will be recommending this bat to all my students and followers.

What do I like about the ProHammer?
1. The small contact surface area reminds me of the Easton Hit Stix that I used to use as a kid, but I could still roll over a ball and hit it decently. THIS BAT GIVES IMMEDIATE FEEDBACK ON A ROLL OVER.
2. Proper Grip: Palm up and palm down hand position through the entire swing is required to consistently hit the ball hard with this bat. MUSCLE MEMORY TRAINING.
3. Just like with the NOS Timing Chain I believe that with practice hitters will start making more accurate throws to the ball and maximized exit speeds.
4. It is correctly weighted to feel like a real bat. This way in training with the ProHammer timing will be more accurate when transitioning back to a real bat.

I'll keep everyone posted on this bat test and when orders can be made.

This is coming soon.

2011-04-07T09:05:00.000-07:00

This type of workout is designed for elite athletes to move fast, become more powerful, and increase speed and agility. All the core muscle group that are needed when diving for a ball up the middle, spinning to your feet, and delivering a strike to first base or a quick explosive burst to get to that inside pitch. I am an authorized dealer of this product. Don't buy it online or on TV. Get it from me and support Hithardernow.com!

How an Online Lesson Works.

2011-03-31T19:28:00.000-07:00

This is to show you that Online lessons really do work.
There are two key elements in and online lesson to make it work for you.
1. You have to want to learn how to make a better swing.
2. You will have to work on what is suggested on your own, or with a friend, or parent.
The bottom line is you are going to have to do the work to improve.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW ONLINE LESSON

Here is the students comment. He lives in California and contacted me through Facebook.com.

HOW TO SEND ME A VIDEO.
1.Submit a short video to me by email.
2.Or upload your video to www.youtube.com.
3.After the file is uploaded then click the "Share" link.
4.Copy link and email me that link.
5.My V1 Pro system will download Youtube videos.
6. I will invoice you via Pay Pal.

This is a great way to have access to a professional hitting instructor and not have to travel to Las Vegas to work with me.

My Kid Hits Great with You, but Sucks in the Game!

2011-03-24T11:53:00.000-07:00

I don't know if that is a compliment or not. The more I do this the more I hear Perry Husband in the back ground telling me that giving lessons the old way is pointless. I am really starting to get what he was saying. Believe me when I say I will always give one on one lessons, but only a few of them. When I first get a new client I always have to look at some key things. I video everyone. I like to slow things down so I can see some of the key factors I look for when doing my analysis. I also like to get and exit speed. This is to show that when the hitter makes a more efficient move they get a better result. I will always talk about summation of sequential segments. Yes, I even talk about this with my younger students. Yes, they look at me with eyes of confusion, but I explain it to them in a way that they understand the principle and how they already use it in baseball. I will always talk about distance of force application and explain it to them the same way I did summation of sequential segments. That's just me and how I instruct. I used to throw days and days of batting practice. The kids love it. The parents love it. So what's the big deal? The big deal is I have trained hitter to great batting practice hitters but just okay game hitters. So I decided to change the way I did things. I went from a more swing focused approach to a timing focused approach. And let me tell you the results are amazing in one aspect but awful in others. The results have been amazing in the sense that I have put more underclassmen on varsity programs than ever before in the past. I also hear stories of how my students are excelling at tryouts and making elite club teams. It doesn't matter what kind of pitcher I bring into class to throw, these kids make faster adjustments and hit everyone. They are some of the smartest, toughest, level headed students I have ever had. So what can be so awful? Financially this move has driven some people away. They like the one on one time. That's all they know. Change is scary and different. "My son doesn't like hitting with all those other boys." Why? He has to play with 10 -14 other kids. What is the difference with 2 or 3? When I look at what I really get paid for it is really simple. I have an ever expanding knowledge and passion for hitting. I have played and have experience. I can teach and I am bless with this ability. Not everyone can articulate things in ways that people really get it. But the bottom line is I get results. My kids come in with bad swings and good swings and most of the time they leave hitting harder. I get results.
So about a year ago I switch over and started training at game speed and getting hitters more at bats during the week. Players that were sitting the bench last year are starting this year and turn heads. I switched over to a muscle memory program and a timing program and have almost done away with the hands on every move looks like this training. I have come to the conclusion that there is no "Perfect Swing" Linear or rotational? Neither is the best. It may be a combination of both. The two greatest home run hitters had different swings. Barry Bonds was rotational and Hank Aaron was a combination of forward push and rotation. Ichiro, who has been the most productive hitter in the last 10 years is linear. So really there is no best way. Hitters are good because they are on time. I saw Rod Carew over and over just flick his bat on balls and he would hit rockets to the gaps. It looked like he way out on his front leg and fooled by the pitch. I guess not cause he would flick the sweet spot on the ball and smack!
So where am I going with this? I really do believe that batting practice has it's place it's good to get the feeling of a good swing and where proper contact should be made. A tee works for this too. But it is game experience and game play that gets a hitter prepared for greatness. How is confidence built in BP when the pitcher just floats the ball in the zone and a hitter kills it over and over only to get in a game and this never happens? They strike out, ground out, and every once in a while hit a mistake. As a hitter this made me want to pull my hair out and stump baby chickens. Where did I see this game hitting turn hitters around at the professional level? The Latin players would finish the regular minor league season and rush home for the winter league. When these young players came back they had play another 60 games all winter. Most of the Americans were just working out getting in shape. Some guys played in recreational leagues. I played fast pitch softball so I could keep my eye and timing. But most guys were just taking BP with each other and working out. When the first week of spring training came. I killed the ball after playing softball all winter. Guys like Magglio Ordonez, Carlos Lee, and Mario Valdez came back from the winter leagues and were punishing pitchers. Today Magglio and Carlos are superstars. Mario was hampered with injuries and never made it, but believe me he was a very good hitter. Its is game speeds and training at these speeds that makes hitters better. If you take a good hitter and put him in 100 games per year over a 5 year period he would have had around 2000 at bats in that time period. Five years later he would be a better hitter. If you took an okay hitter meaning clearly not good and put him in 150 per year for 5 years he would have around 3000 at bats in that period. Five years later I would venture to say he would be a better hitter than the good hitter was based on this. Both are competing at the same level. Mastery is about doing the same thing over and over. If the okay hitter has experienced 1000 times more than the good hitter did then his mastery skills are going to be better. The Okay Hitter (OH)will have been in more situations that saw a curve ball, slider, change up, low outside fastball and a belt high fast than Good Hitter (GH). Even if their swings are still the exact same after five years the one with more experience will do better. Now if you flipped the group gave the GH a 1000 more at bats then you would see a huge separation in the hitters.
This is my personal experience with this I was a below average fielder when I came into pro baseball. When I finished seven years later I was a very solid infielder and catcher. Seven years of ground balls everyday for 10 to 20 minutes becomes a lot of repetition. I couldn't block a ball when I started catching. I was afraid to put myself in front of a 90 mph fastball in the dirt. I rarely caught my first year in a game. Everyday I caught 2 to 3 bullpens and started practicing my blocking there. Five years later I was pretty solid defensively behind the plate and I still am. Then there was throwing. From behind the plate I couldn't throw out the trash. In my fifth year I started working with Tony Pena and I started throwing a few people out. Today I can throw out the trash at 39. I work on my release almost everyday even though I only play 1 to 2 games per week now. Today I throw more than most BP coaches, except for Mike Moseley.
In my personal experience any training that is close to or as fast as game speed is going to be the most beneficial and rewarding. This is why I offer so many live hitting and timing training classes now. There will be a new group of hitters that are coming through the Las Vegas and Henderson area that will be a cut above the rest. They will not have a cookie cutter swings. No one will say, "That's a Greg Shepard swing." People won't be able to tell them from the next kid. They all have their own swings with a few little adjustments. Their timing will be impeccable and they will destroy opposing pitchers. These kids will have seen more live pitching than any of their teammates. They will have been in more first and third with one out or bases loaded with two outs situations than anyone else on the field that day. They will be seasoned hitters and people will take them serious. How do I know this? It's already happening. Perry was right and sometimes change is good. Its time for change to happen in baseball.

If you want more information about my up coming classes then please email me at info@hithardernow.com or visit my website. www.hithardernow.com

PART II " You Gotta Protect"

2011-03-14T23:37:00.000-07:00

Wow was my email box flooded with comments and concerns about my two strike approach. I'm glad I ruffled a few feathers and maybe some cobwebs of old thinking.
Robert from Miami writes, "How can you teach people to give away their at bat because they have two strikes?" Robert I think you missed my whole point completely. I don't want you to give away the at bat. I just want you to realize that you are out, relax, and take you best hack.
Let me expound and some real numbers here and why these numbers are so significant especially at the Major League level. These numbers have been taken from Inside Edge a scouting service that tracks every pitch thrown at the Major League level. These number are from 4/1/2004 to 10/31/2006. This is a sample of 600,000 pitches to both left and right handed batters.
Overall Pitch Mix
FB = 64% CB = 9% SL = 15% CH = 10% Other = 2% Overall Batting Ave. .265
*This above line is the average of all hitters over the 600,000 pitch study.
Counts
0-0 FB = 68% CB = 9% SL = 13% CH = 8% OTHER = 2% BA. .336
1-0 FB = 69 CB = 5 SL = 12 CH = 12 OTHER = 2 BA. .338
0-1 FB = 57 CB = 11 SL = 18 CH = 12 OTHER = 2 BA. .316
1-1 FB = 57 CB = 9 SL = 17 CH = 14 OTHER = 2 BA. .323
2-0 FB = 81 CB = 2 SL = 7 CH = 8 OTHER = 1 BA. .346
2-1 FB = 68 CB = 5 SL = 13 CH = 12 OTHER = 2 BA. .335
3-0 FB = 95 CB = 0 SL = 2 CH = 2 OTHER = 1 BA. .365
3-1 FB = 85 CB = 2 SL = 6 CH = 6 OTHER = 1 BA. .356
* These numbers are the averages of all hitters in these counts.

Overall 2 Strike Pitch Mix
FB = 56% CB = 11% SL = 20% CH = 10% OTHER = 3% BA. .190

0-2 FB = 54 CB = 12 SL = 21 CH = 10 OTHER = 4 BA. .166
1-2 FB = 51 CB = 13 SL = 22 CH = 10 OTHER = 4 BA. .178
2-2 FB =55 CB = 11 SL = 20 CH = 12 OTHER = 3 BA. .193
3-2 FB =69 CB = 6 SL = 14 CH = 9 OTHER = 2 BA. .230
*These numbers are the averages of all hitters in these counts.

