This is excellent instruction. I coach a combined Freshman/JV high school team in San Diego. Like most teams in our area, our team struggles to hit good pitching. We use this drill at the beginning of the season as part of our tryout evaluations. Through the season, we use Pro Speed Baseball drills extensively.
+Neil harrington Hey Neil, thanks so much for the comment. It made my day! It's very motivating to hear the instruction and drills are well received and being put to good use. If there's anything I can ever help with, feel free to contact me anytime! michael AT prospeedbaseball DOT com ~Michael Pro Speed Baseball
Terrific drill! I'll use it at my next little league practice. I really like your conclusive comments from 5:38 to 6:00 which validate the benefits of rotational swing principles. I'm primarily the batting coach. I'm constantly fighting off back technique taught be uninformed, all be it well meaning, dads and coaches that repeat cliche's like 'throw your hands at the ball' or 'the knob...' and 'for more power... move your body thru the ball'. The worst is 'lock your back elbow into your side'. Creates bat lag and drains power. Glad to be a subscriber!
+Kevin Klippel Hey Kevin, thanks for the awesome comment! Glad to have you as a subscriber! If there's anything I can ever help with, just let me know! ~Michael Pro Speed Baseball
+Steven Boggs Hey Steven, thanks for the question! A rule of thumb with all drills is to use them to help your individual swing. That being said, if you are having an issue, do drills for however long you need to do them. It will be different for every hitter. Me personally, I would do some drills if I was struggling with certain aspects of hitting, and then stop doing them after I got the hang of it. And if that issue ever popped back up, then I popped back to the drill! That being said, there are other drills that I would do every single time I practiced. On the other side of that, for a lot of drills, you need to give them adequate time to set in to aid your swing. Meaning, stick to the drill until you dominate it. This will differ from hitter to hitter as well. To give you a simple answer: Most drills need to be done 500-1000 QUALITY reps minimum, to really make an impact. I say "quality" because it's not as simple as going to the cage and doing the drill 500 times. The reps need to be thought about and concentrated on. Also meaning you should always be trying to make it better and better. Hope this answers you question and helps out. If you have any more questions on this or anything else, just let us know! ~Michael Pro Speed Baseball
Coach great video wanted to know if this will work for me because my head doesn’t pull out I just always have it locked on the pitcher and am not sure what to do
My son is 8 and he tends to lock 🔐 his front arm out a bit which is slowing his swing down a bit to much, any tips on this flaw? Oh & he also dips his back shoulder a bit too which is causing him to turn his head sideways, is this a product of him wrapping his bat to far back? Thanks in advance!
Have you looked at slo mo of Ken Griffey Jr? His front arm is locked and tight to his chest just before and at contact. Look at others too, Ruth, Williams...
+Munchie Eater Thanks for the question! Have your parent/guardian send it in for you! We do get lots of emails so it might be a little bit until we get back to you, but we sure will! ~Michael Pro Speed Baseball
+Caleb Conner I use either a C243 or an I13, or something close to those models. They are slightly bigger barrels which makes them a little more top heavy, but that's what I like. I would suggest finding one you like and are comfortable with. Also, if you play with an aluminum bat, i would also suggest to practice with something similar, especially in season. Wood and medal bats can throw off your feel if they are too differently balanced. Hope this helps, thanks for the question! ~Michael Pro Speed Baseball
+Jon Baker From the down-the-line view, the spine angle in the baseball swing, the same as in golf, will be relatively close from hitter to hitter. Like golf, we are going to want to make sure that we maintain our spine angle and that we are not "standing up" at contact. Ideally from the face-on view, the spine angle will be tilted slightly away from center field. When the weight shift is overdone, sometimes the spine angle is tilted too far away. Hope this answers your question! If you have any other questions on this or anything else, just let me know! ~ Michael Pro Speed Baseball
My name is Jake and I have not been able to make good contact and when I do make good contact I hit it right to someone so I was wondering if you would tell me how to make good contact and hit it in to gaps. Thx
do you have a video on how to accurately make contact with the ball? Right now, for every 10 pitches, I'm only hitting 1 or 2 times, which is really bad. All my coach tells me is I just got to keep practicing my swing more, but I want to know what I'm doing wrong... Thx :)
+Gunbardo Hey Gunbardo, thanks for the question! Currently we don't have any videos specifically on "accurate contact," however, they are all made in mind of making the best contact possible with the ball. I would highly recommend checking out the Swing Plane Secret Videos: th-cam.com/video/a_tJvSCvgRE/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/Pg7J0PVNW4k/w-d-xo.html they will be a great place to start with getting more consistent contact and understanding what exactly happens when we swing a bat. Hope these help! If you have any other questions on this or anything else, just let us know! ~Michael Pro Speed Baseball
Other than rolling over, the next biggest reason for hitting ground balls off the tee that I have seen is flying open with the upper body too soon. But a close third for too many ground balls off the tee is improper head movements explained in the video. Nice eye! ~Michael Pro Speed Baseball
Get a framing hammer and practice your swing by driving a 1 inch roofing nail into a square wooden post in one swing. When you can do it, get a longer nail with a smaller head. Also can draw a small dot on the center of the ball and drive off a tee. Focus on the dot, not just the ball. Train your dominant eye to see the center of the ball, fixes the head pulling out.
