HITTING - Getting prepared for the spring season

The months January, February and March provide a solid block of time for hitters to make any necessary adjustments, refine technique and build confidence. Pre-season training is not just about preparation, but also getting better. A player does not want to simply pick up where he left off, but rather return to the field feeling new and improved.

Below are several topics to address during the pre-season months.

Mechanical adjustments to the stance, pre-swing or swing.

If a change needs to be made, this is the time to do it. There is no batting average, runners on base, or games on the line. The batter can focus on himself and whatever change needs to be made in a controlled environment. It is extremely difficult to make a substantive change during the season because trying something new is accompanied by a period of discomfort and unknowing. Game competition is a time for execution, not experimentation.

The hitter should go back to the grass roots when making an adjustment to the stance, pre-swing or swing. Dry swings and tee work allow him to focus specifically on the task at hand. He wants to make sure the reps he takes are performed correctly so he’s building new habits that are fundamentally sound. Facing live pitching during batting practice is further down the road.

Addressing Areas of Weakness

It’s fun to practice the things we’re good at it because we’re rewarded by positive results with minimal effort and focus. Areas of struggle bring frustration with it and players often make the mistake of taking a detour rather than confronting those troubles. But the areas of weakness supply the hitter with opportunities to take the greatest leaps forward.Outside strikes, low strikes, off-speed pitches or plate discipline are just a few items that may appear on a list of weaknesses.

Players must be honest in assessing their offensive game and meet the weaknesses head-on. If a hitter, for example, has difficulty turning on inside strikes, he can expect to see more and more inside fastballs from attentive pitchers. Pitchers get better at exposing hitters’ weaknesses, so he must eliminate as many as possible to continue experiencing success at the plate. The hitter must spend significant time turning on inside strikes.

Individual Practice

Baseball instruction at academies and team training are helpful, but they are limited in value and production when they’re not supplemented by individual training. “Individual training” means that you’re literally by yourself. That’s the way it is in the batter’s box, isn’t it?

Coaches and instructors provide knowledge and guidance, but their teachings must be re-enforced at home through repetitious training. Spending 15-20 minutes three or four times per week is how hitters progress. Without that, the professional instruction is reduced to knowledge that may or may not be applied when it counts.

Many describe those nightly sessions on your own as “hard work.” If you consider swinging a baseball bat and hitting baseballs ‘work,’ your desire for the game is limited. Playing the game for recreational purposes or enjoyment is fine. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. But don’t expect to progress, excel or receive adulation just because you get older. The game gets faster and the players get better. Practice individually to improve because you like it and you know it will help you personally. The reward is worth the practice time.

Tee Work and Soft Toss

Most of the time spent hitting in the pre-season should be off of a tee and doing soft toss. Hitting off the tee is how to perfect mechanics on middle, inside, outside, high and low strikes. It allows the hitter to concentrate (100 percent) on training his body to perform the correct movements over and over again.

During live batting practice, hitters must concern themselves with timing the pitch and recognizing its location. This fractures their training focus and doesn’t allow them to zero in on taking habitually perfect swings. The batting tee is perhaps the most useful tool to a hitter.

Towards the end of a training session, it’s okay to take live batting practice in trying to apply that swing to a pitched ball. But live batting practice shouldn’t dominate or be the focal point of pre- season training.

Batting Practice

Towards the end of the pre-season, live batting practice should be incorporated more and more. The primary reason is training the eyes. The ability to find the release point, pick the ball up out of the pitcher’s hand, identify balls and strikes, and recognize pitch types are monumental. The sharper the focus, the greater the ability the hitter has to slow the ball down with his eyes.

The element of timing is also important and this can be accomplished with a week or two of live batting practice before the season. Some hitters never lose their timing from season to season and most experienced hitters can gain their timing after a couple batting practice sessions.

Pitching Machines

Be careful using pitching machines. They can be difficult to time and cause hitters to get out on their front foot. Machines that lack some sort of timing mechanism for the hitter can cause him to get ‘jumpy’ and drift out with his stride. Hitting off a pitching machine can actually create mechanical flaws.

Many new pitching machines do have an improved timing mechanism for hitters. Coaches will commend machines because they throw strike after strike. But in reality, that’s not the best training. Hitters become machines themselves in grooving their swing to a specific area while exercising the same timing with each pitch. Pitchers throw to different locations at different speeds and machines do not simulate that variety.

If you do take batting practice off of a machine, have a purpose in mind. If it’s a mechanical issue (i.e. not wrapping in the load), concentrate on keeping the bat more vertical during the load. You can also practice game situations. Take eight swings trying to advance the runner from second to third with a ground ball to the right side of the infield. Try a few swings with a runner on third and less than two outs. Take some swings with two strikes in the count. Whatever the case, make sure your swings have a purpose.

The best batting practice is off of live pitching. The batter picks the ball up out of a pitcher’s hand, finds its location and delivers his swing accordingly. Learning to take pitches out of the strike zone is also of value to the hitter.

Find a Method of Relaxation

There is a term in baseball that you never want to be labeled as: BP All-American. This is a title given to a player who hits phenomenal in batting practice and looks like a different hitter in the game. In the major leagues, they’re known as 5:00 hitters. These hitters consistently crush balls during pre-game, but once the game starts, their emotions get the best of them.

Many hitters who struggle with this devise a routine before taking their stance. This helps them to slow things down and get themselves into the right frame of mind. David Ortiz and Nomar Garciaparra are two players who come to mind. Many view their routines as being superstitious, but it’s simply an exercise to get themselves relaxed and game-ready.

Other methods such as a deep breathing, visualization or maintaining a simple thought of execution like being short to the ball are helpful. Whatever the case, find a physical or mental exercise that helps you to relax and focus on the task at hand.