Do you see why you are an out yet? The only count that a hitter seems to have a chance is 3-2 and that average is a pathetic .230. So again the bottom line is these guys are the best of the best and they are only hitting .190 with 2 strikes. They are out!

So what if you had a paradigm shift in your thinking and changed your approach for 20 at bats just to test out what I am saying. Here is what the numbers change so drastically, because you can't sit on a fastball anymore. Look at the numbers 0-2,1-2,2-2 counts are somewhere around 53% FB and 47% off speed. You have a 50% chance of being wrong if you are guessing or even timing yourself up for a FB. Then the hitter gears up for FB and then gets OS (off speed) and they are early and miss hit the ball or swing through it. Or how many times have you seen a hitter get and 0-2 count and the pitcher blows one by him right down the middle. I can bet my life that the hitter was guessing OS and wasn't even ready to react to the pitch. Last year I saw Hughes for the Yankees pitching against the Twins and all the hitters were protecting with 2 strikes. They didn't have a chance. Hughes was throwing 96 mph on the hands and right down the middle. I saw hitter after hitter get blown away by the speed and take feeble swing after feeble swing hoping to even put a little bat on the ball. None did and he blew right threw the line up. I have also seen Greg Maddux throw 89, 84, 89, 80 in sequence and hitter after hitter would ground out to short or second. 0-0 CH, 0-1 FB, 1-1 CB, 1-2 FB for a backwards K. The hitter keeps thinking they are going to get a FB but they get OS. The hitter never gets their timing right and they can not pull the trigger on a good pitch. This is what is called Effective Velocity or EV and pitchers all around are learning this. That is why in the last three years the batting averages have dropped significantly.

So how do hitter combat EV? They have to be on time in the counts that they know they are going get the pitch they are looking for. Hitters have to guess and guess correctly. If you are in a 2 strike count that is 50% FB and you just saw a FB the pitch before then I would say look for the pitch that would be used to put you away. Look for the pitchers out pitch. If it is his dirty slider then look for it. If he has a good curve ball or change up then look for that. If it's a split finger then pray he leaves it up or throws it in the dirt for a ball. Also when you get good FB counts you have to be on time and taking good hacks. You got to put those balls in play and put them in play hard. You see pitchers are learning this EV stuff at a younger age now. Why? Guys like Bobby Valentine, Roy Oswaldt, Greg Maddux, Barry Zito are talking about EV. I even use these techniques when I pitch and get amazing results. Now pitchers are starting to throw 3-1 sliders or curve balls and hitters are chasing them because they have been conditioned to expect fast balls. I played in a minor league game where Jason Lakeman stuck out 16 guys in 5 innings. Yes 16! This was EV at it's best. His FB was 96 mph that night and he was following it up with an 84 mph slider that he kept bouncing. He would blow FB after FB by the hitters and then with 2 strikes take 12 mph off the next pitch and the hitters were too far out in front. He struck out 5 in one inning. The catcher was having a hard time with the drop 3rd strikes. He gave up maybe 2 hard hit balls the whole night. The hitter were so afraid of Jason blowing another FB by them that they were so ridiculously early on the slider.

So in reply to Robert from Miami. Hey Robert the numbers don't lie. I also strongly feel the numbers are the way they are because with 2 strikes guys are spreading out, choking up, and trying to protect the plate all the while taking not taking their best swing. They are taking a swing that they rarely practice against the tougher pitches to hit. This is why I say, " Take your "A" game swing. Make the best swing possible to give yourself the best chance possible in the toughest situation. Guess and don't be afraid if you guess wrong. According to the numbers you are out anyways! And what if you guessed right 50% of the time with 2 strikes and in 10 at bats hit 4 balls harder than you usually do with 2 strikes? You may get 3 to 4 hits over that 10 at bats. Significantly improving your average with 2 strikes. You may even earn the recognition as a 2 strike hitter. I can tell you this. I have hit some two strike home runs and doubles after going hit less in my first two at bats because I decided to guess differently. Am I a good hitter? Yes I am. I am a better hit because I guess and guess right a high percentage of the time also. Timing over talent. I once heard this phrase. I've seen some pretty good swings that have been on time and I've seen some pretty bad swings that have been on time. The results of both are hard hit balls. If the sweet spot of the bat shows up in the same area as the ball then the result is usually something hard. Never quit or give up your at bat. Battle to the end. Hitting is all about timing and pitching is all about messing up your timing. It's a chess game. What's he going to throw here. What does he have a tendency to throw. Then take and educated guess and hope you can be perfect with your timing.
Loved the flood of questions keep them coming. info@hithardernow.com

If you want to read a great book on the science of pitch sequencing then go to Hittingisaguess.com
There are three books: Book 3 Downright Filthy Pitching by Perry Husband.
This is an e-book but you can also purchase it in hard copy for a lot more money.

You Gotta Protect!!!

2011-03-10T12:25:00.000-08:00

I have heard this preached by coaches and hitting coaches from the time I was able to hit a pitched ball. "You gotta protect the plate with two strikes!" I also heard shorten your swing up, spread out your stance, choke up and let the ball get deep and put it into left field. I'm a left handed hitter. I was actually a right handed hitter with a left handed grip when I first picked up a bat. My father must have been a genius or the angel of the Lord told him to just turn me around instead of switching my hands. Anyways all these coaches seem to think what they are doing is helping but in reality the worst batting averages are with 2 strikes. At the Major League level 3-2 has the best average at .239. This count would seem like a hitters count, but according to the numbers it is still heavily tipped towards the pitcher. The 1-2 count is the worst at .166 and as you can guess everything else falls between that .166 mark and .200. So what are you to do when your staring down the barrel of the dreaded two strike count? My strong opinion is..... hack! That's right take your best swing. Put the A swing out there instead of the "protection" one.
Now all the greatest hitters and hitting instructors ever are turning over in their graves or pushing themselves away from the table to calm themselves before hearing my rationale. Please come back sit down and hear me out. Lemme break it down for ya.
1. Practice! Practice! Practice! How do 99% of hitters train? They are training to take there best swing and hit the ball hard. Now if you are a coach that teaches two strike hitting and can consistently get hitters to drive the ball hard then stop reading, but since this can not happen by doing all the the things discussed in the first paragraph then keep reading. Bio-mechanically all those things cost a hitter distance and exit speed. Spreading out causes loss of weight transfer. Shortening the swing causes loss of bat speed. Choking Up decreases lever size. Remember this: The longer the lever the stronger the lever and the shorter the lever the quicker. Maybe this is another reason why the batting averages are so low with two strikes. Maybe it isn't all related to pitch selection, maybe it's related to swing selection. This whole protection thing makes me lose sleep. How come with a 3-1 count a hitter will spit on that fastball 4 inches off the plate, but with two strike they will chase it all day. Or with two strikes hitters will swing at a low curve ball in the dirt but 3-1 will take that all day. How come with two strike the hitters have been trained to expand the zone? The umpire hasn't expanded his. A strike is still a strike in his mind.
Okay here is my true feelings on this. The first is I always want to take my best swing. Second there is no reacting to the pitch. Maybe in little league when the ball is coming 50 mph, but a 91 mph fastball will be by you before you can react to it. It's okay to guess. If you look at the numbers you are an out anyways so why not guess and be on time. If you are still 1-2 and think this guy has a good curve ball I'm going to sit on it. You start a little later to compensate for the decreased speed and when the ball shows up you take your best swing. Let's say he does exactly what you guess and you are on time and drive a ball past the shortstop. Well you just overcame the odds. You were supposed to be out. Let's say you think curve ball and the pitcher blows a fastball right by you? So what, you were out anyways who cares if you strike out, pop out, ground out, foul out? Right and out is an out. I would rather have this scenario: Two runners on and you guess right and hit a line drive with your best swing and drive in 1. Then this scenario: Two runners on and you choke up, spread out, and then a weak ground ball double play to second with your protection swing. No only were you out you were responsible for two outs. I'm watching a game between the Dodgers and the Padres today and I see Uribe with two strikes take a hack on a curve ball and drive it into the corner for 2 runs. Then I see a non roster invitee for the Padres come up with first and third and he (Santana) takes two hacks then goes to an almost no stride shortened up swing and slaps a ball to first for and out. He did get and rbi but made and out. The season veteran Uribe got two rbi's and his batting average went up not down. I'm just saying if I'm a Big League manager and I have to make a last day choice for the roster. I have a talented new young player that has potential to score runs while making outs or a solid veteran that when I am down 3 in the ninth can get a hit, score two runs and still be on base to keep the rally going. Well I am going to lean toward the guys that is still on base.
Bottom line: Take your A game swing with you always especially with two strikes when you need it the most. It is okay to guess. If you are right and you will be then many more hits will come. You will guess wrong. Oh well you were out anyways. Training methods need to change to train more to be on time and guess than try to react to the pitches. I have a device I use called a NOS timing chain that has worked wonders. If you would like more information about this device and some of my other teaching methods please email me at info@hithardernow.com.

Bryce Harper Experiment 2011 ----- Terminated!

2011-03-02T20:12:00.000-08:00

One for one with 1 rbi. I was a little early on the pitch but still hit a line drive up the middle. Then.......

2011 season over due to broken ankle. One plate, 8 pins, and 1 screw and that's all folks!

Dream Big!