+Dastan P25 Thanks for the question. There's a great drill you can do to help if you're late on the ball. What you do is simply set out a marker (glove, ball, cone, towel, etc...) a few feet in front of home plate. (towards the pitcher's mound) Then you will attempt to time the ball to hit it as it passes over the marker. If you are still late, move the marker further in front of the plate until you get your timing down. Hope this helps! If you have any questions, just let us know! ~Michael Pro Speed Baseball
This is excellent instruction. I coach a combined Freshman/JV high school team in San Diego. Like most teams in our area, our team struggles to hit good pitching.
We use this drill at the beginning of the season as part of our tryout evaluations. Through the season, we use Pro Speed Baseball drills extensively.
+Neil harrington Hey Neil, thanks so much for the comment. It made my day! It's very motivating to hear the instruction and drills are well received and being put to good use.
If there's anything I can ever help with, feel free to contact me anytime! michael AT prospeedbaseball DOT com
~Michael Pro Speed Baseball
Terrific drill! I'll use it at my next little league practice. I really like your conclusive comments from 5:38 to 6:00 which validate the benefits of rotational swing principles. I'm primarily the batting coach. I'm constantly fighting off back technique taught be uninformed, all be it well meaning, dads and coaches that repeat cliche's like 'throw your hands at the ball' or 'the knob...' and 'for more power... move your body thru the ball'. The worst is 'lock your back elbow into your side'. Creates bat lag and drains power.
Glad to be a subscriber!
+Kevin Klippel Hey Kevin, thanks for the awesome comment! Glad to have you as a subscriber! If there's anything I can ever help with, just let me know! ~Michael Pro Speed Baseball
Question for most drills that you've uploaded on youtube... How many times should we practice these each week?
+Steven Boggs Hey Steven, thanks for the question! A rule of thumb with all drills is to use them to help your individual swing. That being said, if you are having an issue, do drills for however long you need to do them.
It will be different for every hitter. Me personally, I would do some drills if I was struggling with certain aspects of hitting, and then stop doing them after I got the hang of it. And if that issue ever popped back up, then I popped back to the drill!
That being said, there are other drills that I would do every single time I practiced.
On the other side of that, for a lot of drills, you need to give them adequate time to set in to aid your swing. Meaning, stick to the drill until you dominate it. This will differ from hitter to hitter as well.
To give you a simple answer: Most drills need to be done 500-1000 QUALITY reps minimum, to really make an impact. I say "quality" because it's not as simple as going to the cage and doing the drill 500 times. The reps need to be thought about and concentrated on. Also meaning you should always be trying to make it better and better.
Hope this answers you question and helps out.
If you have any more questions on this or anything else, just let us know! ~Michael Pro Speed Baseball
very nice.
I've seen ton of top prospects throw there hands back behind the line your describing with great success.
Coach great video wanted to know if this will work for me because my head doesn’t pull out I just always have it locked on the pitcher and am not sure what to do
Hey Micheal, I'm 13 in my first year of pony league. I'm having trouble keeping my feet equal and set at the plate, any drills for that?
Regarding overall mechanics have you tried front arm only swings?
