Hitting For Excellence - Baseball Hitting Instruction, Batting Instruction!

COACH'S CORNER
(Q&A With Dave)

Balance

Extension

Hands

Vision Archive

Question:	I know weight transfer should be back to center and that the weight is centered by a stiff front leg, but when should you start to shift your weight?

Dave Hudgens:	When the weight trasfer will depend on the hitter. Ideally the weight will stay back until the stride foot lands. At that point, at least 60% of the hitter's weight should be back. Hitters that transfer their weight forward sooner tend to be front foot hitters. Good luck.

Question:	I am having trouble seeing the baseball out of the pitchers hand. I always seem to be late or waaayy early. When I do make solid contact even with a pitch down the middle, I hit the ball to right field, whether it be off a slower thrower or a harder thrower. Do you have any suggestions as to how I could possibly see the ball better?

Dave Hudgens:	That is a good question. Seeing the ball is one of the things in baseball that you can control. I would assume that when you are too late you started late, and when you are too early you didn't focus on seeing the ball. The way to correct what you are going through is to totally focus on seeing the ball. Only think about seeing the ball in detail. In a game when you do this, your hands will naturally know where to go, all you have to do is focus on seeing the ball. You will be surprised at how quickly this one action will totally turn your game around. Good luck with the training.

Question:	I have ordered your Coaches Command packet and noticed on the order form that you have a Vision Training program. Reading your website articles I have noticed several people mention it. Do you have any information on the program. I can't find it on your list of products. Maybe I am just missing it somewhere. I would like to see any literature on it and possibly buy it if I can.

Dave Hudgens:	The vision training program was designed to improve hand-eye coordination and overall performance. If you have any questions, or if you would like to order the program call our staff at 480-675-9991. As a customer you will recieve a discount on your purchase.

Question:	My Dad has already thanked you for your material but i would like to thank you myself. Your instruction is the best and most complete that i have ever used! My question is, you mention in your book about picking up the ball, with your eyes going from the pitchers cap to his release point. i found that when i do this it seems as if the ball is jumping out at me and it is quicker than normal. Usually i just look in a general area of about where his release point is. Should i just try to adjust to your way or should i staty with mine?

Dave Hudgens:	Thank you for your comments. It sounds like you are picking up the release point late. Go from the cap to the release point a little sooner. If this doesn't seem to work, stay with what you are doing. The key is seeing the ball as well as you can. Good luck

Question:	I wanted to share an interesting story with you regarding the art of hitting. I have used your HFE program this year for my girls softball team with good results. I have one player, Kristy, who came to me with poor mechanics. Her dad and I have worked with her using your program and her mechanics have showed great improvement. But she was not making contact with the ball. Her mechanics were sound and her timing was there but she would either come over or under the ball. Her BA after 6 games was .250. It was only when her dad told me she normally wears glasses but refuses to do so on the ball field that I figured out her lack of ball contact. This weekend I had her wear her glasses while at bat. After a few pitches she spanked the ball for a line drive on the 3rd base line making it a triple with 2 RBIs. Moral of the story: You have to see the ball to hit the ball. With all our coaching, especially of the art of hitting, we must also get to know our players.

Dave Hudgens:	Thanks for that story. There are so many areas in baseball that must be in line. From mechanics to sight, hand eye coordination, quickness, others expectations, etc. Everyday I'm amazed at what I learn about players that influence their performance. Good luck.

Question:	In the past two Sports Illustrateds, the one with Jason Giambi, and the one with the girl that got killed with the hockey puck, a lot has been about baseball. Espicially in the first one, it tells about Edgar Martinez's vision training program. It says he does it twice a day, and he watches tennis balls with numbers on them, and he also has pitches pitched to him at over 100 mph. Does anyone know more about his vision training program, where he got that pitching machine, and what other major leaguers vision training programs are like? i have the vision training program from hitting.com, and i love it. it works really well. thanks and have a good season

Dave Hudgens:	The machine that you are talking about is extremely expensive. However, the program that major league hitters use is the exact same program that I sell as the vision training program. The hitters who have used the vision program have achieved tremendous results that truly show how important seeing the ball really is.

Question:	Do you have an opinion on a player using the skinny bats for practice like the Thunderstick or Muhl. The weight is a +3 I believe on the Muhl. Thanks and I love the sharing of your knowledge.

Dave Hudgens:	I do like any tool that helps in the development on hand eye coordination. I like when the bat is a little bit lighter. When the bat is too heavy you will get a wrong feel for the swing. In our vision training program we include the BatRac™ which I have found to be the best way to improve hand eye. Good luck with the training.

