Front Toss Batting Practice

[FPMark]

IMO, it's the "how" that's the challenge if you want to be a successfull hitting instructor. Often times high-level athletes are among the worst at trying to teach how to do something because they don't actually do what they think they do. It's about being able to communicate with individuals with varying levels of ability and different learning styles.

Obviously, you can't teach hitting without knowing "how" it is done. But how hitters hit is visible in slow motion video. That is the point.

When looking at high level swings you can look at them in slow motion, or even frame by frame, and see exactly how they swing the bat. The key is understanding "why" they do it that way. "Why" does the hitter hold the bat the way s/he does? "Why" does the hitter move the way s/he does? If you understand the "why", the "how" begins to make a lot more since.

How and Why are both critical to understanding the high level swing. It makes it much easier to determine what aspects of the swing are important mechanics, and which are "style". How Pujols holds the bat is not debateable because we can see it on video. Why he holds it that way IS debateable and the answer can lead to a better understanding of propper grip and hitting in general.

The better we understand, the easier it is to teach, because it can be taught to different hitters by useing different methods, depending on their ability to learn.

 

[softballphreak]

Video is the critical link once you have a pretty good understanding of what to look for. You can see things that you didn't really see before. Players can see the things you see for themselves. Almost every player makes comments similar to "oh, ok, I see what you're talking about."

If I had only one recommendation for improving hitting instruction, I would recommend video. Video of games, video of practice. Video at the beginning to current level.

 

[Justanotherdad]

Video is a great "modern day" invention that greatly enhances the success of a player. However, you gotta be careful not to try and turn your kid into a "robot" when comparing video. I don't do video as much as I used to because it tends to cause me to over think things. I start over analyzing everything and I think that is a quick path to wrecking a kid when you start nit picking every little thing that they can't duplicate from the pro you're comparing them to.

All in all, I still think a T, when used correctly and as long as the instructor can interpret ball path off the T, is the most essential tool in an instructors tool bag.

The flexibility of the t when working on mechanics is paramount to burning in the muscle memory required to develop a good swing. Throw in drills like long t where the student has to really focus on her mechanics to acheive the desired result and you have a formula for success. Then start working on elements of timing, location and different speeds such as you can do with front toss and I think a kid can be very successful.

I used to think you needed all kinds of different gadgets and pitching machines and anything else I could find. None of that really worked. I took away the insider bats, the whip hits, the pitching machine and just went with a bucket of balls, a tanner tee, 12 TCB's and a front toss net.

We now do a lot of T work. And as has been stated here before, we no longer hit into a T a couple feet in front of us. We do long T trying to hit the ball right into the net and we also do open field T work working on pulling the inside pitch, hitting the middle pitch right back up the middle and taking the outside pitch opposite field. We do this on a baseball diamond so we can see the flight and we can guess if the hit would have been an out or not based on its flight path and where it lands. This is powerful for my kids, I would argue more powerful than seeing a video of themselves looking different than a pro. They know what would be an out and they work to not hit the ball in a way that it would be an out. As we do the T drills we are constantly having conversations as it pertains to their mechanics and different things to try so they can get the desired results. I still look at the video from time to time but I don't make it a focus. We focus on getting successful swings with successful results.

By taking this route, along with front toss for timing and working on "going with the pitch" both of my kids have immensely improved this year and I am not constantly stressing over every little nuance of their video'ed swing.

Don't get me wrong, I still like reading all the technical stuff and I really work hard on trying to get my kids "in the pattern", but I don't make it such a focus that they hate going to the field with me.

 

[Greenmonsters]

Obviously, you can't teach hitting without knowing "how" it is done. But how hitters hit is visible in slow motion video. That is the point.

When looking at high level swings you can look at them in slow motion, or even frame by frame, and see exactly how they swing the bat. The key is understanding "why" they do it that way. "Why" does the hitter hold the bat the way s/he does? "Why" does the hitter move the way s/he does? If you understand the "why", the "how" begins to make a lot more since.

How and Why are both critical to understanding the high level swing. It makes it much easier to determine what aspects of the swing are important mechanics, and which are "style". How Pujols holds the bat is not debateable because we can see it on video. Why he holds it that way IS debateable and the answer can lead to a better understanding of propper grip and hitting in general.

The better we understand, the easier it is to teach, because it can be taught to different hitters by useing different methods, depending on their ability to learn.

