Thank you Hitter.
I wasn't able to locate Verduci's article titled "Hitters Rule". If anyone has a link to it, or can attach the PDF version, it would be appreciated.
A book I enjoyed on the topic is "Keep Your Eye On The Ball" by Robert Watts and A. Bahill.
I don't doubt that good hitters keep their head down. Not only do you offer a reason for it, but that's what I see in the best hitters.
You don't see this nonsense .....
You instead see this (focus on the head) .....
I've had girls performing tee swings with their eyes closed also ... and yes, they were able to make solid contact. I used to do this with pitching, and brought it over from my training there.
Regarding placing a white rag on the tee .... I do something similar ... yet different. Let me use "long tee" as an example. I hang a visual aid on the back of the cage wall ... this serves as a reference point for the girls to be looking at ... they are directed to think of an imaginary pitcher. I then place a second tee about 6-8ft in-front of the plate. The girls will initiate their swing while looking at the marker on the back of the cage wall, and their eyes shift to the second tee at 'contact' and through 'extension'.
I want my "long tee" drills to incorporate "eye tracking". I do not want the girls 'looking' at the tee that they are hitting off of ... as that is not where their eyes will be directed during live swings.
FiveFrame
We do a lot of vision work! This is why I started the thread on tracking and there is some good stuff in there we use and why. We let the hitter pick their stance based on if the can get a good two eyed look while looking into a mirror. We want to be able to see the white area around the lead eye. Usually the pupil/ dark area of the eye can only be seen which causes a strain in the eye socket and prevents getting the two eyed look comfortably. I will turn their head so this happens and then in most cases if the move the back foot 2 to 4 inches or less the strain I induced in their neck and shoulder muscles will be gone. I only have three kids who use a closed stance and all three had lazy eye surgery.
Look at the Big Boys of hitting, Ortiz comes to mind and you can see his chest is turned a little more than he use to be so he can see the ball better in my opinion. Everyone points out how Pete Rose tracked the ball by turning his head towards the catcher....I have never seen him actually hit a pitch doing that however Pete being the show man he was that was a take all the way and we are still talking it and his running to first base.
Caution: When using a strobe light ask if anyone has had seizures or is prone to seizures as it has been thought to trigger seizures in some situations.
I use a strobe light to prove the point on giving the head a head start tracking. I darken the garage and the strobe light is mounted directly over the hitters head. I have done this with some members of Team USA and they did not hit a ball using what I consider normal tracking techniques. You would see the bat just over the top of the ball and it became frustrating for one especially and I told her she would not hit a ball tracking the way she always has. She laughed and said OK Big Guy what is the secret? I told her to look at the red lights on my stereo system which is on the other side of the net and then turn her nose towards me while keeping her eyes on the red lights and this would give her head a head start and then to allow her eyes to track the ball out of my hand. She could see the ball using her peripheral vision as I moved my hand and this loose it because her eyes could not move smoothly in the socket as she tried to track it. When she gave the head a head start she hit every ball in the middle exactly and then I called for top, middle and bottom and she could do it!. When we turned the lights back on and hit she could not believe the difference of giving the head a head start gave her. I have had students tell me the ball looks bigger and seems to slow down tracking it this way.
What I have noticed over the years is when I do the blind fold test and I do it for confidence, they will not hit the ball very well if at all IF they do not use the exact mechanics that they would use without the blind fold. If they do not set up in their stance and look ahead and then turn the nose the same way they have been taught they are swinging over the ball or hit the tee. The vestibulo system sends signals to the deep tendons and joints of the muscles where your body is in space and time through the inner ear where the tiny hairs move like waves in the ocean sending signals to the brain so we stay balanced. Try this...take a step forward and stop and you will be steady. Now make a prediction that you will be unsteady and close the eyes and take a step. The toes and ankles are fighting for where are we? Without the eyes being able to see the horizon it becomes difficult to stay balanced. However we can operate in the dark and swing a bat IF we do it the exact same way as we would if we could see.
Thanks Howard
