MLB's Broken Wings

Fifty percent of starters and 34 percent of relievers will go on the DL every year.

 http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/tom_verducci/04/17/closers/index.html#ixzz1wxG71F1w

Generally, many pitchers' mechanics in the big leagues are flawed... to the point of it's not whether or not that they'll break down, but when. Here's hoping the MLB organizations will hire (more) competent minor league pitching instructors in the future so they can supply their parent clubs with quality arms that can carry the expected workloads. Absolutely, this is a fixable problem.

The Baltimore Orioles are working on it as they are the only organization that films every pitcher on every level. They digitize the videos and run them through their bio-mechanic software program and provide the pitchers and pitching coaches the information.

ONE is a lonely number...not so much.

I AM THAT I AM. WE ARE THAT WE ARE. WE ARE ONE.

PRO BASEBALL LEVELS...figuratively speaking

At your local Analogies' Hot Rod/Custom Car Garage...

THE SHOW(MLB): Runs the gamut from Top Fuelers, Funny Cars, Pro Stock, and Cycles to classic antiques. On average, they make the plays defensively  90% of the time.

AAA: The "flaw" league, have players that usually have problems to overcome even though they are highly polished skillwise. Defensively, they make the plays 75%-89% of the time. Car analogy: no-go showboat.

AA: Players are less polished(make the plays 50%-74% of the time). Car analogy: AA Fuel Dragster that needs a tuneup. However, players on this level can make the jump to the "show" over the AAA player-believe it or not.

A, High A: Rookies and semi-inexperienced youngsters...mostly. Sometimes it seems as if they never make the plays. Car analogy: Still on the assembly line.

Independent League: Made up of a few "has beens or once was's" and lower tier filler players. Car analogy... DeLorean: interesting idea, but still struggling to catch on.

Hoping you have a sense of humor...at least it's meant to be humorous.<g> 

For better baseball and fine automobiles,
Del

BASEBALL SCOUTING 101

  A scout must avoid lack of confidence, other organizations' scouts pumping him for information, having a favorite team or players which is a deterrence to objectivity, zero prospects which are prospects with a projected future or OFP of below 50, and choosing poor associate scouts in order to meet the number one goal of an organization...winning a world championship.

     Once the prospect has been been graded, the scout should stand by his OFP and belief in the prospect and himself. The Scouting Bureau's report may not be as accurate as yours. I knew a scout that changed his report for that reason alone...the MLSB had this prospect graded 13 points higher. It turned out the prospect was just as he originally graded and reported. The Bureau had missed the mark, but this territorial scout didn't have conviction in his own abilities and changed his grade on a new report to match theirs. This is another one of the 90% failures because he had a lack of confidence in his scouting abilities. The other pitfall is the opposite extreme and giving out information to other scouts when they pump you for information. Besides being arrogant, this smells of a lack of loyalty to your own organization. The pitfall of having a favorite team or players falls into the category of "deterrence to objectivity" which was previously alluded to. The final pitfall for a scout has to be picking poor associate scouts. This happens, but not often. It did happen to a certain territorial scout that relied heavily on his associate scouts for reports in order to get more playing time on the golf course. I will say that he did put together a decent network of associate scouts overall, but a few turned out to be incompetent, and one, an M.D. in is day job, was brought to the attention of the MLB Commissioner's Office by a fairly well known collegiate coach for offering players PEDs and soliciting to be an agent for the prospects he carded. Both were brilliant men, but lacked common sense, good judgment, and moral ethics.

   The goal of finding prospects that will help the organization to win championships has not changed, but the methods used to do so are in a continual change. The modern scout has to familiarize himself with techniques to improve time management, adapt to changing technology, staying current with sports psychology as well as baseball strength training, and bio-mechanics. All of these must be combined with the absolutes of scouting: being objectively subjective, aggressive, an ability to not pre-judge prospects, knowing the up-to-date needs of the organization, an unending patience and avoiding scouting pitfalls.

   Time management includes more than just managing time in the scouting department and by each individual scout. The concept of business time management includes four functions and is already in use by some general managers. The functions are production, organizing, directing, and controlling when adopted by the scouting director can facilitate the organization's scouts to be more productive which as a result would reverse the past problem of only 10% of their scouts being successful.

