myspace COMBAT HITTING™ Blog Reaches 25,000+ Views

http://www.myspace.com/dpbi/blog?bID=540267275

Humbled and appreciative to those that helped me achieve the number of views so far. Thanks for helping me to reach what I consider to be a mini-milestone.
For better hitting,
Del

Spend Less Time Lifting And More Time Watching Video

That goes for ML'ers on down and is related to this question I received...

Q: I have a 10 yr old son that plays tournament ball.One coach tells him wait on the outside pitch or hit the inside out front. The other says step toward the pitch (out for inside, in for outside).Who's right?

A: Step towards the pitcher with the front foot(on the ball of the foot) landing at a 45 degree angle. Getting the hands and barrel through the zone a la slot position are what's important mechanically to drive inside pitches. I have drills posted on my bsbl blog for hitting inside pitches.
Also, I covered a few points on the stride, including direction, from another post on my myspace blog below:

Final Chapter: Bio-Mechanics Software Experience

As stated in the previous blog, the experience was a blast and a real eye opener. To not put you to sleep, I'll keep it brief, and stick to the high points of what I like about the software program.

What stood out to me was the information received from analyzing the measurement of TIME that it took the hands to go from the launch position, getting into the slot position and then to contact, and also the measurement of the length of hitters' strides & landing points of the ball of the front foot on various types of pitches. Luckily for me, I also had access to the bio-mechanic information on the best hitters in the American League at the time so I had the ideal bio-mechanic hitting models to reference to as well. Stride lengths and contact time among the best hitters were consistently better than the rest.

Strides, ofcourse, are the timing device that the hitters use in making contact...i.e., timing the pitch. Everyone knows that, but what I didn't know at that time was that the great hitters had consistent stride lengths on every pitch and landed in the same spot regardless of the type of pitch. What's important about that is that other hitters(mostly.290 and below...way below) were all over the place as to where they landed and the length of their stride. The best hitters were consistently the same. That speaks volumes about their tracking (dynamic visual acuity) and ability to keep a still head which results in the optimal amount of eye muscles to use when hitting (refer back to the soft centering-fine centering blog).

From the bio-mechanic tracking of the hands from the launch position to contact, there was a distinct difference in the quality of hitting and productivity of the great hitters as compared to the others. The best hitters are consistently efficient with their hands, getting in the slot position, and putting the barrel of the bat on the ball. The others ranged from minutely inefficient to 'how in the heck did you get out of AAA?!!' One of the hitters, who had pop, had such a big swing and a huge hole from his hitch that he would have led the league in broken bats if the pitchers would've pitched him up and in. Ofcourse, pitchers are pitchers and kept pitching to his strength (low and away) instead. The next season they wised up and pitched to his flaw. It wasn't long until he was traded to the NL, and didn't fair any better there either. He was out of the game at a fairly young age. One side note with this player was that he spent a tremendous amount of time lifting heavy weights improperly in the wt. room near the clubhouse. And that only increased scar tissue in his rotator cuff which decreased his arm strength (throwing) and his bat speed as well. Not a good formula for a player that had hand problems (flaw) to begin with. Take note-you hitters that are seeking the buffed look...you could also be destroying a major tool or two in your wt. training routine. Learn the best way to help yourself in the wt. room...lift less; watch more video.

MLB Scouts Focus On 50+ OFP Prospects And Not Fillers

      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 an 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.