2011-02-24T16:43:00.000-08:00

Winners dream big. Winners are bigger than their problems. With losers the problems are bigger than they are. Winner thrive in spite of the obstacles in their way. Losers are blocked by the obstacles and then make lame excuses why they fail. Winners take responsibility when they fail. In the end the only person that can guarantee your success is YOU. This is why I am writing this section on dreaming big. When I was a kid I told everyone I was going to be a professional ball player. I see now I should have been a lot more specific. I should have said that I was going to play short stop for the St Louis Cardinals and be Ozzie Smith's replacement. Hit .330 over my career be a 10 time All Star and make 10 million a year. I say this because everything I have ever asked for in life I have received. And when I was specific about it I received exactly what I asked for. I never asked for any of those things specifically so I never received any of them. Here are some things I did say I wanted and had. I wanted to play college at Arizona State University. I did have a chance to go there, but I listed to people that I respected and when they said I wasn't that good, so I went to Junior College instead. Remember I blogged about going with your gut? Well I didn't on that one. Later I had a chance to go back there. I changed my mind and went to Cal State Northridge instead. This time I knew what I really wanted. When I saw CSUN play I said I want to go there. I ended up with a full ride. I asked and I received. I never said I wanted to get drafted. I assumed God could read my mind. Well that is not true because I didn't believe in God when I finished college baseball. I met God a year later and shared my desire to Him. I said I want to play professional baseball. I wasn't specific I just wanted to play. So a few months later I signed with the Palm Springs Promise and made $350 per month, but I was playing and getting paid like a professional. A year later I signed another contract with the Regina Cyclones. I found an old goal card from that year. My goal was to hit .350, 10 HR, 20 2B, 40 RBIs. I hit .324,6,5, 39. Not bad doing this with a broken hamate bone in my hand. A couple months after the season was over I went to here a millionaire from Amway speak. In a crowd of 400 people he asked if anyone had a goal card on them. 11 people raised their hands. He picked me to come up on stage and tell everyone about my goals. I did and was given a slap in the face wake up call. I wish I could remember his name but it alludes me. He looked at my goals and said, "Not Specific Enough." I was defensive and said I was achieving all my goals. He said then why are you here? He was right I wasn't where I wanted to be. So right there and then I said I wanted to be playing in a major league organization. A week later while trying out of the Chicago Cubs I professed, "Maybe The Chicago White Sox will sign me." Two weeks later they did and reported to single A in South Bend, Indiana. In 1997 I was focused and set my goal to hit .350, 10 HR 20, 2B, 50 RBI's. I set the bar higher because I had trained harder than ever and those goals just resonated with me. At the end of the season I was starting everyday at first or right field, because when the season started I was playing about 2 days a week. I hit .308. Was I disappointed that I missed my goal? Not really because I hit 12 home runs, 29 doubles, 64 rbi's and finished 9th in the league in hitting while appearing in 106 out of 140 games. 30 of those games I only got one at bat because I appeared as a pinch hitter in the late innings. Do you think I kept setting goals for the rest of my career? No, I thought I was on my way the the top and I stopped. Not one of the better choices I have made in my life.
Later on in my life I said I wanted a wife and described her specifically from the color of her hair, that she must be beautiful, funny and when I meet her I will not miss her. I met her and didn't miss her. We wed a year later. So ask and be specific. I did this with my second soon to be wife and it worked again.
Your dream must be bigger than any obstacle. Bigger than any injury or circumstance. Winner see obstacles as a challenge and look for solutions to overcome them. Winners are bigger than circumstances or problems. When winners dream big they look for ways to lift people up around them. Loser look to tear people down. Losers create strife and turmoil on a team. Winners build up those around them so that they will make the whole team better. When a winner dreams big it is not all about them. It is about the team as a whole it's about the world as a whole. Losers only care about themselves and what is in it for them. When a winner has a big dream it is always followed up with action. Extra ground balls and 1000's of swings, either live or soft toss or tee work. I've had plenty of kids over the years say they want to play college or pro baseball but their actions did not line up with what they said they wanted. So you can probably guess what happened. They didn't make it. You have to be dedicated and your intentions must be followed through with mass amounts of the right actions.
There are NO ACCIDENTS! I would bet my life on this. Nine out of ten people are quitters. You think that number is high? It's by design. In life 90% of the wealth is controlled my 10 % of the people. In baseball the numbers are even tougher. At one time I was told that only 1% of all high school baseball players make it to a division one school to play and only a 1/2% of all college players get a chance to play pro baseball. Then only a 1/2% of this group actually makes it to the major league level to appear in front of thousands of people and get the big pay check. Oh but if you happen to be one of the chosen then you can make and a lot of money. And yet if you look at the payroll break down most teams have the same breakdown, accept the Yankees. On a 25 man roster 2 to 3 guys are making all the money. Everyone else is getting paid well, but not A Rod money or Cliff Lee money.
Here is a good example of action, desire and sacrifice, Bryce Harper. Since he was about 12 he has been playing at the top club level, getting invited to camps and clinics. He probably played in well over 100 tournaments from 10 to 16 years of age. Every week I would here the kids come into my baseball academy and say, "Did you hear what Harper did?" Every tournament I just started asking, "What did Harper do?" Ron and Bryce were at my place (The Ballpark) at least 3 days a week hitting. Ron's arm was probably in as good as shape as any batting practice pitcher at the professional level. They both put in some hours. I can't remember ever giving Bryce a personal lesson, but Ron and I talked hitting a lot. Ron was smart. He asked a lot of questions. Maybe he passed this on to Bryce. Bryce has a lot of the principles and fundamentals of the swing I teach. Bryce is a mixture of natural talent and strength plus he just outworked everyone else. The results don't lie. He's bigger, faster, throws harder and hits the ball farther all of his competition. Baseball consumes his life. Did all that action and hard work pay off? I would say so. Did you see his contract and signing bonus? I had my hitting coach (Perry Husband) called me from Florida and ask me if he was my student. I told him I couldn't take credit for any of his swing. It was all natural or self taught. Bryce is a combination of hard work, dedication, and commitment to himself and his love for the game. I've heard people say he took drugs and other things. I'll be the first person to step in and say, " Not a chance,"
Do you think Bryce had a big dream? Do you think he laid in bed at night and had dreams about being the best player in the world? Do you think he dreams about ripping a fastball from C.C. Sabathia into the seats? I think he has always had and end goal in mind. Successful people always do. I know I planted seeds in his head. I know for a fact at 13 I told his dad he would need a good agent one day, a Scott Boras type of agent. I also told Ron that Bryce would be a 1st rounder. I just saw it in his abilities at a young age. He hit the ball harder than college kids at 14. Winners speak positive things into others lives. Losers speak poison that kills dreams.
In conclusion I challenge you to dream big. Make it fun and wild and specific. If you want anything in life the put that request out there and then follow it up with action.... The right action. If you want to meet a girl then you can not just sit at home in front of your computer and expect her to show up at your front door. Well unless you mail order her from Russia. If you want top be the best high school or little league player in your area then you will also need to put the play station controller down and actually go to the batting cage and hit a few 100 balls a week. Be specific! If you want to get drafted then what round? How much of a signing bonus do you want? What team? Do you want college included in the deal? How about a shoe and glove contract? Or maybe you don't have any desire to play professional baseball just go to college. So what school do you want to go to? Do you want a full scholarship? Be clear about what you want and take action towards your goals. You will be amazed on the results and then you will understand that there is a higher power in the universe out there that wants you to win too. Then give glory and honor where it is do.
If you want to adopt a winning world view them always look for the positive in any situation. Tell yourself you are bigger than any of your problems and look for solutions and don't make excuses. Winner are responsible for their lives and their outcomes. Losers are victims. It is never a losers fault always someone else. Winners take action. They say, "I'm going to get better and this is how!" Then they just do it NOW! Losers say, "I'll do it tomorrow." Tomorrow is always a day away. It has been said that if you help enough people get what they want you will get what you want. I believe this is on the top of my list of being a winner. I am never getting to the Majors as a player, I'm 40 years old. I do dream of having many many students that I have taught playing at the major league level one day. I dream of the best of the best seeking me out to train them in the off season. I dream of many batting titles for my students. I dream of them flying my all over to work with them when they are struggling and lavish gifts when they are at the top of the league leaders lists. I will receive a Lamborghini as a gift from one of my students one day. It will be yellow, very fast, leather interior.... you see where I'm going? Dream Big.

2011 Bryce Harper Experiment

2011-02-21T18:14:00.000-08:00

I have been experimenting with this load and swing.
I will update you on results as they come.

First tournament 3 for 11
1 double
2 singles
3 hard hit balls.

Timing was a little off and I am sore as heck from swinging so hard.

Do it again!

2011-01-22T10:46:00.000-08:00

This is probably the second most used statement I make when giving lessons.
The first is push and turn. "Do it again, do it again,do it again, and finally do it again. Because once you are able to do it once then one of the keys to success is the ability to repeat the right move. This is part of the "Mastery Process". It's just like in Karate Kid when Mr. Miyagi says, "Wax on wax off, sand the floor, paint the fence." Young Daniel Russo waxes on and off so much he can't even lift his arms. He becomes angry because he wants to learn something new so he can fight. He gets bored with this work. Then Mr. Miyagi shows him the method behind the madness. There is karate in everything in life. Life is karate and karate is life. Well in my world baseball is life and life is baseball. I find life and learning in both. My purpose is to get my hitters to the point where when a strike crosses the meaty part of home plate that the reaction that happens is pure perfection and pure intention to hit the ball as hard as possible. My purpose is to get my hitters to be able to hit 50, 100, 200, 1000 balls in a row hard. Not just hit the ball but hit the ball hard. I have been playing baseball for over 30 years now and I still do not hit every ball hard in game situations. This is an impossibility, but when I practice with full intention to strike the ball hard every time that is exactly what happens. I repeat the same move over and over with the same result over and over. Do it again, do it again, do it again. Do it again so that it become natural and second nature it becomes my mantra.
Master is truly a life time process. Refinement through repetition. It has to be the right repetition also.
I want to acknowledge Alex Tisminezski for all his hard work, repetition and patience.
Well done.
Alex has also been working with John Birds on pitching and threw his first no hitter and few weeks ago. He flirted with perfection until he walked one hitter. Watch out for this future star.

Insanity Powers My Success!

2010-11-30T14:35:00.000-08:00

2010 MSBL WORLD SERIES CHAMPS!

This program is legit. Here was my training schedule for the past 4 months.
I did the Beachbody Insanity program 5 to 6 days a week. Then played in two leagues to get as many at bats as I could going into the world series. Also hit two to three days a week with Steve Johnston, Ryan Moore, Kevin Royal and a few others showed up here and there.
Here are the results. We Won.
No, you want my results don't you? Well For the first time in my life I was not so tired and sore that I couldn't walk when I got home. Actually I did some lessons on Saturday morning. I felt great and my performance was the best it has ever been for this type of tournament. I pitched 14 innings in two days getting two wins. One a 9 inning 4 hitter and the other was in relief to get us in the finals.
I also caught two games of the six I played. A couple innings at third and two in right field.
I hit the ball hard and stole three bases. My biggest hit came in the bottom of the 12th after I just gave up 3 runs to put us down 9-6. This team didn't give up and when we scored a quick 2 and had runners on 2nd and 3rd I hit a game winning double off the wall in right field to put us in the finals.

Usually when I play in these types of tournaments I am so sore, stiff, and tired by the third day I am not even looking forward to playing in the finals. This years I trained and trained hard. I lost 15 pounds and was so flexible and strong that I couldn't wait for the finals. I am a very good player, but even good players cannot play to their best ability when soreness and stiffness sets in. Not only was my body well trained I was powering it back up with Shakeology and Recovery, also Beachbody products.
Everyday I meet someone somewhere that has done Insanity or P90X. The results don't lie. If you want more information on how to get into the best shape of your life. Then please support me and my business. Go to my site and check out the programs. There are many of them and there is one definitely right for you and your life style.
WWW.BEACHBODY.COM/HITHARDERNOW

Powerful Nutrition for Powerful Results.