   Today's scout should be computer literate to help keep the flow of information moving. Being knowledgeable in computer applications should be a goal of the scouting department  for each scouting director scout in the 21st century.  The speed of communication necessary to build a successful, championship organization requires it. A wireless laptop and printer will soon become tools for the scout and will be as valuable as a radar gun and stopwatch.

   Staying current in the latest thinking in sports psychology, strength training, flexibility, nutrition, and bio-mechanics are necessary for the scout of today. The need to provide correct information to prospects is now a part of the job. The old saying that "sports medicine changes every six weeks" also can apply to almost all areas of baseball and can become frustrating, but the modern scout must accept that staying current in his knowledge base is integral in helping his organization reach its yearly goal of winning a championship.

   Not following the absolutes of scouting is why there is a 90% failure rate among scouts. A successful scout has to avoid being subjective without including objectivity. The two must go together 100% of the time to help make an accurate OFP and determine signability.  That being said... a deterrence to objectivity is the scout allowing himself to pre-judge prospects because he reminds him of past unsuccessful prospect X, etc. The scout must eliminate the prejudice and rate tools with focus and not emotion.

   Lack of patience can actually be lumped into the pitfalls found in scouting. It just happens to lead the pitfall league in problems that scouts must deal with. Impatience with the scouting director is one problem when there is a lack of interest in your prospect. If the prospect is drafted by your organization, then there can be impatience with the player development department in taking their time moving the prospect up the ladder, and if you are a successful scout, the lack of moving up the ladder in your own career can become a detriment. All the behaviors related to impatience are part of human nature and that a successful scout needs to overcome. To become a patient scout requires some stress management techniques or you'll never have peace of mind. Finding a healthy way to unwind and clear the mind, is key to surviving and thriving in the scouting world. Developing a hobby can be one process in helping you to relax and will take you a step closer to mastering patience.

   Other potential pitfalls in scouting include marital stress, and signing immature prospects. As to marriage and marital stress, a scout must realize that he'll be on the road...often. Sometimes the time out away from home can be up to three weeks. From my experience, I know of many divorced scouts for just this reason. Maybe this is why for many years the average age of scouts was where they were in their sixties.  In short, a scout need to be aware and should address this issue with his spouse and work at his marriage to maintain it. Wives can be understanding is the positive side of this issue.

   The signing of immature players can be a pitfall, but usually doesn't happen often thankfully. I have seen a couple of players signed that had no business being signed due to poor make up. Sometimes players can have their attitude righted after signing, but I rarely see that with those that like to sip suds in high school, etc. A prospect that has a drinking or drug problem in high school is immature cannot handle the life and pressure of a minor league player. Point being- a scout must use common sense and good judgment as to what's best for the prospect and the organization.

    In conclusion, baseball is a business...first and foremost. There is no room for thinking otherwise. Being a successful scout means that he's helping build championship teams by choosing championship caliber prospects objectively with all the tools available to him. That is the bottom line for a scout. If a scouting director requires his scouts to familiarize himself with techniques to improve time management, adapt to changing technology, staying current with sports psychology as well as baseball strength training, nutrition, bio-mechanics, and combine this with the absolutes of scouting, that scouting department, along with the organization's player development department, are well on their way to building a successful baseball franchise.

Rotary Slot Position Versus Linear Hitting Mechanics

Many years ago I had the opportunity to be around Pete Caliendo, a baseball hitting instructor from Chicago that worked with Charlie Lau before he died, and he said Charlie often said most people never really understood the mechanics of his method of hitting...which was a combination of rotation and linear mechanics. Did Charlie Lau help develop .300 hitters? Yes, he certainly did, but it wasn't from mechanics. Charlie's success for helping hitters improve and excel came from helping them focus on the mental and visual aspect of hitting...not just the physical... even though he worked their tails off. Along with emphasizing consistent contact, he employed Dr. Harrison's fine centering and soft centering visual training religiously and with great results. In my opinion the improved focus and visual training that Lau used were the real reason for his success and not so much resulting from his mechanics. He INSPIRED many to become good hitters.
So, which hitting method works better? Which of the two reduces rotary inertia and increases hip rotation in the process?