Awesome Drill 😀😀😀 Thank you!! ❤💛❤💛❤
My son is 8 and he tends to lock 🔐 his front arm out a bit which is slowing his swing down a bit to much, any tips on this flaw? Oh & he also dips his back shoulder a bit too which is causing him to turn his head sideways, is this a product of him wrapping his bat to far back? Thanks in advance!
Have you looked at slo mo of Ken Griffey Jr? His front arm is locked and tight to his chest just before and at contact. Look at others too, Ruth, Williams...
THANK YOU SOOO much this drill helped me a lot thx thx thx :-)
+spin club kidz You are most welcome, glad it's helping! Thanks for the awesome comment!
~Michael Pro Speed Baseball
Im only in 12u baseball. Is it okay if I still send a video?
+Munchie Eater Thanks for the question! Have your parent/guardian send it in for you! We do get lots of emails so it might be a little bit until we get back to you, but we sure will!
~Michael Pro Speed Baseball
Great video.
Hey I was just wondering what type of bat you use. I'm looking for a wood bat for practice to preserve my game bat.
+Caleb Conner I use either a C243 or an I13, or something close to those models. They are slightly bigger barrels which makes them a little more top heavy, but that's what I like.
I would suggest finding one you like and are comfortable with. Also, if you play with an aluminum bat, i would also suggest to practice with something similar, especially in season.
Wood and medal bats can throw off your feel if they are too differently balanced.
Hope this helps, thanks for the question! ~Michael Pro Speed Baseball
No big league hitter hits like you say they do
anything on spine angle -- is there a spine angle when swing? somewhat like a spine angle in golf
+Jon Baker From the down-the-line view, the spine angle in the baseball swing, the same as in golf, will be relatively close from hitter to hitter. Like golf, we are going to want to make sure that we maintain our spine angle and that we are not "standing up" at contact.
Ideally from the face-on view, the spine angle will be tilted slightly away from center field. When the weight shift is overdone, sometimes the spine angle is tilted too far away.
Hope this answers your question! If you have any other questions on this or anything else, just let me know!
~ Michael Pro Speed Baseball
Draco watched it
What about a head that drifts forward?
My name is Jake and I have not been able to make good contact and when I do make good contact I hit it right to someone so I was wondering if you would tell me how to make good contact and hit it in to gaps. Thx
And I've been off balance
do you have a video on how to accurately make contact with the ball? Right now, for every 10 pitches, I'm only hitting 1 or 2 times, which is really bad. All my coach tells me is I just got to keep practicing my swing more, but I want to know what I'm doing wrong... Thx :)
+Gunbardo Hey Gunbardo, thanks for the question! Currently we don't have any videos specifically on "accurate contact," however, they are all made in mind of making the best contact possible with the ball.
I would highly recommend checking out the Swing Plane Secret Videos:
th-cam.com/video/a_tJvSCvgRE/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/Pg7J0PVNW4k/w-d-xo.html
they will be a great place to start with getting more consistent contact and understanding what exactly happens when we swing a bat.
Hope these help! If you have any other questions on this or anything else, just let us know! ~Michael Pro Speed Baseball
Other than rolling over, the next biggest reason for hitting ground balls off the tee that I have seen is flying open with the upper body too soon.
But a close third for too many ground balls off the tee is improper head movements explained in the video.
Nice eye! ~Michael Pro Speed Baseball
Get a framing hammer and practice your swing by driving a 1 inch roofing nail into a square wooden post in one swing. When you can do it, get a longer nail with a smaller head. Also can draw a small dot on the center of the ball and drive off a tee. Focus on the dot, not just the ball. Train your dominant eye to see the center of the ball, fixes the head pulling out.
i keep hitting the ball late, wht should i do?
+Dastan P25 Thanks for the question. There's a great drill you can do to help if you're late on the ball.
What you do is simply set out a marker (glove, ball, cone, towel, etc...) a few feet in front of home plate. (towards the pitcher's mound) Then you will attempt to time the ball to hit it as it passes over the marker.
If you are still late, move the marker further in front of the plate until you get your timing down.
Hope this helps! If you have any questions, just let us know! ~Michael Pro Speed Baseball
Swing earlier