Teaching Young Baseball Players Perfect Technique

Beyond Bats and Baseballs:

Teaching young hitters the proven mechanics of today’s MLB players ear and you forget, see and you remember, do and you understand.” Although this Chinese proverb was written many centuries ago, its wisdom describes the best way to teach baseball players how to hit. And that’s saying a lot, because swinging a bat with precision and power so that it can strike a baseball traveling at 90 miles an hour is one of the most complex skills in sport. The legendary Hank Aaron’s advice to young players was to “keep swinging”: “Whether I was in a slump or feeling badly or having trouble off the field, the only thing to do was keep swinging.”

As a former professional baseball player, I can see the wisdom in what Hank was saying, but the unfortunate fact is that young hitters who keep swinging with poor technique are reinforcing bad habits. It is truly a daunting task trying to decipher variations in terminology used by different coaches and instructors. In addition, all too often young players face the dilemma of hearing one thing but then being shown another. It is an incredibly challenging task for young players to understand all the information thrown at them by coaches and to implement the changes in technique necessary as the players mature. That’s where BFS comes in.

With advanced software technology, experience and passion for teaching, our instructors are tackling the inconsistencies surrounding one of the most difficult skills in any sport. To rephrase our proverb, the BFS Total Hitting Program will enable the hitter to consistently hear the right way, see the right way and perform the right way. If you want to be your best, then you have to learn from the best, which is why the BFS Baseball Total Hitting Program teaches the proven hitting mechanics of today’s MLB players. Our program provides superior instruction in conjunction with visual training tools to improve bat speed, power potential and batting average.

It breaks down into three phases: Hitting technique. Perfecting or MARCH/APRIL 2007 A young hitter learning proper technique Former MLB player Robin Jennings demonstrating proper technique.

BFS soon will offer a series of instructional posters specific to baseball skill development. tweaking your stance, stride, swing and follow-through will be a career-long journey. Hitting plan. Understanding your situation and knowing what is expected of you prepares you for success. Mental approach. Conditioning yourself to handle the successes and failures of hitting is key. Eliminating fear and tension at the plate is one great obstacle to overcome. It was a few years into my professional career before I truly understood the importance of the mental approach to hitting. Bruce Kimm, a great coach and my manager for the Double AA Orlando Cubs, introduced me to the phrase Have a plan!

He helped me accept the idea that preparing mentally prior to stepping to the plate is just as important as preparing physically. Knowing what you want to accomplish and what is expected of you is crucial to being the best hitter, player and teammate you can be. Recently, the BFS Baseball Program staff traveled to Florida to shoot the first set of our skill development videos. I was amazed to have a fundamental hitting principle explained to me in a way I hadn’t heard before. With this new knowledge I, with the assistance of the other instructors, corrected a –Rogers Hornsby fundamental flaw in my swing I had overlooked throughout my entire career.

One common flaw I see with young hitters, for example, is allowing their arms to separate from their body. This may be OK in your stance, but once the swing is initiated maximum power can only be generated if the back elbow is brought in close to the body. This is true in other sport movements, “A great hitter isn’t born, he’s made. He’s made out of practice, fault correction, and confidence.” such as an arm wrestler keeping the arm pulled close to the body or gymnasts or figure skaters pulling in their arms to generate maximum rotation. Success sometimes limits us in trying to perfect things.

Remaining a student of the game, learning and continuing to improve is the foundation from which we continue to grow as players and individuals. Hitting is a learned skill. All that is needed to become great is the discipline to work, the knowledge to correct, and the belief in yourself. If your desire is true, you can become a great hitter. All hitters vary, each having their own strengths and weaknesses. There is no set way to hit. However, there are fundamental principles of hitting and skill development that all hitters should understand. The goal of BFS Baseball for Hitting is to provide that knowledge in order to assist young hitters in crafting their own technique and style.

QuikscoutTM motion analysis software used by BFS to analyze technique.

2 D AY C L I N I C S SPEED & STRENGTH Former major league players are taking baseball training to the next level with motion analysis and the BFS Baseball Total Program. BFS Baseball travels to your facility to conduct on-site skill development training sessions exclusively tailored for your program’s needs. BFS Baseball incorporates the latest training techniques with proven old-school principles.

OVER 12 HOURS OF INSTRUCTION SKILL DEVELOPMENT IN: PITCHING WIN WITH BFS BASEBALL GO TO WWW.BFSBASEBALL .COM NOW

From BFS Magazine — March/April 2007. Part of the BFS Magazine Archive (1980–2014).