Rotation...therefore the rotational slot position really adds power from the lower body and linear doesn't.
The positional slot system really simplifies hitting as well, and that's the beauty of it. Mix in Dr. Harrison's vision training with the proper mental training along the hard work and inspiration required to be a .300 hitter, and you'll succeed. One conclusion you can draw though from linear hitting was that Charle Lau was a master at inspiring hitters and getting them to focus on hitting. I hope to be half as good as he was...one day.

Dynamic Vision Training

Q: Are you interested in baseball vision training software?

A: Always interested in vision training software or any type of vision training. Been a longtime follower of Dr. Bill Harrison and recently Dr. Toyos' Dynamic Vision Training as well.

Q: Obviously, there's hasn't been any software developed to help improve the hitter's guesstimation of the contact point in the last twenty feet. I do like the software that improves the eye muscles used in hitting and the hitter's overall visual acuity. If there's software available to make the hitter actually physically track the last twenty feet, I'd love to see it. What can you recommend? 

A: If the hitter uses software designed to improve eye muscle skills and efficiency(best accomplished with training on Dr. Harrison’s 3D Depth Perception and Tracking Trainer, but also enhanced by Dr. Harrison’s Eye Speed Concentration Trainer and Ryan Harrison’s Eye Advantage software (imho), he will have the best tracking software and vision training for hitters that's currently available.

His 3D product gives maximum benefits if used 20-30 minutes

per day for 21 days (only 10 hours out of one's life). From

my experience further benefits are gained if used for 5 minutes

prior to a game.

As far as simulated tracking a pitch to the T, I have to agree with Dr. Toyos that the benefits are negligible. T Drills best serve as tools for hitting mechanics training and not vision training. It’s more realistic to place target zones approximately 20 feet away and do dry swings while focusing on a target. Notice I didn’t say visualize, but used the word focus. I’m aproponent of visualization and imagining all five senses being used to enhance visualization training, but this is vision training and it requires a physical act of focusing and working the eye muscles.

Additionally, a hitter must be physically relaxed for the eye-mind-body system to work effectively. The only drill that comes to mind is the use of mirrors and video to show the desired action and a comparison if they are moving too much.

WHAT IS A TIMING ACTIVATION FORMULA?

The formula that can be used to help make you a championship hitter or a successful player in any sport at any level of competition.


The Timing Activation must be repeated often  to take root in the subconscious mind. Once ingrained, this technique will become second nature.

A Timing Activation  contains  spiritual and epigenetic thoughts along with powerful affirmations. Recycling, in baseball, softball, golf, tennis, and many other sports, has been around for more than twenty years, but I've found that adding a couple of important principles that have worked in my life as well as others has made a significant difference in the recycling impact on performance.

During recycling, which can be done in seconds, you'll be giving thanks to a HIGHER BEING. Along with gratitude, your ultimate goal of playing for something greater than yourself does separate yourself from the average player. Perhaps you have noticed doors do seem to open with this approach. It certainly has from my experience. Just as important,  if you love GOD, then you should also love yourself. Scientists as well as those involved in Epigentics are presenting further proof that love is powerful and can alter a genetic make up. Therefore, re-wire yourself to a better career with  love yourself thoughts. 

For baseball and softball: 

As stated earlier the Timing Activation in the Recycling routine contains powerful affirmations of developing yourself into a better hitter than you currently. You will be able to “gear up” with an aggressive belief that every pitch is your pitch to hit.

Recycling Example:
An example of a personalized Timing Activation for a major leaguer playing in the A.L. would be...
I love power hitting American League All-Star third baseman that is bettering mankind and baseball ME. Every pitch is MY pitch (to hit). (I) Expect fastball and adjust to the curve. Praise GOD. Trust GOD IN ALL THINGS.

A California HS hitter could use...
I love line drive hitting California HS All-State second baseman bettering mankind and baseball ME. Every pitch is MY pitch. Expect fastball and adjust to the curve. Praise GOD. Trust GOD IN ALL THINGS.

The Timing Activation can be amended and structured for each hitter’s level and league that he/she plays in. It is used in practice at hitting stations and during a game where it is repeated each at bat before the first pitch in an at bat and following each sequential pitch as part of the recycling process.

