Getting in the Swing for Spring
By Chris Snopek
It’s time to re-groove your baseball swing for spring. Follow these
simple steps for eight weeks and your season can be even more fun and
successful. You’ll need an indoor batting facility and preferably an
Iron-Mike pitching machine. The five exercises are:
1) Tee Time: Hit 50 baseballs off a tee, preferably a Tanner Tee. Focus
on hitting line drives to the back of the cage. “Stay through the ball”
on
your swing versus chopping or short-swinging at the ball.
2) Side Toss: A partner kneels just outside the batter’s box and
opposite
you. The partner shows you a ball, then under-hands it at your
belly
button. Again, stay through the ball with your swing. Also ask
your
partner to toss balls around the strike zone to practice hitting
pitches
in each location.
3) Front Toss: Your partner sits in a chair behind an L-shaped screen,
about seven feet from you. The partner under-hands balls “on a line” at
a comfortable speed. You are working on what I call “ebb and flow.” You
see the ball coming from short, controllable distances and develop
rhythm and balance in your swing. Start with pitches in the center of
the
strike zone, then hit balls around the zone.
4) Live BP: Full-distance batting practice, or BP, is next. The pitcher
sets up 40-, 50-, up to 70-feet away, whatever is regulation for your
league. I suggest four to five rounds of BP, each with seven pitches.
Too much BP tires you out and bad habits develop. Fifteen to 20 minutes
of BP is about right. Live BP hones depth perception and reaction skills
to types of pitches and to contact points. Like a golfer on the driving
range, live BP creates muscle memory.
5) Pitching Machine: The “Iron-Mike” pitching machine lets you hit
without
a partner. It lets you work on timing your swing to a moving
ball. It lets you
see arm action releasing the ball. Dial the machine to
your speed. Take
30 to 50 swings. Slow down your body. Practice finding
the ball in the air
with your eyes (“seeing the ball”). Hit balls to
spots as you would to parts
of the baseball field.
Chris Snopek was an All-American 3rd baseman at Ole Miss. He played four
years at the Major-League level for the Chicago White Sox. Chris owns
and operates Performance Sports Academy in Flowood, Miss. Both cage
hitting and the
Iron-Mike machine are available there. Contact Chris or his staff
at www.performancesportsacademy.com.