2010-08-16T21:05:00.000-07:00

Listen what Doctors have to say about this.

Insanity is Right!

2010-08-11T01:53:00.000-07:00

This Program Is Legit.

In 2 short weeks I have seen

amazing improvements in my

agility, speed, and endurance.

I will keep you posted on my future

results.

Test, Feedback, Test, Feedback. It's all about results.

2010-07-30T12:46:00.000-07:00

I love how I teach. I have only met a hand select few that really understand how it is I teach. My goal is first that my students hit the ball harder right away. My second goal is to teach a student how to correct themselves quickly during their game. Things like Ball Flight Law (BFL) and Magnus Effect (ME) are some of my biggest feedback tools to course correct. BFL works this way, when the batter hits a 100 balls they will develop a pattern. From this pattern I can tell a lot about a hitters swing. If they dip, are the late, are they a pull hitter, even if they hit more pop flies then ground balls. Thank God there are only a few patterns which makes diagnosing very quick. It can be done at bat by at bat or even pitch by pitch. The quicker the hitter adjusts the better the chances of successfully hitting the ball hard become. The positives are if the hitter can get there timing down with a good swing early in the count they are much more likely to really drive a pitch. The deeper the counts get the more the scales tip towards the pitcher. Magnus Effect deals with the angles of the the bat striking the ball and the spin that it creates. Much like a billiard's player strikes the cue ball in different locations to produce different results after the ball strikes another.

A hitter that squares up a ball will actually strike the center of the ball with the center of the bat stopping all rotation and the end result is a very hard knuckle ball flying at a a wide eyed infielder or outfielder. Home run hitters consistently produces a slow rolling backspin when they hit the ball. This ball is hit slightly above center providing solid contact with a backspin that keeps the ball in the air longer. Golfers love this and they design club heads to produce this effect.

"Okay enough already!" You are saying, "Tell me how to fix it!"

Alright I will!

Constants are this. Your hands always go to the ball. That is hand eye coordination if you didn't have it you probably wouldn't still be playing baseball by now. This is important so when someone throws a ball at you your glove goes to the ball and catches it. If you didn't have this skill then you would have a black eye all the time, a few concussions and maybe a couple of teeth knocked out. But you have it so let's get to work.

So here is a quick scenario and how to fix it. Fastball right down the middle and you swing and foul the ball straight back. Two things: You are late and your bat head was below your hands. The Fix: Start a little sooner and turn the hips and shoulders together to keep the bat traveling with the hands longer. This way if you are a little off on the timing at least the bat head will be in the same area as the ball. If you are late then you will hit the ball to the off field, on time up the middle, and early will pull the ball.

See how easy that was? Not really. So to get real results real fast come see me for and hour and get a video analysis.

Keep Swinging!

The Walk Off!

2010-07-06T12:26:00.000-07:00

I've often thought about writing a short story about "The Walk Off". I hit so many in my career that it would have to be a 10 volume epic. Not really. I can count the number of walk off game winning home runs I have hit in my life on one hand. This story in particular is the best one I have ever seen, because I was there and heard it. One time in junior high I scored 6 points in the last 15 seconds of a tournament to bring home the victory the emotion and excitement was about the same. So I hope you enjoy this one. People close to me have encouraged me to write more and this is my plight to do more to let people into my pretty quite life.

THE WALK OFF by Greg Shepard

It was another humid night in the South Atlantic League. Greensboro Bats (New York Yankees) and Hickory Crawdads (Chicago White Sox) were playing at L.P Franz Stadium in Hickory, NC. Greensboro had many good players like Nick Johnson, who was an 18 year old giant out of Northern California. Donnie Leon a great third basemen and many others. Tonight the Bats had a hard throwing right hander that was dominating us. We managed two runs in eight and a two thirds innings. Our starter had manage to hold a very good hitting squad to only 3 runs. It was a just a solid pitching and defensive night. This Hickory team was no push over. It was one of the best teams I ever played on and the core of this team went to Winston Salem the next year and had 21 last at bat come from behind wins. It featured Jeff Inglin ,who had 100 rbi's and scored 100 runs, Joe Crede who played 3rd base for the 2005 World Series Champions, McKay Christiansen the Million Dollar Morman Missionary, Chris Heintz, who made it to the majors with Minnisota, and a cast of characters that rivals the Durham Bulls in Bull Durham. Why is this night so special to me? It changed a lot of the way I thought of myself. My self worth and self belief. I was a 26 year old player in an younger mans market. Guys my age were playing in Double and Triple A ball. Not kicking it around in Class A ball still. I have always been able to do one thing well and that was hit. I have willed myself to be a good hitter and after I really learned how to hit I was relentless in my pursuit of excellence. So this night was a special on for me and when ever I think about it I can only smile. One time I had a very successful business man ridicule me and put me down in front of his peers. Then I asked him if he ever hit a walk of home run in front of 3500 fans? At that moment he shut up and he was no longer the most interesting man at the party. After this night I was more confident then ever when put in these types of situations. Baseball is a game of failure and you have to deal with it all the time. As a hitter you are more likely to fail then succeed. It's the same in life, but in life if you fail 7 out of 10 times on your job you get fired. In baseball they pay you 2.5 million a year!

So now it the bottom of the ninth and we are trailing by a single run. Since Greensboro's starter was dealing and had four right handers coming up their manager had left him in. Who knew what would transpire next. The lead off hitter grounded out to second for the first out and Jeff Inglin flied out to center field. Joe Crede came to the plate with two outs and hit a hard grounder between third and short for a base hit. Nobody was panicking yet, still one run lead with two outs. Chris Hientz comes to the plate and with two strikes he hits a tough ball to the glove side of the second basemen and bobbles if for an error. That's the end of the right handed hitters on the ninth inning, because now the music from White Zombie starts playing from the track Thunder Kiss 65, if you have never heard it just watch some of my videos here and you will get so pumped. The announcer announces now batting for your Hickory Crawdads #29 Greg Shepard and out walks their manager to take out the right hander. Now Greensboro had two guys warming up in the bullpen, two twin brothers from Panama. Both hard throwers and both were all elbows and knees. One brother was right handed and the other left. I was praying for the righty, but out runs the lefty. This feeling of frustration come over me because I am always telling myself, "when the game is on the line I am the guy." The reality of minor league baseball in my situation was as a platoon player was right hand pitcher left handed hitter late in the game and left handed pitcher right handed hitter. It happens all the time even at the major league level. Not for starters, but for platooning players that split time. Our bench was stocked with all kinds of power like Dan Olsen, Durante Hollins, and Chuck Klee. In many situations the manager just made the smart choice of changing up the hitter and pitcher match up. As an arm chair manager I make this move all the time. I even lived for this moment myself getting the opportunity well over a hundred times at the professional level to come in the ninth inning and face the dirty nasty stopper. So tonight I say to myself, "Well Greg your night is over." I start walking back to the dugout. Tonight was a little different night. I had been on tear and Chris Cron the manager calls me down the third base line and says, "Right man right spot." I had been pleading with management to leave me in against lefties and final I was going to get my chance. So I watched this leggy lefty fire pitch after pitch into the catchers glove. One thing I did like about Hickory and I never saw it anywhere else was that everyone in the stands had these hand held radios and would listen to the play by play while watching the game. It was like actually watching the game from the batters box with a slight delay. The pitch would be delivered and thrown back and I would hear. " Hear comes the pitch fast ball strike one. One time the pitch was a curve ball and I heard the radio guy say fastball. I shot him a quick look and I hear him say, " Shepard disapproves with me on that one so curve ball for strike one." I would laugh and call time out to gather myself. One time while on the Disabled List with a broken finger I went up to the press box and did a 1/2 inning of play by play with the radio guy from Winston Salem and it was a blast. We would be talking abpout a player and right in the middle of my sentence he would just blurt out here's the pitch, fastball outside ball one. I would want to talk bout the game and he would want to do what he was conditioned to do and that was call it. Okay now the left hander has had plent of time to warm up in this story. Final the Umpire says, "Play!" I step into the box and I'm saying get down early and find the ball. My knees are a little shaky and I am nervous. FFFFFTTTTTT POP Strike One! Holy Crap I didn't even see that pitch! I step out of the box to calm myself I even start praying to see the ball. I'm in a panick. I take a piece of grass from the ground as punishment for missing that first pitch fast ball, but I'm laughing because even if I would have swung at it I wouldn't even have touched it. I look at the radar gun reading on the center field wall....93mph. The sight of it makes me swallow hard. I take three deep breaths and look at the label. Then step into the box, left foot and then right. This time something is different. This time I heard nothing. I'm quiet, the chatter in my head is gone, and all I hear is my breath. No fans screaming, no teammate yelling, no radios chirping. It hard to explain this state unless you have experienced it for yourself. But that was where I was at in that very moment.....silent. In slow motion the skinny lefty from Panama rocks back and fires it looks slow and is up in my eyes. Then out of no where a voice says swing and swing I did. It was a reaction and it was like I swatted a fly out of the air.

Dam! As soon as it left my bat I thought the game was over. Fly ball to right field and I throw my bat to the ground in disgust. Why would I swing at that pitch n my eyes, I'm so stupid, what an idiot! I know I can't hit that pitch. In my mind I say a few other curse words that are not on the x rated side. I can hear the radios in the stands saying looks like the game is over...then I hear, " Wait a minute that ball is still going!" Then I look up and stop at first base. I see the ball coming down and the right fielder is slowly creeping backwards. It still looks like a routine fly ball. "Wait a minute the radios echo, wait a minute!" says the radio announcer. Now the outfielder is getting ready to jump and catch the ball. As he jumps he hits the wall and his glove doesn't make it to the top of the fence. Home run, home run, that ball is over the fence, Crawdads win, Shepard has just hit a walk off...... I can no longer hear the radios because I am sprinting around the bases. The emotions that went through me in that short span were amazing. From failure to hero, from self doubt to belief in myself, anger to jubilation. The best part is coming home and my teammates were waiting for me. I was so excited I almost got sick, but I choked it back. I'm tough like that.

I have had other times in my life where I have been quite and a voice in my head has said move, go, or swing. It is not always sports specific, but in sports specific situations I tend to have this experience more. When I trust these guts instincts I have always benefited from them. It has taught me to trust myself and not to doubt myself. I'm sure you have had times in your life where you guts said to do something and you didn't listen only to say, "Why didn't I listen to myself?" I say go with the gut feeling. It could be God, or your angel, or just your psychic intuition talking to you.

It's all about Timing.

2010-07-04T19:05:00.000-07:00

Really that's the bottom line. Pitching is about messing up a hitters timing and hitting is about being on time.

I've seen hitters with bad or less than perfect swings get hit after hit. I've seen the best batting practice hitters never live up to their big swing potential.