An On Deck Mistake That Costs You Hits

The old saying that you get your hit in the on deck circle  before you step into the batter's box is true on many levels. You can alter your swing enough and lose that hit by adding any overload on deck in an attempt to gain bat speed. Be aware it has a reverse effect once in the batter's box!

First, the good news is that the weighted bat in the on deck circle makes your bat feel lighter to provide more bat speed. The bad news is the effect only lasts 20 seconds. After 20 seconds, you actually become weaker than before you started swinging the weighted bat. See kinesthetic function and overloading on my blog.

For added strength, you’re better off by taking advantage of the neuro-muscular response provided by squeezing the handle at contact. It’s the body’s way of enabling a natural strength boost.

The not so good news is that overloading alters your hitting mechanics which plays havoc on muscle memory. Can you say, "Self-induced slump?" Conclusion: Nix the bat weight.

My comment on Eric Johson's PAP effect article on http://www.mlstrength.com/on-deck

"Nice information. Always liked the idea of kinesthetic overload for the PAP effect for shot and discus. Since I’m a hitting instructor, I’ve always stayed away from promoting it in the on deck circle after a college professor, Dr. Simpson, told us that the effect wears off after 20 seconds and the hitter actually becomes weaker than he was before…temporarily. My hitters are taught to recycle after each pitch and work the count so they’re in the box a while. Del Pittman"

Eric's Article...

Most rituals are born the same way as legends, from their great performances. Just think of your last accomplishment. You probably know your exact actions before getting that clutch hit, landing that overdue raise, or raising the bar for a new personal record. Those same actions, in some way, probably have become a part of what you do before attempting your next accomplishment. In the sport of baseball, superstitions and rituals are as big a part of the game as the seventh inning stretch, cracker jacks, and lucrative contracts. From never stepping on the foul lines to lucky hats and gloves, the most unique of them all may be a batter’s routine while on deck.

Next time you are at a ball game or watching from the convenience of your home, check out a batter’s routine when on deck. Beyond their mental preparation and focus, finding the pitcher’s release point, and getting their timing down, you will see many players go through their own individual routines. Within that circle, each player has own way of warming up, analyzing the current situation, and preparing the mind and body for the task at hand. From little to major league, many players love taking some practice swings using a weighted sleeve or baseball donut. This phenomenon where the bat feels lighter when stepping up to the plate from their warm up swings is called postactivation potentiation (PAP). Through heavy loading, the central nervous system is stimulated to a higher degree and translates to greater motor unit recruitment and force. In simplest terms, the muscles are primed and prepared to function at that level of intensity when a lower stimulus is presented.

So to break some of those same routines you have had in your training for the last year and still haven’t made any progress to show, take these same principles of the batter on deck and hit a home run with your next work. Here’s one way of taking a piece of America’s pastime into your next training session.

Try This: Add some volume while still increasing your intensity and building strength. With one of your core test lifts, whether it be the bench press, deadlift, front squat, perform two to three sets of the respective movement with a heavy weight and low reps (i.e., 3 sets of 2 to 3 reps). After the completion of those sets, perform two more sets with a slightly lower load for two sets of five or six reps.

Create a new ritual for yourself with your next breakout performance by incorporating postactivation potentiation into your training. “Remember kid, there’s heroes and there’s legends. Heroes get remembered but legends never die, follow your heart kid, and you’ll never go wrong.”

By Eric Johnson, CSCS

New Additional Information ...YouTube Sport Science Video

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_vR8U_KrhY&feature=player_embedded

Caveat: If you're using Jaime Cevallos' MP30 Training Bat during Tee hitting drills, I'd recommend using it in the on deck circle for muscle memory reinforcement.  

