Increase bat spped?

[TheStrike3yourout]

Thanks for the feed back, due to a hand injury in the past my DD's 1st priority when gripping a bat is the basics of what the bat jack does.

DOH, I just realized I spelled "spped" wrong in the title. I clearly meant speed!

Yeah, that Bat Jack is pretty cool. Good luck to both you and your DD on increasing her bat speed. All your effort, especially at this age, will pay out huge dividends in the future (and she will thank you for it).

 

[Whip Strip]

Looking for tips, tricks and drills to help increase bat speed. If it is an excersise that contain weights please share that as well.

I invite you to check out my product at www.WhipStrip.com

Thanks!

Erik

 

[jbooth]

I invite you to check out my product at www.WhipStrip.com

Thanks!

Erik

Looks like something OK for Slow-Pitch. I wouldn't use it for fast pitch.

 

[Whip Strip]

Looks like something OK for Slow-Pitch. I wouldn't use it for fast pitch.

I too thought the exact same thing.

But the fast pitch players really seem to like it alot. Even the ones that choke up on the bat a bit. It helps with additional grip and top hand release. Mostly what I hear is they feel "secure" using it and more comfortable at the plate. This increases confidence and as you know...90% of hitting is the proper state of mind/confidence stepping into the box.

Us slow pitch players use it on the index finger, but it does seem like the girls prefer it on the middle finger.

Try one if you have a player in the home. Don't like it? no problem, send it back and I'll refund it.

Erik

 

[jbooth]

I too thought the exact same thing.

But the fast pitch players really seem to like it alot. Even the ones that choke up on the bat a bit. It helps with additional grip and top hand release. Mostly what I hear is they feel "secure" using it and more comfortable at the plate. This increases confidence and as you know...90% of hitting is the proper state of mind/confidence stepping into the box.

Us slow pitch players use it on the index finger, but it does seem like the girls prefer it on the middle finger.

Try one if you have a player in the home. Don't like it? no problem, send it back and I'll refund it.

Erik

When you say, "top hand release", do you literally mean let go of the bat with the top hand, or do you mean; get the top hand through?

You simply applied the laws of physics that a longer bat will have a contact point farther from the axis of rotation, and greater tangential acceleration and momentum, but in fast pitch you need bat control. I don't see being able to control the bat as well, holding it at the end like that. It may work fine at 12u, but trying to get the barrel to drops, curves and rises, seems like a possible issue to me.

 

[Mr T]

I have never made any special effort to increase bat speed with my daughter, she does some over and under load with bat weights and she uses a bat her pitching coach has with fins attached for resistance and swings with it some. I’ve tried to make sure she is as mechanical sound in her swing as possible. She uses the grip and swing mechanics I’ve learned from Howard/Hitters post.

Howard advised to focus on landing on a flexed front knee, then the grip he advised that the proper grip is where they get the biggest increase in bat speed and the work on turning the hip as the back elbow is dropping. IMO a good finish and finishing over the back shoulder also helps.

I never knew daughter’s swing speed it had never been tested and this weekend at an exposure tournament they were testing the kids, I was not there medical condition and extreme heat. She called me at home excited her speeds were 76, 79, and 81. She advised they had a black box and she was told to swing and get as close to the box without hitting it as she could. She advised that the people at the tournament was making a bid deal about her swing speed and she was excited.

That's great bat speed for softball as far as I know. That's a neat story and I am glad your DD can really let it fly.

One nitpick, does Howard really say the grip is the most important thing for bat speed? I like howard, I like Jim and bought 2 bat jacks, but I would never say that the grip is the most important determinant of bat speed.

 

[starsnuffer]

My daughter has had really good success using underloading. Her hitting instructor has experimented quite a bit with it, starting with Candrea's underloading plan and then simplifying it. Now, she does 60 swings off a T with a very light (17oz) bat, and then 60 swings off a T with her game bat (22 oz endloaded) 3 times a week outside of her normal practice/lessons. Her bat speed was measured before and after 6 weeks of this and increased by 8mph. She had good mechanics prior to this (her HI will not do bat speed work until mechanics are very solid) but she did continue to work on mechanics during this period, focusing on extension and top hand release. We've not measured her bat speed in a few months, but her performance in games has paid off.

-W

 

[SBFAMILY]

It is one of the important issues. I don't recall the statement the most important, but without it you are doomed. The grip was tested in the lab at UCLA with Don Slaught. We have found with the improved grip you average around 2 to 4 MPH improvement in base speed. One of the issues with the grip is not just base speed. Take a slow motion video of when the bat makes contact with the ball and watch the Trampoline effect the bat comes backwards when you have a weak grip. With the correct grip you can see the impact is stronger. Test it yourself. Take the bat to contact with different grips and have someone push the bat back. You can feel which grip is stronger and gives you a greater impact. My students can hear the difference when hitting with the improved grip.
I agree with jbooth above.

 

[PEPPERS]

That's great bat speed for softball as far as I know. That's a neat story and I am glad your DD can really let it fly.

One nitpick, does Howard really say the grip is the most important thing for bat speed? I like howard, I like Jim and bought 2 bat jacks, but I would never say that the grip is the most important determinant of bat speed.

I certainly don’t speak for Howard, but I recall from his post that the quickest increase in bat speed they see at the clinics they do, is when they correct the grip. I do not recall him posting that the grip is the most important thing for for bat speed.

 

[SBFAMILY]

He just Pm'd me. PEPPERS post above is correct and he agrees about the device. Use the bat jack, not the above device.