Thread: I've observed that the most successful hitters we train are often the best at processing their movement errors.
They are very concise about their diagnoses when they make a mistake. The bad hitters are often irrational about mistakes & cant use the errors as useful info.
They are very concise about their diagnoses when they make a mistake. The bad hitters are often irrational about mistakes & cant use the errors as useful info.
Example: we change the pitch release point (vert, horiz & extension) daily. We change the pitch velo, spin direction & spin rate often. We have training days where we alternate high and low spin FBs every round. We have “velo ladder” days where we increase pitch velo every round
We can see how good hitters are at adapting by how long it takes them to make the adjustment.
For instance, when hitting high spin rate fastballs, hitters almost always start by swinging underneath the ball and fouling balls back or whiffing.
For instance, when hitting high spin rate fastballs, hitters almost always start by swinging underneath the ball and fouling balls back or whiffing.
Good hitters are able to step out and process the info (on time, swung underneath the ball->need to swing higher) and re-calibrate within 1-2 pitches. Other hitters will take 15-20-30 swings fouling balls back before they make an adjustment
They’ll swing harder or softer, or blame their mechanics or some other nonsense when the solution is that they simply swung too low. So many bad hitters simply don’t understand how to use their errors as feedback, then have irrational responses that spiral them out of control.
This is especially true with timing. Good hitters know when they were on time or not. They can feel it. If they are late, it’s simply “ah I was a tick late, be earlier” and they make the adjustment. They don’t over complicate it.
Pitch characteristics vary enough pitcher by pitcher and pitch by pitch that hitters need to know how to make adjustments on the fly. I’ll watch hitters swing over sinkers for 3 rounds and I’ll have to ask them “how many balls will you swing over before you swing underneath one?"
"What’s the plan?” A good hitter would swing a foot underneath the ball before they topped 20 in a row. You gotta be able to re-calibrate on the fly and be able to hack your own brain if you want to succeed against today’s pitchers.
