Hokie Pokie Part 1: The World of a Hitting Coach
If you are like me and you’re a hitting coach that is constantly trying to learn how to develop hitters while everyone else states they have the “answers” to creating a good hitter or the perfect swing, where do you start? Who do you listen to? What works and what doesn’t? When your mind starts spinning and feels like you’re in hitting “purgatory,” relax, sit down, and really look at this thing from a current situation. And let me make one thing clear: I don’t have all the answers, in fact, I probably don’t have very many answers.
On most days I will write, teach, or talk about hitting only to read (or hear) a rebuttal that makes complete sense within that very day. This article will hopefully help you take a step in the right direction, improving yourself and your players without getting overwhelmed with what you’re teaching.
First off, is there a right way to swing a bat?
Let me just state that I don’t think there is just one way to swing a bat, however I do think there is an optimal movement for every hitter. I believe there are certain swings that perform better at different levels. I also think there are tons of both good and bad ideas out there and both get presented in the wrong context, which ultimately makes it extremely frustrating and difficult to understand. Some of the arguments, debates, discussions, and/or theories that I have seen or heard have been on metrics that include “which plays and which doesn’t,” “data — how we should collect it or not collect it,” “style of play,” “bunting is bad,” and last but not least “the swing.” Let’s start this already murky subject and take a look at metrics and data and hopefully ease your mind about what you are teaching or where you might be missing something.
Metrics
I do believe that we have come a long way in understanding metrics in a swing. A great example of context would be if we evaulated the speed of a car using metrics. For example, if a car goes speeding past you, you would say “Wow! That car is driving fast.” Now put a radar gun in that same situation, we now have the capabilities to say “Wow, that car is driving 65 mph.” Nothing changed. We are just able to measure how fast the car is going.
Here is the added context now that we deal with when talking/arguing metrics of a swing. Let’s stay with the car analogy. If this car (that is driving 65 mph) is driving in a 25 mph zone, then this car is driving “fast.” If this car is driving on a freeway (65 mph limit), it is driving “normal”, and if this car is driving in a Nascar race, then it is driving “slow.” Either way the car has not changed its speed, but the context of the environment the car is driving in has changed. Another example of context that gets misinterpretted would be the size of the car or engine capabilities. An RV, Volkswagen beetle, 1969 Chevy Camaro, or a Nascar can all drive 65 mph. However, each engine is working differently to get to that speed. So what does this have to do with metrics and hitting? Well, I think as we engage in hitting discussions we have to make sure we understand the context of the COUNTER argument or opinion. From what I see, a majority of hitting arguments/discussions don’t get anywhere because when you peel back the egos, credentials, etc. you get coaches arguing that an RV going 65 mph in a 25 mph zone is faster and better than a NASCAR going 65 mph in the INDY 500. Again, what does this have to do with metrics? As coaches we have to recognize first what level we are coaching, then what type of hitters we have, then finally what metrics do you currently understand?
Comprehension of Metrics
As coaches we have to keep getting better and learning movement and understanding different types of swings especially now that we have devices that can measure the swing and get the result of the ball off the bat. We have to keep finding ways to understand the metrics, communicate those metrics, understand what those metrics are doing in the swing, and lastly, how to change the metrics in the swing to ultimately improve the swing. That whole last sentence is pretty daunting if you ask me. If dissecting every swing with every known metric is overwhelming to you, then don’t.
Aside from building relationships and trust with the players, the most important thing to do first is to understand the metrics that you know you can improve with certain drills. For me, the past couple years I knew I could improve bat speed and attack angle. I also had technology to tell me those numbers. If all you have is a radar gun, track exit velocity. Then work towards improving that (exit velocity). Let's not be oblivious to the fact that yes, exit velocity plays, however not if it is killing gophers or pulled foul. In this case, YOU as the coach implement a system to direct exit velocity to get quality results. A good way to do this is by only counting swing exit velocity if the ball goes to the outfield between cones. Let’s not get caught up with just exit velocity and let’s not get caught up with not tracking it because swing outcomes of tracking could be bad. You can positively dictate a lot in a swing by not messing with mechanics and still benefit in developing swings purely focusing on exit velocity. I wouldn’t recommend this be your only method to improve your hitters, but I do believe it could be done to some extent.
Data
Now that you have metrics that have been recorded, what do you do with the data? I think every situation is different. You might be like me who likes to track as much as I possibly can. You might be someone who just likes to track exit velocity — which is ok! Or you like tracking via video capabilities. These are all fine, so whatever your system is you still need to track swings. This needs to happen for a reference point in a player’s swing. It’s mainly to see if what you are teaching is being communicated clearly to the player or if your philosophy even works. The reference point is key in data, because some drills, cues or mechanical adjustments will vary player to player. This reference point will expedite your learning and growth as a coach on how to coach a swing. It will also help communicate to the player where the improvement was made, or is currenlty being made. But remember you can collect all the data you want and in the end you still have to coach the swing. You also still have to understand movement, and you still have to be able to communicate clearly to the player. Use data to accomplish all of this, don’t use it to overwhelm yourself.
In part 2, I will dive into the other components that a hitting coach has to consider, such as the level, type of hitter, style of play and the end career goal of the hitting coach.