HITTER DEVELOPMENT THAT LEADS TO CHAMPIONSHIPS

On Deck Circle

Begin mental prepping with your pre-pitch Timing Activation (see Timing Activation blog post) while reinforcing your muscle memory with the MP30 Training Bat (see Jaime's Swing Mechanic MP30 blog post)

NEXT

Repeat before the 1^st pitch and after each sequential pitch...EVERY GAME and EVERY AT BAT

Outside box if league rules allow:

Situational Awareness:

Know outs and base runners' locations

Depth Perception Tune Up For Hitters' Soft Centering/Fine Centering Visual Technique:

Focus on 2B’s cap logo, then shift focus to Pitcher’s cap logo

Begin Pre-Pitch Recycling Timing Activation (See Recycling and Timing Activation Blog Posts)

Night Game… Close eyes for 5 seconds for improved vision (See

Retina/Vision Trick)

In box or “half and half” if league rules allow:

One Deep Breath…In through the nose; out through pursed lips

Look to third base coach, receive signs, square up to the pitcher, and re-focus

mentally

See Dr. Bill Harrison's Slow The Game Down blog post for fine centering-soft centering pitch tracking....

Begin Fine Centering-Soft Centering (Focus on Pitcher’s Logo & then re-focus

visually to the Release Point (Avoid being hypnotized by watching the Pitcher’s

Windup

Gently shift your weight from back to front repeatedly over your center

point (40-60) as you are fine centering and soft centering visually. Continue the

rhythm rocking breathing in through the nose going back and breathing out

through a slightly open mouth going forward. This keeps the jaw relaxed to

prevent teeth clinching which can lead to blurred vision. Plus, on contact

keeping the internal organs compressed through breath control helps to optimize

power. (Key emphasis is to do this simultaneously with a controlled, calculated

rhythmic weight shift.)

From Release Point:

Identify pitch and velocity

Begin Tracking Mentally…Yes, Yes, Yes, YES* or Yes, Yes, Yes, NO.

*(At contact, squeezing the handle in the palms helps add more power

as a result of a neuromuscular response)

Post Hit:

In the dugout, enjoy the congratulations and the pats on the back. Reward

yourself with a cup of water. Funny as it sounds, you should do this.
(behavioral conditioning)

Perfecting Pitching Deliveries

First thought that helps minimize injuries is that pitching is more than just throwing. Use the strike zone to your advantage...change speed and location of your pitches to disrupt the hitter's timing.

Learn the hitting flaws. Most lineups only have a few grooved hitters even on the pro level.

Learn how to take advantage of the flaw and pitch to that specific flaw.

If you’re at the Little League level, eventually your catcher will learn the flaws, too. Right now he’s learning to receive, block pitches, set defenses, and busy watching the hitter’s feet and bat speed while tracking your pitch.

Pitching coaches and pitchers have their own language and sayings to get the message across:

Sit and Drive…Land at a 45  

“Sitting” helps you to not “rush”, but instead, stay balanced in your delivery. As you step toward home plate, stride so that the ball of your lead foot and toe will land at a 45 degree angle. This ensures proper hip rotation after your lead foot lands, and that you’ll be using your legs as well as your arm in your pitching mechanics.

Push, pop...over the top...leaves you with pep in your step*

The push is the balanced push off of the pitching plate (pitcher’s rubber). Pop is a term for the hip rotation after landing the front foot at a 45 degree angle during the delivery.

“Over the top” is the action of the trailing foot in a complete follow through (this happens naturally after your pitching arm elbow passes by the opposite knee following your delivery). Hence, after your elbow passes your knee in your follow through, your throwing side foot will rise above your throwing side hip without any extra effort on your part. This is what pitching coaches actually mean when they say “bend your back” in regards to a follow through.

*More on leaves you with pep in your step

This just means that you’ll have more endurance/stamina because you’re using your legs and your body to pitch with…instead of just using your arm which will make tire faster and can lead to injury.

Shoulder to shoulder makes your pitches bolder

For control of your pitches, your front shoulder heads (points) to the location you want your pitch to go. After delivery, your back shoulder will point toward the same target that your front should was targeted at… which greatly improves control accuracy and will occur naturally with the correct follow through. This is what pitching coaches call “full rotation”.

Bolder pitches means that you’ll spot your pitches to areas that hitter’s have trouble hitting solidly (they prefer to hit the ones that are thrown over the middle ten inches of the plate in the strike zone).