It's really not about a perfect swing. If the bat head and the ball do not show up in the same area at the same time then there is no collision an thus no possibility for a hit.

I advocate for a leveler swing. A swing that when done correctly produces a hip and shoulders rotation that when the hands are released then the hands take a straight line to the ball. This keeps the bat head and hands together for the longest possible time the bat head will be moving through the hitting zone.

When this happens and I have viewed it and measured it through video the best cases are about 32 inches. Consistently it is about 25 inches.

When a hitter has an up swing or a little dip that area becomes about 8 inches.

Now imagine the ball is coming at 90 mph and you have about about .15 seconds to make an guess to swing or not to swing.

I know it takes .38 seconds for the ball to get to the plate, but it takes a millisecond for the eyes to focus and another for the brain to say "FIRE!" So really you have about .15 seconds to guess and guess right.

I would go out on a limb and say it is nearly impossible to CONSISTENTLY hit the ball hard without guessing. No I take that back. I would bet my life on it. If you want more information about how this works then come by and take a lesson.

Guaranteed results or you don't pay.

Better Timing or Better Swing?

2010-06-02T07:34:00.000-07:00

I recently returned form the Chicago White Sox training facility in Phoenix Arizona and I was asked how to fix a struggling minor leaguer's swing in 60 seconds. My first thought was, "I can't."

But if you know who I am then "I can't " is like saying a four lettered word that gets your mouth washed out with soap to me, so my wheels began to spin....and spin quickly.

The Answer: Be on time. Don't be early or late be on time.

Thank you I'll take that signing bonus now, oh and that big league hitting coaches job while you are at it.

Wait a minute you are saying it can not be that simple. To this I say it can be that simple of an answer but not that simple of a thing to execute. If you have heard me talk, or speak, or give a lesson then you know that 9 out of 10 balls put in play are miss hit. Meaning not hit potentially as hard as they can be hit. The bat is a little ahead, or behind, above or below the ball. This is what I mean by miss hit. I used to swing test kids with a target test. I would set up a target 50ft. away with a tee and radar gun. I would instruct the student to swing as hard as they can and see if they could hit the target. The target was a 10 x 10 tarp with three scoring squares. Middle section was 3x3, then a 6x6, then the rest of the target was the original tarp. Scoring went 3 for a middle hit, 2 for a second ring hit, and 1 for and outer ring hit. Complete misses were 0 points. On average the best hitters scored 18-21 out of a possible 30. Really bad hitters 1 to 6. Yes, they would miss hit a ball sitting on a tee almost every time. I took that test about 300 times in a 2 year period. I never hit 30 for 30. My highest score was 24 and I hit the target center 6 times that round, 3 in the 2 ring and absolutely missed my last ball. So this hitting a baseball business is not as easy as it looks.

So getting back on track, be on time or have a better swing? I am so conflicted on this on because I have known so many great hitter that I would say they were more on time then having a great swing. Frank Thomas for example. I personally do not think he had a great swing yet he was a career 301 hitter with 521 home runs and over 1000 extra base hits. In his career the Big Hurt had 2,468 hits and 1000 of them hit the wall or went over it. How did he do it? He sat on pitches. Meaning he would sit on a fastball in a certain area of the plate and he got ready to hit that particular pitch. When that pitch showed up and he was on time then the result was a very hard hit ball. When a hitter is on time then usually his hands and bat head are together in the same area. The hitter is locked out on the front side, driving off the backside and arms are at extension. That is what I mean when I say on time. If you as a hitter can get all these things in the right area at the precises moment then the ball can be hit potentially the hardest you can hit it. Frank didn't like the inside pitch and would jump out of the way and make it look like it would almost hit him. I didn't say he couldn't hit the inside pitch. I saw Frank get pounded in there and turn on one and hit it about 500 feet foul so the pitcher would get a little scared about throwing another one in there. The next pitch would be outside and Frank would smash it into the left center gap. Frank liked to get extended on the ball. You can't teach raw strength and power. Frank had both.

"He's got a sweet swing!"

Have you ever heard that? Tony Gwynn had one. Rod Carew had one. Ken Griffey Jr had one and still does. Albert Pujols has one. Barry Bonds had one, Hammering Hank Aaron, Stan Musial and even Babe Ruth had one. Pete Rose gets on my list because he consistently miss hit balls hard and got hard ground balls through the infield. What can be said about a sweet swing is when the player starts to swing the bat head gets in the flight of the ball and stays there a long time. The result is if the hitters timing is a little off it's okay because the bat head is in line and the ball will be hit solid in any direction. Effectively miss hitting the ball better. Now if the hitter has a good swing on a ball and is on time then maximum exit velocity and sometimes distance is achieved. And this occurrence happens more with a good swing. An Example would be Ken Griffey Jr and his career. There were spurts where he would hit 1 home run a night for four or five nights in a row and he would hit a few doubles and some very hard singles. Not only was his timing on his swing was good too. Barry Bonds was another hitter that I saw change over the years. Early in his career I would see him lean back and try to lift the ball. Later in his career I saw him stay more upright and get off his back side. He transferred more weight into the ball and kept his shoulders more level. Even his follow through was level and finished below his shoulders. His strike out ratio went way down and the year he hit 73 home runs to 8 per 100 at bats. How good were Barry's guesses and swings? I his career he had 2935 hits and 762 of them were home runs. That is 1 home run ever 3.8 at bats. That means if you are pitching against Barry Bonds and he is 0-3 against you then it is probably time to intentionally walk him.
Barry is a great example of sweet swing and timing come together. Between Frank and Barry hands down Frank was the bigger and stronger of the two. Frank never took and performance enhancers. Barry refined his swing into speed, power, and simplicity and possibly had a little boost from the juice.
My last example is a hitter that seals my case for better swing vs better timing. That hitter is Mark McGwire. He always had big power, but certain pitchers blew him away. You see a good hitter hits everyone even the guys throwing in the upper 90's. Hitters with a slight upswing or dip in their swing struggle with the really hard throwers because the bat head is only in the line of the ball for a spit second. If contact is made there then the hitter is on time. If the head is just a little off then its a total miss or fowl ball. In 99 I saw something change in Mark's swing. He started to release his back side through the ball. He began to push and turn with his back foot. That year he was staying on pitches longer through his swing and even when he was out in front of a pitch he was still able to hit it hard enough to get it over the fence. Instead of leaning back and popping the ball up and hitting a 400 ft by 250ft pop fly the ball began to level out into more of a line drive. I knew something had really changed when I saw him hit a line drive about 105 mph over the left fielders head and it went out. And just like Barry, Mark started to get timing with a good swing consistently and began hitting some monster shots. I had pictures of Mark early in his career with a full hip turn and the left foot on the ground. This creates a tremendous amount of strain on the ankle, knee, hips and lower back. As he got older these repetitive flaws began to show up in injuries all over his body. Once he started releasing his back side and ankle this allowed his hands to stay in the flight of the ball longer and hit more home runs.
I would love to train Barry or Mark for 3 months and see how well they hit the ball.
If they did train with me I will give this disclaimer......You will want to come out of retirement and play again.

Hitting is Mastery. Mastery is a lifetime process. As hitters mature and are put in situations over and over again they become better at them. If you do the same thing over and over again eventually you become very very good at it. Your mechanics get better, your timing gets better, and your instincts get better. It really sucks that by the time a hitter becomes really really good their body begins to fall apart and it's time to retire.