I agree with the last statement if its clarified to include ...AND THE INSTRUCTOR'S ABILITY TO TEACH

FPMark - the "how" I'm talking about is the "teaching" of what to do. A comprehensive understanding of the "what" to do (video is a great tool) and "why" its done is a critical aspect, but by themselves these don't magically equate to providing effective instruction. IME, some of the worst professors or teachers I ever had were actually some of the brightest and most intellectually gifted individuals I've ever met; however, they couldn't effectively teach nimrods like me because they couldn't communicate or translate what they knew in a way or manner that I could grasp. IMO, it takes a unique skill set to be an effective teacher, whether the subject is hitting, 2nd grade, or quantum mechanics. When players or students don't get something, sometimes its not their fault, but rather actually due to the limitations of their teacher.

FWIW, while the what and why for BB/SB hitting and throwing are essentially identical, I believe the "how" you need to use to teach girls is different than the "how" typically used to teach boys.

 

[SBFAMILY]

I spent about 6 hours with Howard the Friday after Thanksgiving. I was in the Youngstown area to visit family and work up at about 3 AM to make the trip to Cincinatti. I spent the most of the day in his garage taking swings, talking about instruction (especially the differences between male/female instruction) and covered a lot more than just swinging the bat. I definitely got a little chill when I swung a Bustos bat. Howard is very creative and intuitive in his teaching. You should see all of the teaching tools he has created. Having info posted makes him an easy target, but ultimately people have to choose what to follow. Post count does translate to credibility on forums, so

I had written a post in this thread yesterday, then deleted it. I don't want Ken to ban me. The comments with the "hitting is hitting, words are words" type stuff really bothers me. Changing movement patterns is a very difficult, mental process. We (the internet hitting community) can argue all day about teaching styles, how to achieve changes, etc... but the actual goal for the swing should be clearly defined regardless of what the goal is and the hitter and instructor should be working toward that. With female hitters, there are huge obstacles with weight shift. Understanding the differences between male and female hitters is very important in being able to teach females.

I firmly believe that swinging the bat is the best way to become a teacher. The better the student, the better the teacher. I made it further than most in baseball, but looking at how I teach now compared to even two years ago I feel like my playing career held me back from being objective. Feeling the swing, feeling different cues, feeling failure... You can look at as much video as you want, but unless you film, try to duplicate, go through the trial and error then you are just guessing. Even if you have ideal mechanics, it doesn't mean you can teach them.

This is an old post by Teaks , who is a pretty good baseball hitting coach who posts on many of the baseball sites. On the subject of using video.

 

[FPMark]

GM- I agree with everything you said.... "The instructors ability to teach" was what I meant by teaching "different hitters by useing different methods, depending on their ability to learn." My post was mostly in reference to learning, but you are correct in that learning is only the beginning. Being able to teach what is learned is critical also, but it is hard to teach what you don't understand.

 

[Greenmonsters]

GM- I agree with everything you said.... "The instructors ability to teach" was what I meant by teaching "different hitters by useing different methods, depending on their ability to learn." My post was mostly in reference to learning, but you are correct in that learning is only the beginning. Being able to teach what is learned is critical also, but it is hard to teach what you don't understand.

Absolutely. I think you can usually evaluate what an instructor knows by checking out several of their students. If I like what I see, then I try to watch them teach a lesson to someone else to evaluate how effective they are at communicating what they know. If that passes muster, I'll ask them about their basic teaching approach and philosophy and I am comfortable with what I hear, then I have no reservation about having DD see them or recommending them to others. IME, there aren't too many that reach the full approval status and even some that do may not be a good for every student as one size doesn't fit all

 

[softballphreak]

Video is a great "modern day" invention that greatly enhances the success of a player. However, you gotta be careful not to try and turn your kid into a "robot" when comparing video. I don't do video as much as I used to because it tends to cause me to over think things. I start over analyzing everything and I think that is a quick path to wrecking a kid when you start nit picking every little thing that they can't duplicate from the pro you're comparing them to.

All in all, I still think a T, when used correctly and as long as the instructor can interpret ball path off the T, is the most essential tool in an instructors tool bag.

The flexibility of the t when working on mechanics is paramount to burning in the muscle memory required to develop a good swing. Throw in drills like long t where the student has to really focus on her mechanics to acheive the desired result and you have a formula for success. Then start working on elements of timing, location and different speeds such as you can do with front toss and I think a kid can be very successful.