Pitching to a dime* makes the hitter bitter

The mitt is not the target for the pitcher. It is better to throw (not aim) to a smaller target. A dime target is small, but if you miss- you’ll miss “small”. [Remember a pitcher targets areas away from the middle ten inches of the plate.] Instead of pitching in the middle of the plate, you’ll focus on the catcher’s knees and shoulders since they are usually outside of the middle ten inches of the plate. Therefore, visualize and concentrate (focus) on a dime located on the catcher’s knees and shoulders as targets before and during the delivery of your pitch. *Also, contrary to some coaches’ thinking, you’re never too young to develop this kind of concentration skill… especially when pitching.

Any coach, on any level worth his salt, routinely has his pitchers practice pitching to a designated catcher. At each league level, from Little League to MLB, pitchers follow a Sequence Pitching Schedule. This is another important process to help pitchers develop arm strength, confidence, and command & control. During sequence pitching sessions, it’s imperative that the pitcher’s pitches are charted by a helper. This promotes a game like atmosphere…to simulate game like pressure.

Also, during the throwing session, the pitchers usually alternate throwing 5 pitches from a full windup and then 5 pitches from the stretch. The number of pitches thrown during a session depends on the number of days until the next scheduled appearance in a game. Once the number of pitches to be thrown during the session is determined, the catcher will call the type of pitch and the location for each pitch. On the Little League level, 1 is a fastball and 2 is a change. In higher levels of  competition, more types of pitches are thrown, and the pitches are numbered respectively. Locations are also numbered on the catcher. The right and left knees of the catcher are numbered 1 and 2 & the right and left shoulders of the catcher are numbered 3 and 4. On a side note, since the pitcher is getting valuable feedback from a capable helper after the session, make sure the helper has a clip board with a pencil and paper that have rectangular strike zones with cubes inside the rectangles to note the location and type of pitch thrown during the session. For the benefit of the pitcher’s focus, the helper shouldn’t interact with the pitcher until after the throwing session. The helper will silently circle pitches that miss their spot and mark pitches that are on target during the session. It is recommended that punishment of some type for missing the called location be used to make the session more competitive among the pitchers on the team.

GRIP

With seams, the pitch will sink. Across the seams, the pitch will not sink as much. Some will suggest that gripping a ball across the seams will make it rise. Even the best power pitchers don’t really have the ball rise when their grip is across the seams due to physics.

Choking the pitch will reduce the velocity. Also, choking the pitch is better for younger pitchers because it produces a natural change up. When a pitcher matures, usually when they start shaving, a pitcher can learn breaking pitches and other grips for a change up.

Your ultimate goal as a pitcher is to keep the hitter off balance by changing the speed and location of your pitches. Be stoic & never show your emotions in a game when you are pitching. Do this and you will have an edge over the hitters you face.

CHAMPIONSHIP HITTING ROUTINE

On Deck Circle

Begin mental prepping with your pre-pitch Timing Activation (see Timing Activation blog post) while reinforcing your muscle memory with the MP30 Training Bat (see Jaime's Swing Mechanic MP30 blog post)

NEXT

Repeat before the 1^st pitch and after each sequential pitch...EVERY GAME and EVERY AT BAT

Outside box if league rules allow:

Situational Awareness:

Know outs and base runners' locations

Depth Perception Tune Up For Hitters' Soft Centering/Fine Centering Visual Technique:

Focus on 2B’s cap logo, then shift focus to Pitcher’s cap logo

Begin Pre-Pitch Recycling Timing Activation (See Recycling and Timing Activation Blog Posts)

Night Game… Close eyes for 5 seconds for improved vision (See

Retina/Vision Trick)

In box or “half and half” if league rules allow:

One Deep Breath…In through the nose; out through pursed lips

Look to third base coach, receive signs, square up to the pitcher, and re-focus

mentally

See Dr. Bill Harrison's Slow The Game Down blog post for fine centering-soft centering pitch tracking....

Begin Fine Centering-Soft Centering (Focus on Pitcher’s Logo & then re-focus

visually to the Release Point (Avoid being hypnotized by watching the Pitcher’s

Windup

Gently shift your weight from back to front repeatedly over your center

point (40-60) as you are fine centering and soft centering visually. Continue the

rhythm rocking breathing in through the nose going back and breathing out

through a slightly open mouth going forward. This keeps the jaw relaxed to

prevent teeth clinching which can lead to blurred vision. Plus, on contact

keeping the internal organs compressed through breath control helps to optimize

power. (Key emphasis is to do this simultaneously with a controlled, calculated

rhythmic weight shift.)