HOLISTIC HITTING DEFINED

Holistic hitting is taking a mental, spiritual, emtional, and physical approach
to hitting your pitch and driving it.
Physically, I'm on board with
everything that good hitting coaches teach. One of my identifiers of a good
hitting coach is that they are teaching a mechanically sound swing which
includes a balanced energy line toward the pitcher, blocking off a firm
frontside on contact, and NOT teaching squishing the bug with the back foot
which takes away from the energy line in the swing. One of the fine points that
I teach is to start/load slow to overcome inertia to a fast finish line with
proper barrel projectory through the hitting plane. Specifically at the start, I
teach my hitters to make a small C slowly with the middle knuckle on the middle
finger of the lead hand as they begin their path to explode through the
ball.
The slow start enables the hitter to keep their head still and
maintain positive tracking of the pitch. I won't use this forum for specifics,
but I adhere to Dr. Bill Harrison's Vision Training for teaching proper visual
acuity for hitting...a.k.a. fine centering/soft centering.
Mentally, I
teach a form of recycling made famous by Tim Galwey years ago. My hitter's
develop a personalized hitting mantra with my assistance that they'll load
mentally before each pitch. In case of the yips, I endorse the Crowley Method
developed by psychologist Dr. Richard Crowley combined with an acupressure
called TAT.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rDF_qUntDg&feature=related
Most importantly, it's my
belief that the component that will determine a hitter's success as to whether
or not they reach their potential is that they believe they are better than they
think they are and that their purpose is for a betterment of mankind and
baseball. This is also personalized and becomes the last thought in their
hitting mantra that's mentally loaded pre-pitch.
My answer to the few
nay-sayers that think that including a spiritual aspect to hitting is too
meta-physical would be that they are in denial that we are powerful spiritual
beings first and foremost.

Kudos To Josh Hamilton

He needs to be congratulated for making mechanical adjustments this Spring to correct the timing flaw he developed compensating for his hitch that began in the 2009 season. Josh still has a bit of a hitch, but doesn't start his swing early anymore which means he's no longer vunerable to the fastball up and in and off speed stuff away. Now, if Chris Davis would make adjustments of not throwing his hands, staying torqued, and getting into the slot position, he can be on his way to being the next Adam Dunn. : )

Gone Batty Looking For Sales Reps

Passing this along...
Do you know anyone in your area who could help me market a surplus of Wood Bats?

Seeking reps who will are in tight with leagues and teams as well as training Academies and such.

Regards,

Walter

reply to: gonebattybats@gmail.com

Nitro Methane Thinking For Hitters

Making Your Brain See Green (As in GO... A Personal Mental Hitting Traffic
Light)
Hitting is an aggressive act of throwing the barrel of the bat at the ball, but
if you don't have the correct pre-swing thoughts (what I call a Hitting Mantra)
to gear yourself up for driving the ball & visual reference points for
identifying and tracking the pitch- you'll be a frustrated hitter.
An important key in the mental process involved in hitting is recycling. Refuel
and recycle your focus with the hitting mantra for a 20 second duration after
each pitch. This is to prepare you for a conrolled attack of the next pitch.
Perhaps you're now thinking that this repeated thought control process of
recycling after each pitch is not your cup of tea. Ultimately, it comes down to
being part of the discipline required to be a successful hitter. The old cliche
rings true here, "If it were easy, then everyone would be doing it." Ask
yourself truthfully,"What kind of hitter do I want to be?"
On Deck Prep and In Box Attitude
It's been said by many and multiple
times that you get your hits in the on deck circle. If they can't qualify that
statement, then it's only noise. Again, as stated in previous blog posts, a
disciplined mental approach using a hitting system that works is a major
component to being a successful hitter. If you employ such a system while on
deck and in box, you'll be ripping line drives until the world looks
level.
Preparing to hit on deck and in box means, as picky as it may
seem, that proper hitting mechanics and an aggressive approach are important to
maintaining hitting mechanics integrity and having successful at bats. To
accomplish this in the Combat Hitting system, destructive muscle memory killers
are removed and forbidden. The top of the throw out list is the softball
swing... at anytime. If it doesn't look like a line drive swing, don't do it.
Also, the pre-load bat waggle is not conducive to retaining a still head or the
correct hitting muscle memory. Although it is not an uppercut swing or a swing
of any type, it leads to problems. As an ex scout, I can tell you the problems
with the feet and hands are the hardest to overcome. Feet and hand problems make
you a "NP", a no prospect also known as a Zero in the OFP. You may argue that a
waggle helps you in getting your hands started, but I've seen that it's of
little or no benefit. The thought that it is useful in overcoming inertia in the
launch stage is debatable. It does have a high propensity to lead to a
hitch...especially if your hand and wrist strength can't handle a waggle. The
end result will be the barrell dropping below the hands creating a hole in your
swing. Expect to be pitched up and in routinely with this flaw.
Another
case for eliminating the waggle is the probability of causing innervation* and
blurred vision.
(Innervation* is an ugly beast in baseball. It likes to show
up when there's blurred vision caused by tracking pitches with more than 4 eye
muscles in each eye when hitting, and occurs after 10 minutes of repititious
drills)
More ON DECK Prep
In the Combat Hitting system you're
taught to desensitize your nervous system in your pre-at bat prep. Not only have
I borrowed strength and stretching techniques from the Russian Sports Program,
but I have incorporated many aspects from the Martial Arts as well...hence the
name Combat Hitting was derived.
Desensitizing the nervous system by
breathing techniques followed with the toe to head slap down, will have a
positive physiological hitting effect. Additional on deck prep, which includes
the hitting mantra with muscle memory work, a quick depth perception drill and
fine tuning your visual acuity.
Forget the bat weight. Overloading
changes your hitting mechanics and the lighter bat feel only lasts for 20
seconds before the bat feels heavier than it is. In essence you're causing
yourself to be weaker during your at bat.
Once in the box, you're ready
to start your IN BOX routine to sharpen your focus.

