Bang for Your Buck Strategies for Hitting Individualization in Team Settings
Jordan Stouffer, CSCS, BMS
In my past experience as a college and high school baseball coach, I would often get frustrated with the lack of time, lack of care from players, and the overall lack of ability to make change in my hitters. A lot of team coaches feel this way and it leads to overgeneralization of practice modalities. Meaning, everyone will do the same thing or same swing, so (coach) can stay within a singular philosophy. This can work for some guys, but sometimes it doesn’t work for a guy that might be really gifted and talented and he just doesn’t fit the mold. This is a bummer if you have spent hours recruiting someone only to realize the coaching style is only making him worse when he gets to campus.
Unfortunately for time-sake, it takes a lot of hours on our end (coach) to be able to bring the best out in each player and MOLD TO THEM rather than THEM MOLDING TO OUR SWING PHILOSOPHY. I am not speaking about whether a player needs to execute the team offense plan, but rather that we as coaches need to realize what strengths our guys have and make them even stronger.
So how can I better adapt to each athlete? How can I get a larger portion of my athletes to make positive change? You have to individualize.
“Only private instructors and travel ball guys get time enough to make changes in guys swings.” While private sector guys do in many instances control their destiny a little more, there are quality coaches at all levels getting their guys better throughout a season. I am talking noticeable change we could see on video or measure. One example is Dan Heefner at Dallas Baptist University. NCAA division 1 baseball has some of the most restricted practice and contact hour rules of any organization, but they seem to make it work and hang out in the top 10 teams in college baseball in team offense. Another example would be CJ Gillman at Air Force Academy. Those guys make noticeable changes with minimal equipment and arguably a more restricted and grueling schedule than any other college baseball program with all the extra-curriculars. Again, they are a top level offense statistically. What I am saying is that managing each guy is very doable. It takes extra time, no doubt. If you’re a youth coach, a volunteer at a program, a father who is passionate, or work 2 jobs to coach junior college baseball in the afternoons (me a few years back), then your time is obviously more limited. However, there are still strategies that can drastically improve time management, minimize player frustration, and improve your team’s love for offense.
First,
My general guidelines are as follows. Think common sense.
Number 1. What do I want from my offensive unit because I need to build around that? Do I want a team that can put pressure on defenses with bat speed and the ability to execute bunts for hits? Are we a high pressure baserunning squad combined with guys who can hit to all fields with power? Know your personnel and how you could reasonably improve your personnel, and build that season’s culture. MAKE SURE YOUR PLAYERS KNOW WHAT YOU WANT FROM THEM!!!! I CAN’T STRESS THIS ENOUGH!
Number 2. Each guy has the “low hanging fruit” adjustment that needs to be made. Finding that adjustment takes a little time up front, but saves you time in the long run. Why? Because every guy has one adjustment that will actually clean up 2 or 3 other problems or “symptoms.” We will spend less time long term dealing with lunging, prematurely dipping back shoulder, pushing hands, etc. because we will have found the root cause. Remember it isn’t always mechanics- it could be movement, strength and coordination, decision making, timing, mentality, or strategy.
Number 3. Address Causes rather than Symptoms. What is required for MOVEMENT as a hitter. I have to have a repeatable timing mechanism (load), I have to transfer energy forward (Center of Mass), I have to rotate in sequence (Kinetic Link), and I have to manage a simple barrel path with depth and extension to maximize opportunities for contact. Those are key movements required to hit. Along with movement, hitters require vision, dynamic balance, rhythm and timing, and decision making skills. Start with these items I just mentioned. For example, don’t expect great barrel path when timing is poor or the hitter didn’t load well. A good loading mechanism or focus on being on time would have cleaned that up.
My 3 favorite “bang for your buck” individualization strategies are as follows:
1. GET EXTERNAL
a. Research has proven all across sports performance that the knowledge of results and goal oriented feedback are many times more powerful that being over-conscious of what your body is doing during a given action (external vs. internal)
b. Cue the target
i. Get your guys to hit to targets or above targets. Reorganizing the body to a given location can work really well to simplify the process
c. Cue the speed
i. “go fast, hit ball hard, aggression, do damage, swing fast” are all examples of a quick mentality change or reminder that can work wonders without ever talking mechanics
d. Cue the distance
i. “Hit ball far” – cuing to hit a ball as far as possible can be effective with certain guys and its definitely worth a try for that guy who’s a bit of a “movement perfectionist” – it is a thought that embraces a “lack of fear” for failure.
2. EXPERIMENT WITH LOADS AND TIMING MECHANISMS
a. Play with the toe tap, leg kick, and no stride timing mechanisims on the same day or in the same practice rounds. Let guys get 5-10 swing before switching it up.
b. If you want to get real crazy, add different implements to these rounds like a short bat, long bat, heavy bat, handle-load bat, tennis racquet, or even PVC.
c. Your guys will have valuable self-discovery time here and might even develop some hybrid loading mechanism that really works for them.
3. EXPERIMENT WITH POSTURE
a. Posture dictates function. Without athletic starting posture and dynamic posture (posture and balance throughout swing), we cant utilize the potential for speed, quickness, and adjustability that could otherwise be had.
b. Change the starting posture.It can act as a natural constraint and force the athlete to adapt. If you’re normally upright with hands high and struggling, try starting more bent over with hands low or upright with hands low. Never undervalue that feedback is always occurring, but the athlete needs to be tuned in and have high intent.
c. Cut the swing in half and start from a posture that is required somewhere in the middle or end of the swing.This relates to a performance strategy called BACKCHAINING. The brain loves to know what the end goal is, and working back from that end goal can be a powerful tool to create better proprioception over time.
Once you address some of these things, start writing things down. Make your players keep a notebook or if you want to control it, make a quick excel spreadsheet of the most important drills and thoughts to remember. Hitters need to learn to REPEAT success and learn from failure.
Thanks for reading and I hope this was valuable. Reach out to me at jordanstouffer@gmail.comor visit rounding3.com to subscribe to my email list. Check out the youtube video below for further explanation on this post.
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Jordan Stouffer is the owner and lead hitting performance coach at Rounding Third Baseball Performance in Fort Collins, CO. He is a former NCAA Division 1 hitting coach, as well as a former junior college and high school coach. Jordan holds certifications as a Certified Strength and Conditioning Coach from the National Strength and Conditioning Association, a Biomechanics Specialist from NESTA, and holds a degree in Human Performance from Metro State University.