From Release Point:

Identify pitch and velocity

Begin Tracking Mentally…Yes, Yes, Yes, YES* or Yes, Yes, Yes, NO.

*(At contact, squeezing the handle in the palms helps add more power

as a result of a neuromuscular response)

Post Hit:

In the dugout, enjoy the congratulations and the pats on the back. Reward

yourself with a cup of water. Funny as it sounds, you should do this.
(behavioral conditioning)

Hitting Myth Exposed

Adding any overload on deck to gain bat speed has reverse effect once in the batter's box!

First, the good news is that the weighted bat in the on deck circle makes your bat feel lighter to provide more bat speed. The bad news is the effect only lasts 20 seconds. After 20 seconds, you actually become weaker than before you started swinging the weighted bat. See kinesthetic function and overloading on my blog.

For added strength, you’re better off by taking advantage of the neuro-muscular response provided by squeezing the handle at contact. It’s the body’s way of enabling a natural strength boost.

The not so good news is that overloading alters your hitting mechanics which plays havoc on muscle memory. Can you say, "Self-induced slump?" Conclusion: Nix the bat weight.

My comment on Eric Johson's PAP effect article on http://www.mlstrength.com/on-deck

"Nice information. Always liked the idea of kinesthetic overload for the PAP effect for shot and discus. Since I’m a hitting instructor, I’ve always stayed away from promoting it in the on deck circle after a college professor, Dr. Simpson, told us that the effect wears off after 20 seconds and the hitter actually becomes weaker than he was before…temporarily. My hitters are taught to recycle after each pitch and work the count so they’re in the box a while. Del Pittman"

Eric's Article...

Most rituals are born the same way as legends, from their great performances. Just think of your last accomplishment. You probably know your exact actions before getting that clutch hit, landing that overdue raise, or raising the bar for a new personal record. Those same actions, in some way, probably have become a part of what you do before attempting your next accomplishment. In the sport of baseball, superstitions and rituals are as big a part of the game as the seventh inning stretch, cracker jacks, and lucrative contracts. From never stepping on the foul lines to lucky hats and gloves, the most unique of them all may be a batter’s routine while on deck.

Next time you are at a ball game or watching from the convenience of your home, check out a batter’s routine when on deck. Beyond their mental preparation and focus, finding the pitcher’s release point, and getting their timing down, you will see many players go through their own individual routines. Within that circle, each player has own way of warming up, analyzing the current situation, and preparing the mind and body for the task at hand. From little to major league, many players love taking some practice swings using a weighted sleeve or baseball donut. This phenomenon where the bat feels lighter when stepping up to the plate from their warm up swings is called postactivation potentiation (PAP). Through heavy loading, the central nervous system is stimulated to a higher degree and translates to greater motor unit recruitment and force. In simplest terms, the muscles are primed and prepared to function at that level of intensity when a lower stimulus is presented.

So to break some of those same routines you have had in your training for the last year and still haven’t made any progress to show, take these same principles of the batter on deck and hit a home run with your next work. Here’s one way of taking a piece of America’s pastime into your next training session.

Try This: Add some volume while still increasing your intensity and building strength. With one of your core test lifts, whether it be the bench press, deadlift, front squat, perform two to three sets of the respective movement with a heavy weight and low reps (i.e., 3 sets of 2 to 3 reps). After the completion of those sets, perform two more sets with a slightly lower load for two sets of five or six reps.

Create a new ritual for yourself with your next breakout performance by incorporating postactivation potentiation into your training. “Remember kid, there’s heroes and there’s legends. Heroes get remembered but legends never die, follow your heart kid, and you’ll never go wrong.”

By Eric Johnson, CSCS

New Additional Information ...YouTube Sport Science Video

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_vR8U_KrhY&feature=player_embedded

Caveat: If you're using Jaime Cevallos' MP30 Training Bat during Tee hitting drills, I'd recommend using it in the on deck circle for muscle memory reinforcement.