Metal Bat Disease

At the levels where aluminum or alloy bats are used, I'm seeing more and more big
swings. Big swings mean that you are using a longer radius which results in less
bat speed. The sweeper in turn notices he has trouble getting his barrel on the
the inside fastball and tries to remedy this by starting his swing a little
earlier. The catcher, pitcher, and the opposing team coach notice that you're
sweeping and starting your swing early and start feeding you off speed and
breaking stuff because you're now vulnerable to these pitches. Scouts see the
hand problems and lable the sweeper as a NP...No Prospect.

Hitting is an act of throwing the barrel, and the object is to get the top
hand to its strongest throwing position when loading. Another way to see this is
to think of a boxer or MMA never loading up a punch past his shoulder. Just like
hitters in baseball, they have to keep a short radius to be effective. Try going
wood in practice to teach yourself a short, compact swing and save your H2 for
the game.

Why You Shouldn't Give A Flip About Flip

Playing Flip instead of Pepper before a
game or during practice has about as much value as a sack of

salt...especially for hitters. Pepper gives you repeated opportunities to
work on tracking, the upper body muscle memory, and the bio-mechanics of a
grooved swing. The fielders can work on reactions, one hoppers, squeezing the
ball in the glove, rolling to a grip, and a quick release...basic fielding
fundamentals. I recommend playing Pepper 10 minutes a day for at least 6 days of
the week. If the fieldyou’re on doesn’t allow Pepper, find a place that’s near
the field to play. Add some Pepper to your game, and let the pitchers develop
their Flip skills.
Using the lower case c and starting at launch will keep
your head still. Overcoming inertia correctly will ensure visual clarity at the
release point. Remember the brain will help slow the ball down and make it look
larger on the way to the plate if you minimize the amount of eye muscles used in
tracking.Using the middle knuckle on the lead hand to draw a small c as you rock
and breatheinvolves two areas of the
hitting drivetrain: the physical
(bio-mechanics/physics and vision) working in harmony. It's high on the hitting
totem pole musts. Due to the laws of physics of motion (a.k.a. laws of motion),
if you can get your hands moving early prior to launch, it's easier to throw the
barrel at launch (body at rest requires more
force to get it moving as
opposed to a moving body can be moved easier, etc.). The tip and rip hitters are
overcoming inertia with a pre-launch tipping of the barrel towards the pitcher
slightly, but have to be strong enough to control the barrel as it returns
towards the back shoulder. Since there is a 1' to 12" correlation (which is
discussed in my blog) between the knob and top of the barrel, strength is
required to avoid dropping the barrel below the hands and/or looping. Nothing
like a big hole flaw for a smart pitcher to use as an out pitch or jam you up.
From my experience the younger hitters that tip and rip usuallyend up blurring
their vision when they can't keep their head still in the process. Dr. Harrison
has been generous in helping me with the vision connection in overcoming
inertia, but I've been asked to not post certain information. Since he and his
son are in the hitting and vision business and have competitors, I will respect
his wishes.