Little League vs Club Baseball

2010-03-24T21:29:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid growing up in rural Michigan I played baseball in the summer. That was little league. When I say summer I really mean during the months when school was out. Actually we started about three weeks before school let out, but the vast majority of the season was summer and during summer break. I so loved the little league that I grew up playing. I is really nothing like what it is today. A big business of fair play and everyone gets to be a winner. Everyone gets to play. Everyone gets to be happy in fantasy land called little league. When I was a kid there were about 11 kids on a team. Of course everyone played, well almost. There were some games I didn't play. Yes, I was a terrible player back then. And when it got down to playoffs I remember getting picked up by a team after the district tournament and not playing one single inning of the regional tournament. Was I upset? Hell yes I was. By age 12 I was becoming a decent little player. I was good enough to get pick up, but not good enough to play on this team that had just won the districts. Was it the end of the world? Was it fair? Life's not fair and baseball is life too. End of the world? I think not. Actually it made me work harder. I was so heart broken that I didn't play I went home and built a pulley device and put a ball on one end, attached to a rope, and the other end a weight. I used it for the next 5 years to strengthen my throwing arm. Then I attached a bat to it so I could strengthen my swing. From then on out when I made an All Star team for Mickey Mantle, Babe Ruth, or little league. I started at either pitcher or outfield. The bottom line was because I realized I needed to be better I went out and bettered myself. Nothing was handed to me on the baseball field. I had to work for it and I"ll be the first to tell you that in the talent pool I wasn't rich with it. I was short, fat, slow, and not that coordinated. I learned all those things through hard work.
Today with Little League everyone gets to play. You pay and you are guaranteed to play. I really think that sometimes this is DANGEROUS. Today I get 10 year old kids to hit the ball 250 which is about 73 mph. So put a 10 year old boy in the outfield or even at third base and let another kid hit a 70 mph ground ball right at them then watch it hit them in the face. Oh and don't forget that this is Little Jake's first year of playing baseball and he's got to play according to the rules. I have seen coaches try to hide these kids that "have to play" in right field for 2 innings. A pop fly and Jake hasn't got a chance in heck of catching this ball. When the ball was hit he was looking at the butterflies all around him and has no idea that the ball is quickly bearing down on him. At the last minute he hears the parents shouting at him and he starts looking around to see where the ball is. POW! Right in the face. Now blood and tears pour from his head.
I hear about this all the time. What a joke little league is. Do you realize that the All Star Teams that you watch in the Little League World Series are really all the top Club player that still happen to be playing Little League? For me it's a safety issue. I get players from L.L. as clients when the L.L. season starts. If they don't play club baseball I usually don't see them after the season. It's very rare to have a player that doesn't play top club actually make a high school team. I had one this year, but he has quickly learned that he is not at the level that the rest of the kids on his team are. He has had to work 5 times as hard as they have had to just to make the team. So safety is the first issue, talent is the second, and the rules are the third.
So why is club baseball better in my opinion? Because it forces the bad players to get better if they want to stay. It makes the better players better because players are continuing to throw harder, hit harder, run faster, steal bases. I look at a club ball catcher and a little league catchers and it's amazing how much better the club ball catchers are. They have to learn to block and throw. The rules are just like real baseball. There are lead offs, and the runner can leave whenever they want. So catchers have to be able to catch and throw. Pitchers have to learn how tho throw from the stretch and the wind up. They also have to learn how to pick runners and hold them. In USSSA they can even head first slide into the bases and even home plate. Some of the tournaments they have to avoid contact at the plate. In others they don't if the catcher is up the line without the ball then he is fair game to get smashed. That's life and baseball all rolled into one. It's not fair but that is the way the game is played. I also like that in club ball just because you payed doesn't mean you have to play. Kids that pay just to get a spot soon fizzle out and quit because they don't get to play. Parents who have really talented kids get upset when coaches play kids that are poor as player but have all the money behind the team. Those parents eventually find another team. I like the fact that in club ball you have to earn you spot. You have to be the best or at least be outworking everyone. There are no rules in club ball that everyone has to play at least one inning in each game. Just like in life, one has to work hard to get to the top. No raises are handed out because you just showed up and didn't contribute. No promotions in life are given out because you didn't do something to add more value to yourself. Little League baseball gives the impression to kids that all you have to do is show up and you will be rewarded. Everyone that pays gets to play. Well not everyone that goes to college and get a degree gets a job! This is Vegas. How many college grads are out there in this town dealing Black Jack? Plenty of them are. I met a young gentleman a 6 years ago that was broke. Dropped out of college and penniless he asked if I could give him a job. I paid him to paint my garage. We had a conversation while he was doing it and he told me what he was doing. I was amazing, but in the back of my mind I was thinking to myself this kid can't even finish school how is he ever going to do this? He said he would stay later and learn everything about mortgages. He did and helped as many people as he could get into their first homes over the next three years. In his third year he bought a $600,000 property that he rented out and later a 1.2 million dollar home. He had risen to the top of the company he was working for and even offered me a job! No one gave him anything. He outworked 90% of the people in his field and the bottom line is that in life and in sports he who works the hardest becomes the best and creates their own luck. My story is the same. I was a terrible player growing up. I wanted to be the best. When I asked the best what it took they all said the same thing. I takes a lot of hard work. Blood, sweat, and tears are another key factor. It takes a little more to be a champion. A few more swings, a few more grounds balls, a few more throws down to second base, a few more sprints, shag a few more fly balls and work on getting a good jump, a few more bunts, and a few more dreams to be the best. So I just flat outworked everyone around me, and even when the talent was better than me I still pushed them to be better. Why am I one of the best hitting instructors around on this planet today? I just out work all the others. I'll take an extra minute to make sure my student learns what I am trying to show them. I give add extra value and I do more than I am paid for. I also create relationship with my students. They always know they can call on me anytime and ask me questions. I practice the habit of going the extra mile and doing more that what I am paid for. I learned that from one of the best, Andrew Carnegie and Napoleon Hill. One was the greatest steel producers of the modern world and the other a best selling author that wrote about Mr. Carnegie.
So my parting words are these. Not everyone can play baseball, except in Little League. If your kid likes baseball and wants to continue to play let them. Or let them until it becomes dangerous. There are other sports too, football, soccer, basketball, tennis, golf, lacross, you just never know. I had two really good baseball clients that wanted to go to college and play baseball. Life dealt them another card. On played golf as a second sport and the other tennis. Neither got asked to play baseball in college but both were asked to play their other sport and received scholarships. I once played stick ball with Pete Sampras, we went to high school together, he could kill a baseball. We all begged him to play baseball. To told us he was going to be a pro tennis player. Three years later he was.

The Greatest Game Ever.

2010-01-24T22:31:00.000-08:00

I hope when you read this you will be inspired to live an extraordinary life.

From the time I was about 6 I was fascinated by baseball. My father wasn't the most gifted athlete. I never was given the chance to have a real catch with him or travel and play with him at my side. He died just before I turned 8. I thank my mother for all her patience an for taking the time to play a little catch with me. There came a point where I just threw to hard for her and it was no longer safe for her. She did her best. I played other sports and excelled at them all. I had offeres to play college football and baseball. My first year of College I even played basketball, but I dreamed about baseball. Every shirt I owned had a baseball on it and I was always pounding my hand like I had a glove on it. When I closed my eyes at night and laid my head on the pillow there was Reggie Jackson stairing me down and I was pitching in the World Series against the Yankees. Now I know there are some people reading this now thinking I am a Yankee Hater. Not at all, I always wanted to be the best and in order to be the best you got to beat the best. When I was a kid in the late 70's and early 80's the Yanks were the team to beat. When family members asked me what I wanted to be when I was older I said without hesitation, "A baseball player." They laughed and said things like, "What an imagination." Then came a day when I was playing in front of them in a minor league game in my home town of Battle Creek, Michigan. Now they were saying things like, "You actually did it!" I will be honest with all of you reading this, I was not a very good little league player. There are kids like Chad Hermansen that everyone knew was going to be a super star. He was a great player naturally. The same with Bryce Harper. He just out works people. I had a chance to see Chad swing in my cage in the off season and he was so smooth an fluid it was amazing and it was natural. I was a short, pudgy, slow, awkward, clumsy kid. My coaches hid me in right field and prayed that nothing would be hit my way. I just loved to play. The best thing my Dad did do while he was alive was turn me to the left side of the plate. I naturally grab the bat with a left hand grip, but went to the right hand side of the plate. Instead of changing my hands he turned me around and put the bat on my other shoulder. A pure left handed hitter was born that day.
Surrounded By Eagles
One summer I had a friend who was a junior in high school. I was in sixth grade and I was taller than he was. I don't even think he was five feet tall. He loved baseball too and would bat boy for a college summer league team. He asked me to help him one summer. Suddenly I was surrounded by the best players I had ever experienced. Most of them were top college players in the country. Today two of those players are minor league managers Bruce Fields and Kevin Bradshaw of the Detroit Tigers. That summer I learned how to track down a fly ball, turn a real double play and throw a curve ball that wouldn't hurt my arm. I worked part time as a paperboy fill in and mowed yards in between my own games and the college summer league. These guys taught me some of the most memorable things that I have learned in life and I got 8 cavities that summer from all the soda they bought me. For the first time in my life I had a sense of direction. If I did what these guys did then one day I would be where they were. I asked lots of questions and they made comments like, "If I could do it over again I would do this." So I decided to do the "this".
So next summer when school was out and my birthday was just around the corner my mother asked me what I wanted for my birthday. I handed her a cut out picture from the JC Penney catalog. It was a Joe Weider weight bench with a squat rack. She was surprised and agreed that this was a good thing. So that summer I spent playing, as a bat boy, and lifting weights. I even designed my own devices and exercises that developed baseball specific muscles. that was the summer of transformation. I was able to transform my pudgy uncoordinated body into a lean work of art. I grew three inches that summer and when I returned to school the heads were turning. I would ride my bike 5 miles three to four days a week to the batting cage and hit till my hands blistered. I had a unorthodox swing that worked for me. I willed myself to hit and had no instruction. I just watched hitters and tried to figure out a way that was comfortable and quick. I looked like Ricky Henderson. Low to the ground with an up swing. Today I look at that swing and wonder how I was ever successful. I just loved to play and I out worked more talented players at my age. I was always throwing a ball of a wall and pretending to be Ozzie Smith. I drew boxes on walls and pitched game seven of the college world series about 800 times for Arizona State. It was funny to think that one day I was called by them and was all set to go there. I had an injury and they wanted me to pitch. I wanted to play short. So I went to junior college for a year. Here is how much I loved baseball. When other boys were discovering girls I still didn't even know they existed. When friends where going to movies and parties I was lifting weight in my basement on a Friday night. Just about ever choice I made was followed by the question....Will this make me a better player? Yes it will then I'll do it. No it won't then never mind. I passed up vacations, holidays, dates, girls, some social gathering, and family time to do what I truly loved to do. When I got to college they instituted maximum practice schedules. That's is right they actually limited the amount of hours a team could practice together. That is like telling Mozart he can only practice 20 hours a week or Lance Armstrong can only train for the Tour-De-France 20 hours a week. I learned what "Can't See" hours are. "Can't See" hours are the hours when people are sleeping or can't see you working. I hit after practice on my own at least 10 hours a week. Once again doing it until my hands were bloody and blistered. I hit so much my senior year my hands were tapped up like a boxers all the time. I'm not gonna kid around here I like baseball, but I love to hit. Today I see the swing in slow motion. I have dreams of hitting still, but also I dream of my students swinging. Sometimes while I am sleeping I will wake up and have the next drill or the answer to whats going on with one of my students swings. I come up with drills to teach a specific movement so they can feel what the right move feel like.
So Where am I going with all this? I see something in kids and parents today that concerns me. The first is parents that want it more than their kids. Parents....Your kids confide in me and tell me things that they are afraid to tell you. I treat it as coach/client confidentiality. I tell them that I will not tell you anything unless they want me too. I also tell them that it's okay and they should not be afraid to tell you the truth. They are kids and they want your love and acceptance. They are scared to disappoint you or let you down, so they keep playing hoping eventually they will either grow to like the game or that you will see that their heart is no in it and give them a chance to get out. And yes I have told parents that little Johnny needs a break or even that he doesn't look like he is having fun. Remember baseball is still a game and game are supposed to be fun. The other thing that concerns me is a general lack of passion for the game. A just showing up is half the battle attitude. Showing up is half the battle, but it is not the most important half. That half is call blood, sweat, and tears. Mastery is a lifetime process. Aikido masters, violinists, golfers, take decades to become the best. Even when they are the best they keep working and training the same skill over and over until it is a reaction or until it is natural. I see kids begin to experience success in hitting after a few months and then they never come back. Like they are fixed, not that they were ever broken. All the "I would have done this" stuff is what I teach. My students will one day surpass anything that I have ever done because the stuff I learned I learned at 20 years of age. They are learning it at 10. I am accelerating their learning by a whole decade. I have high school freshmen that I have worked with for three and four years now that hit harder then college sophomores. I will have 7th and 8th graders that hit the ball farther and harder than high school juniors and seniors. I know why Bryce Harper is the best. Because at 10 years old he lived at the batting cage. His dad has probably thrown 10,000 hours of batting practice to him. He has traveled all over to be put in front of and educated by some of the best players in the game today. If you went to his house I am guessing there would be all sorts of devices, books, videos, and whatever else is out there to become a better player. I would bet my life on it. So now you are seeing the ripple effect of starting out at 10. He will be a first rounder and get somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 million as a signing bonus. Was it worth it? I'm sure it will be. Was it worth it to me? People have told me that my obsession with baseball has cost me a lot and that I missed out on important things in life. Let me put your mind at ease baseball has given my just about everything that has been important to me in life. I have traveled on the dime of baseball, been in 2 movies, 5 or 6 commercials, gone to acting school, modeled, sat with owners of some of the largest and most successful companies in America, dated models, actresses, hit three home runs in a game twice, and four once, pitched a no hitter, hit the cycle, and hit a walk off home run in one of the most exciting games in my life. I wouldn't trade my life for all the gold in the world. I feel people that do not pursue their life long dream are really missing out on the real juice in life. In baseball the only way to the top is to outwork 99% of the other players. It takes a little more to be a champion. It takes "Can't See hours" of work. Hitting until your hands bleed then hitting 20 more balls, diving for ground balls in practice and not just the game, watching video, taking lessons, and finding a friend to do it with. It's also not letting the excuse of I don't have anyone to play catch with or hit with stop you. Your success is dependant on one person and one person only. That person is YOU! Along the way you might meet someone that cares about your success, but they are not dependant on it. I guess Napoleon Hill sums it up when he explains that one of the keys to success is the habit of "Going The Extra Mile". We are a slave to our habits. So if we are to be a slave to them then we might as well be a slave to good ones. Go The Extra Mile today. Do more and give more than expected. Average people give what is expected, below average people give less than is expected, but extraordinary people give more than is expected or even than they are paid for. I challenge you to be extraordinary.