Question:	My 11 year old daughter who plays fastpitch was recently given a "Thunder Stick". Do you have any drills to use with this?

Dave Hudgens:	The thunderstick is a good tool, that teaches players good hand-eye coordination. It is similar to our Bat-Rac. I would use it for soft-toss, and even tee-work. Good luck with the training.

Question:	You state in the HFE book in the chapter "Seeing The Ball" that Zone 3, "is five feet in front of the contact zone. In reviewing Watts'/Bahill's Book KEEPING YOUR EYE ON THE BALL, their studies conclude that a high school/college player can only track the ball to about 9 ft. Only a highly trained MLB player will see it to about 3 ft. After that the ball is going too fast and at a bad angle for the human eye to track. So I have two questions; 1). how did you arrive at 5 ft for Zone 3, and 2) how does a MLB player condition himself to track the ball closer than the amateur player?

Dave Hudgens:	We were given that statistic by the sport vision specialist Harvey Ratner. The reason that major league players see the ball so much better is because they track a 90+mph baseball regulary, whereas amateur players don't have to see balls at the same rate. The way to train the eyes to see the ball better is to do any drill that requires a heavy load of hand-eye coordination.

Question:	My son is 16 and playing high school ball. We have worked alot on power and bat speed. He seams to have a real problem seeing the ball and making contact especially if the pitcher is thowing heat or curves. He always takes the first 2 pitches and then swings at normaly a high pitch.

Dave Hudgens:	Your problem is common among hitters. Take a look at his effort level, it's probably too high. Most kids over swing and as a result their head moves and their mechanics breakdown. Have him think swing on every pitch and take when the pitch isn't his. He should be thinking line drives and aggressive under control.

Question:	My son has a tendency to hit and his head is not right on the ball at the point of contact. Which drill do you recommend?(because of his great hand eye coordination he manages to hit extremely well, but I know that this is a habit that must me corrected)

Dave Hudgens:	Head position is very important and should be corrected and worked on in all drills that are performed. Keeping your head still gives you a better chance to see the ball. When your son is doing his drills, whether it is tee work, soft toss or regular BP, place a ball just in front of home plate. When he executes his swing, have him keep his head and eyes on the ball that you have placed near the plate, he should not be concerned where the ball he hits goes, concentrate only on his head position. When taking regular BP, also have him visualize the ball coming down a tunnel, and he is going to hit the ball right back through the tunnel. This will help him keep his head and upper body in the correct position over the ball. Good luck.

Question:	I have a 12 year old son who always carries a high batting average. He has also always had more problems hitting a slow pitcher than a fast one. This year he is having more problems with the slow pitch than ever. Any suggestions?

Dave Hudgens:	This will happen as he starts playing at a higher level. This is why getting into a strong position of power. This will give the hitter the ability to read the ball. If a hitter is going to recognize the off speed pitch he must be in a good position to react to what he has recognized. I recommend working on the recognition drills in the Conquering the Curveball program as well as the Vision Training program.

Question:	Looking for your thoughts on types of tracking mechanics for hitting the baseball. When does hitter first see the baseball? Where does hitter look for a Pitchers Release Point? How does hitter track and recoginize FB/CB/CH? How many times does hitter actually see the 95+ FB? At release, at half way, at 30 feet?

Dave Hudgens:	Release point: that place by his body where the pitcher first exposes the ball as his hand moves forward to throw.. You identify it watching the pitcher as he warms up and/or pitches. See it better if you align your stance with it (not with the plate)--- Remember, it can differ fron righty to lefty, overhand to buggywhip releases, and end positions on the rubber. Release points can vary by the width of the Rubber plus two armlengths, from rightys to leftys. Visual Pickup: as he exposes the ball with the forward motion to release, pick up the white of the ball and follow it in, and that flash of white becomes the ball. You'll pick it up and follow it better and longer if your stride and motions are smooth. To check & drill for smoothness: pick a speck on the wall (release point), set up your stance with it, stride to it, see how steady the spot remains through the stride and early upperbody moves. If the spot doesn't remain steady into the latter, you've got analyzing and work to do. You can track the 95mph pitch unbroken, to well within 10 feet. (Ask a catcher) Pitch recognition: different folks do it different ways. Most pick up seam/spin pattern as an early warning sign to react to. But it demands an early and clean visual pickup. I believe that in a clean early visual pickup and good followup, you're focused so well on the ball that you don't sense the background, and all you see is ball. But if the pickup etc aren't right, you're forced to separate the ball from the background, you see it all, so the ball looks smaller..