To connect early bat speed, the newest
"buzz word" for the hitting bio-mechanic linking process that Dr. Coop DeRenne
published in 1992, to the overcoming of inertia with the pre-launch movement of
the hands is a bit of stretch. Forgive me for being old school and not using the
term linking as much as I do the 1970's term torquing. For some coaches torquing
turned into slang like tightening the coil or winding the spring, but this term
still means the same thing as linking. From the ground up through the bodyr
otation linked stages unwind like a string of firecrackers through blocking
contact and follow through.

On Deck Bat Weight?

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

OUTSIDE THE BOX DRILLS

Double entendre? Most assuredly.

Sometimes You Have to Love Boring...NOT!

The thought that, "sometimes you have to love boring" has been said by more than a few coaches over the years because it can take some players up to 16 weeks to develop a skill depending where they fall on the Bell Curve. So many coaches adopt overkill drilling to get in the reps needed to get the skill developed before 16 weeks. To accomplish this, drill time lasts a good deal longer than 10 minutes.

You know if it's boring, the drill is probably taking more than 10 minutes to complete. Innervation and boring go hand in hand. Innervation is the brain's way of escaping. My apologies to the Japanese coaches and the infamous 1,000 ball drill, but innervation and fatigue lead to slop. This will happen with any prolonged drill past 10 minutes.

In the Combat Hitting system NO drill is practiced for more than 10 minutes. There is no need to overcome mental fatigue with reps in your training. Hitting is not marathon running. The goal is to remain sharp by keeping our concentation and focus. Remember fatigue is detrimental to quality in hitting. Fatigue has its place in training for some movements for pitchers and position players and in other sports, but not in the fine motor skill of hitting. Plus, you can always come back to the drill and for as many times needed in 10 minutes sessions, barring joint stress and injury from high or excessive reps. Emphasis should be placed on alternating 10 minute drills and muscle groups to be worked.

Additionally, I developed the frisbee T Drill to improve getting the lead hand through the zone faster on inside pitches. Poly balls work great with this drill. A special angled T had to be made to allow for contact off the hips. The was designed to simulate where the lead hand should be on inside pitches. A regular T can be used to simulate outside corner pitches when there a 2 strikes in the count and a need to protect the plate. 20 years ago during my college coaching stint we'd wrap a newspaper with tape or a thick broom handle covered with pipe insulation & then taped over with either athletic tape or duct tape, and threw it with the lead hand at a baseball on a T. Both drills are still viable today.

The speed bag station has caught on with others! I've had the speed bag among my stations for hitters for some time now. It's great for eye-hand coordination and building forearm strength. This station also fits in well with the Combat Hitting philosophy...controlled aggression. 

In an effort to have a variety of stations, I now use the Wii and its Table Tennis game. The one exception is that you have to add wrist weights while you play. To have the endurance to play this 10 minute drill will take some practice to accomplish, but well worth it.

Successful Hitting 101

The Combat Hitting Formula for Success

Mental: 70%

Visual: 15%

Physical: 15%

These percentages equate to the time and effort required to be a successful hitter and are aquired through 10 minute drills. Drills that run past 10 minutes lead to innervation and poor mechanics. You can always come back to a particular drill later. Keep the mind fresh.