New Members and New Records.

2010-01-05T15:22:00.000-08:00

Jordan Blanchard currently pitching for Western Nevada Community College posted a 91 mph exit speed over the Christmas break. His younger brother Chandler, pictured here, bested him and set a new personal record of 93 mph. Way to go Chandler! Chandler has also recorded exit speeds with live pitching at 97 mph. Very soon I will be creating the 100 mph club and I am pretty sure that Chandler will be one of the first high school hitters in Nevada to join an elite group of hitters. Chandler is a freashmen at Coronado High School in Henderon, NV.

MORE ON FUNCTIONAL HITTING PART 3.

2009-12-15T14:14:00.000-08:00

IF YOU HAVEN'T VISITED THIS SITE YOU SHOULD!

WWW.HITTINGISAGUESS.COM

ORDER THE E-BOOK "FILTHY"

Every pitching coach that has read this from the little league level to the major league level has reported amazing results. You can experience these results too!

Love you all and Merry Christmas!

90 Club's Newest Member

2009-12-10T11:41:00.000-08:00

Way to Go Carmen! Newest member of the 90 Club. Carmen is a freshman at Coronado High School and has been training with me since July 2009. His exit speeds have increased 12 mph in five months of consistent persistent effort and lots of hard work. 90 mph of exit speeds will produce a ball distance of 360 ft.

Umpiring Is a great way to learn the game.

2009-11-28T21:32:00.000-08:00

First of all I would like to acknowledge my high school friend Mike VanVleet for introducing me to umpiring. That is Mike behind Mark McGuire hitting a home run. We both came through the minor leagues together. I as a player and Mike as an Umpire. He made it to the Majors, which is a feat in it's self. Umpires At that level are a small elite group. I was a college student home for the summer and I got to see Derek Jeter play in a summer league game for the Kalamazoo Maroons at Lakeview High School. I just worked the game before and was hanging around for a minute. There I saw Derek go deep in the hole for a ball and make a play that I had seen very few college players make. Then he came up and hit that right center field home run with a wood bat. Minutes later he told the Yankee's scout he would sign to play for them. I don't remember the scout, but he could hardly get the words out of his mouth right. He was so excited. Heck we were all excited, we were in the presence of greatness. Today I have about 60 games under my belt all from 10 years old up to high school.

Being an Umpire has really given me another perspective of the game. As a player I mostly watched the ball. As an Umpire I rarely watch it, unless I'm behind the plate. And some people would argue differently. There is a dance that happens when the ball is hit. The base umpire moves and watches the runner while I move to watch the ball. When a single is hit with a runner at first I move up to take the lead runner making sure he touches second on his way to third. The player in me wants to watch the ball and the ump in me fights to stay with the runner. Then, bad throw to third and the runner races home as my partner slides in to position to make the call at home. It is a perfectly choreographed dance. All the while I staying out of the way of players, runners and errant throws. Do I make mistakes? I make them daily. Do I learn something new? I learn something new daily. Sometimes something happens and I don't even know what to do. Thank God I have a partner. What I have learned from umpiring are the rules and interpretation of those rules. Everything from a balk and that the pitch is still live to what bases the runners get on a throw that goes out of play. What is interference, obstruction, and a catch. Yes, a catch is when i player catches the ball then removes it with their hand. If they dive then hold up their arm for two seconds and the ball come out, then it is not a catch. This is according to the rules and they are written. I have to tip my hat to the umpires I have worked with that have taught me this game. They keep the game moving so the kids can actually play a whole game before the time limit. When I was a kid you played seven inning with a ten run rule after 5 innings. Today because there are so many teams, so few fields, and most likely money issues a lot of games never make it to the last inning.

It is 15 runs after 3, 10 after 4 and 8 after 5 inning. All the while the umpires manage pitches in between innings, coaches making trips to the mound to talk to players, and my favorite talking to the batter after every pitch. Oh an lets not forget my favorite coach that keep asking how much time is left because he really wants the game called due to time so he can sneak off with a win. To those coaches I just say, "Respect the integrity of the game and play like you have no concept of time. It all about the kids and not how many wins you have as a little league coach."

If you ever wanted to get involved and be a servant of the game, then by all means take a class in being an umpire. So Thanks Mike VanVleet, Art Clendening, Mary MacDonald, and Gary White for showing me the ropes.

BAT LAG AND LOCKING OUT.

2009-11-18T20:27:00.000-08:00

Functional Skills by Perry Husband

2009-11-10T11:38:00.000-08:00

There are some examples of the points I make about

foot down and hands back creating stretch and then getting off

the backside and locking out at impact.

How Do I Get into College on a Scholarship?

2009-11-03T13:25:00.000-08:00

This is a frequently asked question I get from parents. Most of them realize that their child will probably never play professionally, but would love to see their college education either totally paid for or partially covered by a scholarship. So here are my top tips of how to get started in the right direction.

KEEP YOUR GRADES UP: Yes this is the most important key. So many times have large programs given money to a top high school player and then that player was not responsible to keep their grades high enough to be eligible to play. This makes everyone look bad, the coach, the program, and the player. If a student/athlete is a student first and and athlete second and can balance good grades with outstanding performance then a coach will be more willing to part with a scholarship if he knows that the investment is solid. If a coach has a choice over a .400 hitter with a C average and a .350 hitter with an A average they will take the A student for two reasons. he first is that coach could possibly get some academic scholarship money for the A student. This academic money will lower the amount of money that the coach has for their program. This allows a coach to give out less money to more players instead of a lot of money to a few players. My first choice for college was USC. I had a 3.85 GPA in high school. USC requires out of state students to have a 3.95 GPA for admission. So my application was rejected.
SCORE WELL ON YOUR SAT or ACT. This is self explanatory.
STAY CLEAN: Don't get messed up with drugs, alcohol, steroids, fighting, legal troubles, suspensions, and gangs. True story. When I was in college there was a very promising young athlete from Los Angeles. He also happened to be involved in a gang. In his junior year he was projected to be drafted in the top three rounds. He was stabbed in the stomach while at a party back home one weekend. He never played baseball again because the injuries were to severe. I've also seen high school players get involved with alcohol and get caught. After there suspensions were over they played out their seasons and did very well, but the damage was done. No college took them serious after that. How much did that beer cost them? Probably about $120,000 in education expenses. If you cannot be responsible in high school college coaches know from experience that you probably will not be responsible when you have no parents watching over you. So keep your nose clean.
KNOW THE COLLEGE'S ADMISSION POLICIES: Go to the college of choice's website and see what they require for admission to attend their establishment. Some colleges require you pay application fees to be considered. If you are being recruited by these schools then you have a fast track advantage and can even get around these fees. Ask your recruiter or coach if they can fast track you through. Don't assume that the coach will do all this work for you....They won't. Another side note is that if a college is considering you or your athlete for admission and scholarship and will not waive this fee then the program probably doesn't have a lot of money. Keep looking.
SEEK OUTSIDE HELP. www.cpoa.com College Prospect Of America is a reputable company that actually qualifies and verifies that you can play at the level that you are trying to play. This is becoming more and more main stream because the information super highway is putting coaches and player together. Today a coach can go on YouTube and see high school players game videos. Video email and live web broadcasting have changed recruiting also. Now a coach can send a scout to a game and via a wireless Internet connection actually watch a player play from thousands of miles away. CPOA will verify that a player really is 6'3" tall and throws 89 mph. Do they run a 6.6 second 60 yards dash. And even verify the students transcripts. Also they will qualify an athlete to see if they can really get into the school they are wanting to go to or do they need to consider a smaller school. This is a reality check. I want to put this disclaimer in. I do not work for or have ever worked for CPOA. There are many companies like this out there. I just chose this one based on results and reputation.
WORK YOUR TAIL OFF: The really serious kids are playing and training all the time, you should be no different. For baseball get on a traveling team, or a scout team, play fall baseball, and get as much exposure as you possibly can. In high school I worked part time at McDonalds so I would have batting cage money. When I wasn't hitting, then I was thinking about hitting. I later found out at the professional level that I wasn't alone. I never had a vacation in high school or college. If I wanted to hunt I did it before school at 4:30 am. Did I regret it? I'll admit I was a little jealous of other kids, but in the end they were a little jealous of me. I've traveled all over the United States at someone else expense. Met people I would have never had met. Got payed to do what I love. I'm currently not a millionaire, but when I lay my head down on my pillow at night I know I gave my best and I have no regrets. Peace of mind goes a long way.

I hope this helps a little bit. I heard a proverb once that said, "He/She who works the hardest is the luckiest." I tend to agree. I was not the best college player I just outworked everyone. I was never drafted, signed as a free agent a year after my last college season, and ended up playing 7 years of professional baseball. It was mainly due to consistent and persistent effort. I wasn't the best when I started, but I was very good when I finished. Robert Allen, a mutli-millionaire said success is failure plus persistance. A winner never quits and a quitter never wins. If you keep working at something long enough and don't quit then eventually you will be on top. Eventually you master your skill.

Consistant Persistant Effort

2009-08-14T09:38:00.000-07:00

Chandler is one of my best students. When we started testing he was 82-84 mph.
On 8/13/09 he hit 90mph off a tee and 97 from a live pitch.
Way to go Chandler! Not a bad start for the class of 2013.

The Four Numbers That Flash are:

Distance in Feet : 360

Bat Speed: 87

Exit Speed: 90

Power Transfer Ratio: (Which is a combination of bat speed and forward body speed)

Best Dam Hitting Blog Site EVER!