I used to think you needed all kinds of different gadgets and pitching machines and anything else I could find. None of that really worked. I took away the insider bats, the whip hits, the pitching machine and just went with a bucket of balls, a tanner tee, 12 TCB's and a front toss net.

We now do a lot of T work. And as has been stated here before, we no longer hit into a T a couple feet in front of us. We do long T trying to hit the ball right into the net and we also do open field T work working on pulling the inside pitch, hitting the middle pitch right back up the middle and taking the outside pitch opposite field. We do this on a baseball diamond so we can see the flight and we can guess if the hit would have been an out or not based on its flight path and where it lands. This is powerful for my kids, I would argue more powerful than seeing a video of themselves looking different than a pro. They know what would be an out and they work to not hit the ball in a way that it would be an out. As we do the T drills we are constantly having conversations as it pertains to their mechanics and different things to try so they can get the desired results. I still look at the video from time to time but I don't make it a focus. We focus on getting successful swings with successful results.

By taking this route, along with front toss for timing and working on "going with the pitch" both of my kids have immensely improved this year and I am not constantly stressing over every little nuance of their video'ed swing.

Don't get me wrong, I still like reading all the technical stuff and I really work hard on trying to get my kids "in the pattern", but I don't make it such a focus that they hate going to the field with me.

Love it! Especially the tee work!

I don't use video with strict comparisons to elite batters necessarily. I use for things like a couple nights ago this kid was dropping her hands down to her waist almost before she swung. She didn't get it when I tried to get her to correct it. One of the other coaches took some video of her on his iPhone looking gadget. We let her watch it right after she batted. "Oh, I see. I didn't know I was doing that." That's the kind of video I'm talking about.

Another example I thought a kid was dipping her shoulder too much. After watching the video, the shoulder was fine, she was dumping the barrel of the bat right before contact.

Maybe at my age video can slow it down enough for me to see.

 

[softballphreak]

I agree with the last statement if its clarified to include ...AND THE INSTRUCTOR'S ABILITY TO TEACH

FPMark - the "how" I'm talking about is the "teaching" of what to do. A comprehensive understanding of the "what" to do (video is a great tool) and "why" its done is a critical aspect, but by themselves these don't magically equate to providing effective instruction. IME, some of the worst professors or teachers I ever had were actually some of the brightest and most intellectually gifted individuals I've ever met; however, they couldn't effectively teach nimrods like me because they couldn't communicate or translate what they knew in a way or manner that I could grasp. IMO, it takes a unique skill set to be an effective teacher, whether the subject is hitting, 2nd grade, or quantum mechanics. When players or students don't get something, sometimes its not their fault, but rather actually due to the limitations of their teacher.

FWIW, while the what and why for BB/SB hitting and throwing are essentially identical, I believe the "how" you need to use to teach girls is different than the "how" typically used to teach boys.

I would say this is the case the vast majority of the time. At least it has been when I'm teaching. But I'm working on it.

I'll pass on the last paragraph.

 

[PEPPERS]

Love it! Especially the tee work!

I don't use video with strict comparisons to elite batters necessarily. I use for things like a couple nights ago this kid was dropping her hands down to her waist almost before she swung. She didn't get it when I tried to get her to correct it. One of the other coaches took some video of her on his iPhone looking gadget. We let her watch it right after she batted. "Oh, I see. I didn't know I was doing that." That's the kind of video I'm talking about.

Another example I thought a kid was dipping her shoulder too much. After watching the video, the shoulder was fine, she was dumping the barrel of the bat right before contact.

Maybe at my age video can slow it down enough for me to see.

A lot of times a hitter does not feel/do what we see, slow motion video can and does show hitters exactly what they are doing and so does swings in front of a mirror although not as detailed as a video. I would think no one would be against hitters watch and studying video of great hitters. For me it is not a mean to an end.
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Transferring what we see in a video, into what we need to do at the plate is a different issue. Different athletic abilities, body types and strength has a lot to do with it. I don’t know any hitting coaches in our area that shows video of great hitters to students to teach hitting. Some do show that hitter videos of themselves to teach hitters to correct mechanics.

My daughters pitching coach uses video of great pitchers, not for the mechanics, but to show how a certain pitch should break, then he teaches her the mechanics to get that break.

JMO.