Leaping At The Opportunity To Hit
On Deck Prep and In Box Attitude

It's been said by many and multiple times that you get your hits in the on deck circle. If they can't qualify that statement, then it's only noise. Again, as stated in previous blog posts, a disciplined mental approach using a hitting system that works is a major component to being a successful hitter. If you employ such a system while on deck and in box, you'll be ripping line drives until the world looks level.

Preparing to hit on deck and in box means, as picky as it may seem, that proper hitting mechanics and an aggressive approach are important to maintaining hitting mechanics integrity and having successful at bats. To accomplish this in the Combat Hitting system, destructive muscle memory killers are removed and forbidden. The top of the throw out list is the softball swing... at anytime. If it doesn't look like a line drive swing, don't do it. Also, the pre-load bat waggle is not conducive to retaining a still head or the correct hitting muscle memory. Although it is not an uppercut swing or a swing of any type, it leads to problems. As an ex scout, I can tell you the problems with the feet and hands are the hardest to overcome. Feet and hand problems make you a "NP", a no prospect also known as a Zero in the OFP. You may argue that a waggle helps you in getting your hands started, but I've seen that it's of little or no benefit. The thought that it is useful in overcoming inertia in the launch stage is debatable. It does have a high propensity to lead to a hitch...especially if your hand and wrist strength can't handle a waggle. The end result will be the barrell dropping below the hands creating a hole in your swing. Expect to be pitched up and in routinely with this flaw.

Another case for eliminating the waggle is the probability of causing innervation* and blurred vision.
(Innervation* is an ugly beast in baseball. It likes to show up when there's blurred vision caused by tracking pitches with more than 4 eye muscles in each eye when hitting, and occurs after 10 minutes of repititious drills)

More ON DECK Prep

In the Combat Hitting system you're taught to desensitize your nervous system in your pre-at bat prep. Not only have I borrowed strength and stretching techniques from the Russian Sports Program, but I have incorporated many aspects from the Martial Arts as well...hence the name Combat Hitting was derived.

Desensitizing the nervous system by breathing techniques followed with the toe to head slap down, will have a positive physiological hitting effect. Additional on deck prep, which includes the hitting mantra with muscle memory work, a quick depth perception drill and fine tuning your visual acuity.

Forget the bat weight. Overloading changes your hitting mechanics and the lighter bat feel only lasts for 20 seconds before the bat feels heavier than it is. In essence you're causing yourself to be weaker during your at bat.

Once in the box, you're ready to start your IN BOX routine to sharpen your focus.

"Cs" The Benefit, etc.

Make a small C slowly with the middle knuckle on the middle finger of the lead hand as your hands begin their path to explode through the ball. The reason for doing this in a slow manner is because a slow start enables the hitter to keep their head still and maintain positive tracking of the pitch. I won't use this forum for specifics, but I adhere to Dr. Bill Harrison's Vision Training for teaching proper visual acuity by limiting the number of eyes muscles used in hitting which in turn prevents blurring the hitter's vision during pitch tracking...a.k.a. fine centering/soft centering.

Hitting is an act of controlled aggression. To be a good hitter that can consistently drive a pitch, you must put yourself into the role of being the aggressor in a confrontation with the pitcher.

I teach a form of recycling made famous by Tim Galwey years ago. My hitters develop a personalized hitting mantra with my assistance as part of a hitting routine. Once the hitting routine is in their subconscious, they'll recycle their HM (hitting mantra) before each pitch. Recycling the HM in the hitting routine can provide you with an effective system in your hitting development.

Wake Up Call For The Rangers' Chris Davis

I wonder if Chris Davis realizes that he's just a couple of swing adjustments away from being the next Adam Dunn? Fortunately, he's just minutes away from metroplex pro hitting instructor Jaime Cevallos over in Grapevine, and I know he knows the fixes needed for his swing. Hopefully, someone will get the word out to Chris so he can turn his career around *now*... at a young age. 

Also, I'm in no way connected to Jaime Cevallos or his Swing Mechanic business, but I wouldn't be complaining if I were connected. He certainly has a track record with all levels of hitters...especially pro hitters...pretty impressive.