Overcoming Inertia At Launch

"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.

A Hitting Must: POST PITCH RECYCLING

Clear your head and gear up with a post pitch recycling mental message:
By combining several of the more popular practices currently in use today and targeted specifically to make hitters more aggressive, I've created a Hitting Mantra.
Caveat: The Hitting Mantra must be repeated often just like a meditation mantra to take root in the subconscious mind.

A Hitting Mantra (HM) contains metaphysical, spiritual, and epigenetic thoughts which also include powerful hitting affirmations. For those that want or need more details or definitions of the aspects that make up the Hitting Mantra than what's provided in the following instructions, please email me.

Each HM begins with giving thanks to a HIGHER BEING which inferences your ultimate goal of playing for something greater than yourself. As ong as you believe in a Higher Power, doors seem to open with this approach from my experience. If you love GOD, then you should also love yourself. The love yourself message in the Hitting Mantra can make you into a new, confident hitter. As further proof that love is powerful, Epigenetics is proving that an 'I love me' belief has a genetic effect. Therefore, re-wire yourself to a better career with a love yourself thought. 

Also included in the Hitting Mantra are powerful affirmations of developing yourself into a better hitter than you currently believe you are and a “gear up”, aggressive belief that every pitch is your pitch to hit.

An example of a personalized HM for a major leaguer playing in the A.L. would be:
Praise GOD. 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.

A California HS player’s HM might be: Praise GOD. 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.

The HM 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.

If you are thinking that the HM is a little too “out there” for you, just remember that the practice of recycling was also thought of in the same manner when it first came on the scene. It has become the norm for the better hitters and I predict that the Hitting Mantra will also become the norm in the near future. If you have doubts about it, give it a legitimate try and you will see a measurable improvement in your hitting performance.

Posada Starting To Turn It Around As Predicted

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/Saturday-night-8217-s-alright-for-fighting-Pos?urn=mlb-wp6413

My comment when the negatives toward Posada were being tossed around:

Sun May 15, 2011 01:46 pm PDT

It's obvious that Posada can still turn on the inside fastball and still has hiiting skills at age 39, but his attitude and mental prepping toward "DHing" is somewhere else.

Summer Game Hitting Routine

On Deck Circle

Begin mental prepping with your pre-pitch Hitting Mantra while reinforcing your muscle memory with the MP30 Training Bat.  Avoid overloading with extra wt. which include the use of a batting weight, sledge hammer, swinging with 2 bats, etc. See previous post on the kinesthetic overload effect causing weakness after 20 seconds of discontinuation of the on-deck overload work.

Get rid of anything that you're chewing before stepping into the batter's box. Chewing will blur your vision by using more than the ideal number of eye muscles for hitting. Limiting the number of eye muscles to 4 of the 13 muscles facilitates the eye-brain visual effect phenomena of slowing the pitch down and enlarging the ball to occur while tracking a pitch. See vision and hitting post.

Lastly, have a towel on deck to wipe sweat from the hands before you apply rosin and pine tar to help get a grip on your game bat.

NEXT

Repeat before the 1^st pitch and after each sequential pitch...

Outside box if league rules allow:

      Situational Awareness:

          Know outs and base runners' locations

      Depth Perception Tune Up:

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

          Begin Pre-Pitch Personal Hitting Mantra (See Hitting Mantra/Mental

          Routine Blog)

          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

      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)                  

Rangers replace hitting coach Bosley

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-rangers-hittingcoachfired

Thad's a very personable guy with a strong background in bio-mechanical analysis. He began his interest in bio-mechanic software and hitting analysis back in its early stages after he and the Rangers were filmed and analyzed in '89 by Tom House's Bio-Kinetics' team. I remember him being very interested in improving bat speed, power, and contact consistency from the analysis he received. I'm just guessing that this is a rare case where the chemistry wasn't right because he's a pretty bright, competent guy. He will be picked up quickly by another organization and be an asset to them.