So how to you make it harder? When in the basement? Off a tee? Or in the cage where you can't afford a pitcher throwing at max effort? It's great info, but it's easier said then done.
This is why practicing live AB’s and scrimmages are so important. It gives you realistic feedback if your practice is translating to positive results in game situations. Also the best coach I ever had really drilled into my head how important it is to have a very specific plan and goal during practice. If you’re just going through the motions with poor fundamentals you’re only reinforcing bad habits. You’re actually better off doing nothing than having a poor undisciplined practice session. My hitting improved significantly when my practice become more disciplined. In fact I was probably taking fewer swings overall but the quality of my swings were far better. Also he emphasized to never take BP while overly fatigued especially if I was working on certain mechanical aspects to my swing. Your mechanics break down when you’re tired and taking a whole bunch of swings when your legs are toast will do much more harm than good. Conditioning should be done at the end of practice.
You gotta simulate the game pitching velocity in practices if you want more productive hitters during gametime. To help, I stuffed pillow stuffing and compressed and sewed Sockballs the size of baseballs and then fired them into a designed strike zone at close range that hitters must protect. You can get real close, as a pitcher, without concern for injuries. Excellent feedback. The Sockballs maximum hit distance range is about 25 yards. Great fast pitching-hitting drill and nobody gets hurt. Can be used during pre-games too. Maybe we can go into business with em Mr. Antonelli. Sockballs are safe, fun and effective at improving and determining hitting skills! I'd like to visit your facility and demonstrate the wonders of Sockball!
The thing is, you can practive all you want and still hit pop ups and easy ground balls. Yhe difference is, major leaguers have an entire season to improve their hitting. Little league and high school kids have few at bats so I can see why parents would feel frustrated when their kid is not hitting bombs Eri tine 😅
Hey Matt, question. I love your videos talking about bat plain and having that Upward path to meet the ball on the same plain. Since a ball coming from a pitcher is moving down, this makes sense. My question is this: When practicing in a cage and doing short toss (under hand from 10-15 feet away) can you expect good results? Or should short toss not be used? Thanks.
Hey clan dpl, you should probably checkout his website. Matt has a ton of excellent free information here on UA-cam, but if you want a personalized breakdown it is not going to be free. It will be money well spent though.
Batting is not just mechanics, even good mechanics. What good is the perfect swing if the batter cannot outwit the pitcher, know when to foul off a pitch, see spin, change mindset to hit inside pitch deep when late to recognize, confidence… the latter has little to do with swing mechanics. I’ll also go further and say that the science of batting is not batting. It’s merely the describing of batting. It’s the “looking at” which, while very valuable, is nonetheless- not batting in its fullest sense.
Get our FREE hitting drill by clicking the link below!
antonellibaseball.mykajabi.com/hittingdrill
Super glad to hear this, being a picky hitting coach myself
IM WATCHING MORE BASEBALL VIDEOS & I LOVE YOUR BASEBALL SWING!
As always another great lesson, thank you Mike!
It's Matt.
Matt😊
it’s matt
Great stuff, Matt. It's not "practice makes perfect", it's perfect practice that makes perfect, and practice has to be more difficult than the game.
So how to you make it harder? When in the basement? Off a tee? Or in the cage where you can't afford a pitcher throwing at max effort?
It's great info, but it's easier said then done.
Was anyone else shocked Matt hit the ball off the tee at 0:43? Mainly due to the camera being directly out front ...
This is why practicing live AB’s and scrimmages are so important. It gives you realistic feedback if your practice is translating to positive results in game situations.
Also the best coach I ever had really drilled into my head how important it is to have a very specific plan and goal during practice. If you’re just going through the motions with poor fundamentals you’re only reinforcing bad habits. You’re actually better off doing nothing than having a poor undisciplined practice session. My hitting improved significantly when my practice become more disciplined. In fact I was probably taking fewer swings overall but the quality of my swings were far better. Also he emphasized to never take BP while overly fatigued especially if I was working on certain mechanical aspects to my swing. Your mechanics break down when you’re tired and taking a whole bunch of swings when your legs are toast will do much more harm than good. Conditioning should be done at the end of practice.
You gotta simulate the game pitching velocity in practices if you want more productive hitters during gametime. To help, I stuffed pillow stuffing and compressed and sewed Sockballs the size of baseballs and then fired them into a designed strike zone at close range that hitters must protect. You can get real close, as a pitcher, without concern for injuries. Excellent feedback. The Sockballs maximum hit distance range is about 25 yards. Great fast pitching-hitting drill and nobody gets hurt. Can be used during pre-games too. Maybe we can go into business with em Mr. Antonelli. Sockballs are safe, fun and effective at improving and determining hitting skills! I'd like to visit your facility and demonstrate the wonders of Sockball!
0-2 Count
Bases Load
2 outs...
A chance at winning the game....
Last in the batting order...
Hit a line drive right center
Great stuff as always. What do you do if the practice swing is good, but the game swing isnt close to what the practice swing is?
The thing is, you can practive all you want and still hit pop ups and easy ground balls. Yhe difference is, major leaguers have an entire season to improve their hitting. Little league and high school kids have few at bats so I can see why parents would feel frustrated when their kid is not hitting bombs Eri tine 😅
Hey Matt, question. I love your videos talking about bat plain and having that Upward path to meet the ball on the same plain. Since a ball coming from a pitcher is moving down, this makes sense. My question is this: When practicing in a cage and doing short toss (under hand from 10-15 feet away) can you expect good results? Or should short toss not be used? Thanks.
Where can I send u the video so u can check if it's good
Hey clan dpl, you should probably checkout his website. Matt has a ton of excellent free information here on UA-cam, but if you want a personalized breakdown it is not going to be free. It will be money well spent though.
When are private batting lessons going to be starting up again?
Batting is not just mechanics, even good mechanics.
What good is the perfect swing if the batter cannot outwit the pitcher, know when to foul off a pitch, see spin, change mindset to hit inside pitch deep when late to recognize, confidence… the latter has little to do with swing mechanics.
I’ll also go further and say that the science of batting is not batting. It’s merely the describing of batting. It’s the “looking at” which, while very valuable, is nonetheless- not batting in its fullest sense.