2009-08-11T11:43:00.000-07:00

Ok, I have to admit I'm a little biased. I think this is the best blog ever.
My students are getting amazing results. CJ just went 11 for 15 in Cedar City
with the 10-U Wildcats. Oh yeah he hit a home run too. Way to go CJ!
Chandler is also approaching the 90MPH mark at 14 years old.
Here is the bottom line....Is it feel or is it real?
Sometime I hit a ball and say that felt good, only to look at the radar gun and say,
"What happened?" Why wasn't the result what I wanted? So was the feel real?
Well it's not that simple. I look at film all day and slow things down and see things
that most people don't. I'll let you in on a little secret. I don't even have to look at the swing
to know what is going right or wrong. It's all about ball flight and Magnus Effect.
When a moving ball strikes a swinging bat then a rotation on the ball is created.
Ball flight is then in motion. If you hit a pop up to the catcher behind home plate the ball will go straight up but when it come down it moves towards the field of play. That's Magnus Effect and ball flight at its greatest. There is a lot of spin on a foul ball.
Question: What does a perfectly hit ball do when it is hit?
Answer: It knuckles. The ball strikes the bat at the center point stopping all rotation.
When I got my swing good (not perfect) I could be a little late or a little early and still hit the ball hard. When I guessed right or was on time that is when the ball hits the wall or even goes out of the park. The feedback is all in the ball flight. If the ball is slicing then my bat head is ahead or behind my hands. Hooking balls are the head is aead of the hands. Weak fly balls to off field is bat head below and behind. By knowing what I look like at contact I can correct it immediately. How? I know certain angles make certain ball flights. So from there I correct them. Just ask one of my students after a miss hit. They will diagnose their own problem and correct it within a couple of swings. After a while they begin to do it automatically. With most of my students 0-9 is a slump. They can usually correct mistakes in swing quickly and make adjustments fast. So can you. It's fun and really easy to learn.
Thanks for stopping by.

Intro to Effective Velocity

2009-08-04T22:02:00.000-07:00

Some Fun! Babe Ruth Experiment.

2009-06-05T14:46:00.000-07:00

Chandler Blanchard class of 2013

2009-06-03T09:09:00.000-07:00

My friend and mentor Perry Husband did a swing test on Jay Bell a 17 year big league veteran.
Jay hit the ball on average 77 mph for 30 swings. A 17 year big league vet! I started working with Chandler and his old brother Jordan four years ago. They are a testimony that there is no one way to swing. A swing is like a finger print they are all different and personal. Some kids like their hands high some low. Some kids like a wide stance and some kids like to keep it short. Oh back to Jay Bell, after a few hours with perry they retested Jay. Put him in a more balance stance so he could move faster. Changed his load a little so he could get maximum weight transfer and lastly got him to push off his back side. The result was his exit speeds jumped to 86 mph and he hit more ball near the center of the swing target. So I have a 14 year old incoming freshman that is 40lbs lighter than Jay Bell and hits the ball on average about 82 mph with a high of 86 mph. Yes, I do think this young man has potential and not because he's my student but because of the numbers. Watch the Video.

Results? I Guarantee Them

2009-05-27T13:27:00.000-07:00

Super Drill for teaching how to swing harder.

2009-05-06T00:24:00.000-07:00

This is a simple drill that requires a tee, balls, and a bat.
If you have a radar gun to record exit speeds then you have a great
feedback drill. You can see where you start and train to improve.
Also heavier, longer, and lighter bats can be used increase strength and speed.

2009-04-29T13:50:00.000-07:00

This is a great example of a level swing with a good weight transfer.
Jimmy is going to be an excellent addition to any junior college or large college team.
He has a very good swing and consistently makes solid contact.
He has never had any formal instruction. He is a natural hitter.
Watching other good hitter hit and just copying their moves.

Kinesiology and How it Affects Your Swing

2009-04-20T07:09:00.000-07:00

I am fascinated by Kinesiology . Little did I know what I was getting into when I chose this a a major in college. I just knew after a few classes I was on the right track. I would always say I want to work with world class athletes and that is what I do today.

Kinesiology, also known as human kinetics, is the science of human movement. It focuses on how the body functions and moves. A kinesiological approach applies scientific based medical principles towards the analysis, preservation and enhancement of human movement in all settings and populations. Kinesiologists work in research, the fitness industry, clinically, and in industrial environments. Studies on human motion may be supported by computer vision, using stereo camera systems for pose recognition and motion modeling.

How do I use Kinesiology in my teaching? Well let say there are bio mechanical and kinesiology principles all through what I teach. Everything I show an individual or group can be scientifically proven to work. So let's look at the principles.

Summation of Sequential Segments: I tried to find a good Wikipedia definition of this principle but there is not one that most people would understand so I will keep it simple. I have always understood this to be the unlocking of the joint segments in a specific sequence. The end result is speed, power, and strength. I would also throw in efficiency and fluidity. In baseball this would be a smooth swing that generates hard it balls. I will give some examples to hitter over the years that really had this. In the baseball swing I have broken down the correct sequence and it is big toe, ankle, knee, hip turn, spine turn, shoulder turn, Shoulder/ upper arm, elbows, wrists, bat. Most people at the higher levels have 9 out of 10 right and this is good enough to get them to a certain point then they get stuck. when they learn the missing piece then it adds 30 to 40 more feet of distance to the ball and about 7 to 10 MPH increase in exit speed.
Distance of Force Application:
Start Position Launch Position Finish Position
This is one of the simplest application to explain. The farther the hands go back from the center line of the body the harder the the force that can be applied. The Bigger the swing arc the harder the swing also. This principle is universal in all sports. The tennis serve, or a boxers punch, golf swing, and throwing a baseball. The farther the hand, or club, bat, or racket gets from the striking point the more time it have to accelerate and create speed producing max velocity potential. In baseball this how it works for you. If a pitcher is throwing 90 mph and the batters swing speed is 85mph + body speed of 10 mph. Potential exit speed if the ball is struck perfectly could be from 95 to 110 mph. The hands don't have to go back as far because of the speed of the pitch. The pitcher is supplying a lot of the power and the hitter only has about .38 of a second to make a decision to swing. Now here is where this really come in handy. Lets say the pitcher throws a 72 mph curve ball, who is supplying the power now? If the hitter is still in his balanced launch position and his hands keep going back he has increased his distance of force application so the swing speed increasing. So ball speed is 72 + swing speed of 88 mph = body speed of 10 mph exit speed with stay in the 90 to 110 mph area. I have tested this over and over in my cage by lobbing balls and recording the exit speeds. Then by interviewing college, pro, and high school players along with my own personal experience we all the said the same thing. We hit that slow hanging curve ball harder than anything. The reason is we were all just swinging harder. It is still easier to hit a flatter moving fastball because your guess is better on this pitch. I'll explain why in another blog.
Rigidity Theory: Perry Husband brought this one to my attention in 1996. It made sense so I started talking about it in my teaching. It falls in line with sound bio mechanical principles. So this is Rigidity Theory as explained to me. If there are any bends in the joints then force with be absorbed into the body. So for max distance and exit speed the body must be lock out and rigid at impact. Since hitting is a guess this is very hard to obtain but if worked on it can be made more of an occurrence instead of an accident. An example of RT is when a boxer throws a punch and his wrist has a slight bend in it he will sometimes absorb the impact in the wrist and break bones. This is extreme. Thank God the bat will vibrate and sometimes the force will give the hitter a bone bruise on the thumb or palm. Sometime the hitter will break the hemate bone in the palm. Most of the time the ball just isn't hit as hard as it could possibly be hit. I have had all three of these things happen. Today I strive to be in lock out when I hit the ball. At 37 I can still hit the ball off a tee in the low 90's. I don't train like I used to and I'm not in world class athlete shape, but I can still hit a baseball over 400 feet. I have had recorded exit speeds of over 110 mph and I'm 6 feet tall and played at 220 lbs. Eric Cole was 6 ft and 195 lbs and could hit a ball off a tee 100 mph. He was consistently smoother with his swing and just more efficient. Bigger players could never figure out how he hit the ball so hard. Eric had the perfect swing. Speed+Power+Strength+Efficiency= Max Distance. It really doesn't matter how strong you are, if your body doesn't move in the correct sequence you will actually work against your strength and be counter productive. Better move equals better results.

AVAILABLE FOR PRIVATE LESSONS

2009-03-04T14:35:00.000-08:00

I am currently taking new clients so call me if you are interested.
702.250.2678 or email me at thehitman@helloworld.com.

I guarantee that the child, high schooler and even pro will hit the ball harder or you don't pay.
Call Me for rates. I do Individual, Groups, Coaches, and Teams.
Also I'm available for speaking engagements.
702.250.2678
Lessons by appointment ONLY.

What are you waiting for?

1226 Wigwam Ave
Henderson, NV 89074
(Located in Brundage Electric Warehouse)
Put this address in the Yahoo Maps area to get fast directions.

Why I created this blog.

2009-02-14T13:04:00.000-08:00

I have been treaching and coaching kids on how to play baseball for over 15 years now.
I have always had a passion for baseball and as a kid I was always saying I'm going to play professional baseball. People laughed at me and some told me I was a dreamer and some told me go for it. I did and played for 7 years, most of that in the Chicago White Sox farm system.
The players at the professional level are so good. I was good just not quite that good to make it into the Major Leagues. Some of my former teammates where Aaron Rowand, Joe Crede, Jim Abbott, Kipp Wells, Josh Paul and John Garland. Plus I got to play against many others that made it too. On of my coaches told me he would take me anytime because even though I wasn't the best player I made the team better. How did I do that? I always worked harder than others and I could see things in other players swings that they didn't. They would ask me to come and hit with them early and were constantly asking me questions. I never got drafted and I even took a year off after college. That is when I started teaching and improving my skills to the point that I eventuall got signed to my first pro contract. I kept on teaching as a way to suppliment my paultry income from minor league baseball. Then I met Perry Husband. He transformed my swing and my life in some ways. I teach a swing based on biomechanical principles that work.
Bottom line, my student get results and get them fast. Mastery takes a life time, but I believe if a child is given the right information at a young age they can go on an have a successful career in the game if they are willing to do the work. I started this blog because I see so many kids that have received reallt bad information from coaches with good intentions but lack the knowledge and skill to really be effective. I want to change that today and create better players at the local, state, and national level.
So here is a bit of info to start. Buy this series from Perry. He doesn't pay me a dime. I'm not in this for the money. HITTINGISAGUESS.COM
There are videos and even a small book that can be carried with you to trouble shoot problems.
Perry is a wealth of knowledge and truly a master hitting coach. I was blessed to meet him.
When the student is ready the teacher appears.