Hitting in Baseball

to SVCOACH28::

Listen I have no question on your dedication and your perseverance as a coach but u need to realize that baseball is not taught like that. Your guy looks at what the big leaguers do in their swings and says he figured out it how they do it. And then says it’s easy and it works and invites you to come over and see what we are doing or buy the program online for X amount of money. The main thing is that the hitters in the big leagues don't learn how to hit like that. They do it the traditional way. The game has not changed in 100 plus years then why change things that are easy to understand with things that people want to teach to make money and become rich with. I just don’t get it. I mean there is nothing wrong with what you’re doing and how you run your program, but hitting is hitting and if you need someone else who is trying to make money off of you to show the way then maybe that isn’t the way. Honestly baseball is not rocket science. The simpler you keep it the better off you are. That’s with all do respect.

It is simple. It is efficient. It is how its done. Its what I have learned from studying from Steve Englishbeys site and having the priveledge to work with him put it all together. Players/Coaches have to decide what way is best to learn. This is the way I'm teaching it. Its cost me roughly $150 in 31/2 years plus $125 to attend his clinic.
It is not something he developed but something he figured out by videoing and watching thousands of hours of clips of major leaguers and how they swing. What he has developed (and still does) are drills to make his members understand how to do it. I've picked out maybe 5-6 of these to teach my guys and there starting to figure it out. Its not a one day quick fix. You need to keep working the drills and know how to move the body efficiently to swing a bat.

I believe anyone can join his site for free (Public forum). It is the private forum that would require a member to purchase a dvd and then your a member on the private site which is just loaded with great information. $75 now or hundreds of dollars of attending hitting clinics that may or may not teach an efficient swing. You have to determine whats worth it to you or your program. As I always have, just trying to help our local baseball players.

Good Luck .

Ninja..........tell me how it is taught ?

we'll put Ninja your spot on, cyber coach is all about his internet find "englishhound" let's get back here in late May and maybe he tell us his team BA, ha ha.

VillaGorilla1 wrote:

we'll put Ninja your spot on, cyber coach is all about his internet find "englishhound" let's get back here in late May and maybe he tell us his team BA, ha ha.

Settle down. Coach Travers is one of the most respected hitting coaches in the city. But I'm sure his team's average will be better than what it would be at if it was any other coach coaching his team. He would help every team's average in the city.

I'm glad to help anyone and I don't hide who I am. I'm presently helping about 15 7th/8th graders in our Sunday free clinic and there progressing very well. These kids will go to various schools, not just SV.

How'd you hit down south Villa ? Last I knew you were playing LSU ? If you ever need any help you know where I am. If you are playing for Villanova I believe your playing St. Bona today.......at 4pm, live stats..........or are you really.

I'm hoping our BA is where it should be as well. All I know is the program is going in the right direction and thats all I can ask. 3 srs, 6 jrs, 4 soph, 3 frosh on varsity and 14 JV players. Were getting the program back on its feet. Over 40 kids tried out.

admin give me a break, cyber why do you think it's a blog it seems you use the blog for your own ego i don't think you could ever hit and therefor cannot recognize what it takes to hit, was that easy enough admin i'd hate to downplay Erie's top hitting instructor, 0-3 to LSU hurts we hung in 2 out of 3, cyber were flying back into town Saturday early pm if you want to come down you can explain what you been taught over the internet, i'd prefer just a name or two of someone you actually helped hit over your little league career and i'll shut up.

OK VILLA. This is a positive site and you go your way and I'll continue to go my way............which is in a positive direction. I'm not going to respond to ignorance.
Let us all know who you are and we can follow you at Villanova seeing your so worried about me helping some kids. I'll continue to do that. I hit .125 in little league,
can you top that. I'm a high school coach rebuilding a team that at one time was very good in this city and I'm heading in the right direction. We have 20 people on this site.................keep entertaining us. Over 1300 members with Englishbey, were not all that stupid fellas. Hopefully Steve can respond on this site some day. I have sent him a few of the comments because I just don't think you really understand anything about him. WE DO !! YOU DON'T. Might help you Villa.

I'm not a hitting instructor. I'm a head coach that just happens to teach hitters to be efficient. I don't profit on it and I help most for free. I want to see Erie kids play college ball and be able get help financially doing so. I'm hoping your getting that help as well.

Look svcoach I mean no disrespect to you. I feel that the comment I made was a valid comment. I have researched hitting on the internet and find so many different people trying to make a buck. I know you feel like this is the way and if you feel comfortable teaching it and that’s fine. The bottom line is the guy you learning from did not watch thousands of hours of video on these big league hitters, unless he has a VCR and taped every game these guys played in. He CANNOT get the official game tapes from professional teams to dissect and study them. He is full of hot air just like any other guru. Listen what you are doing with your team is great. At least they have someone who cares and does research to find the best way to make them better. What I am saying is you don’t need this guy to teach your hitters how to hit and you don’t need to spend the money.

ninja,

What I probally should do is see if I can have Steve post a bit of information about himself and what he has done to teach the efficiencies of how a major leaguer uses his body to swing a bat. He's unlike former major leaguers pimping a product just to make a buck. He's as passionate about hitting as anyone I've ever worked with.

Regarding weighted balls. The combat pitching program uses weighted soft medicine balls in training the arm to explode as well as adding in exercises to strengthen other parts of the body. I watched a friend of mine's son work that program over Christmas break quite extensively and he's having success so far in his first 2 outings at the D-1 level. I use the 2 pound soft med ball for my pitchers and catchers. We are not throwing the ball like we would to play catch but exploding the ball from various body angles at a short distance. I believe the combat training adds in the weighted/underweighted baseballs as well but throwing into a net. Like most products if used wrong it can damage an athlete. If you read on the instructions your not even supposed to catch a weighted ball.

A few years ago when I was helping at Prep, Frankie Perez, Prep's hitting coach , brought back the idea the Dominicans do in warming up with a softball then switching to a baseball. All 3 Prep programs did this for a few years when Frankie was there. Thats not too bad of an idea.

What my guys do 1 day a week at Braendels before we throw is do a 15 minute med ball explosion workout with 12-15 pound med balls. This just fires up all the muscles used prior to us throwing.

What we would (or me) like to hear instead of your criticism of what were doing is tell us exactly what you know about hitting and pitching instead of telling us were wasting our money. Tell us what your doing to throw better or hit better? What are you doing to train better. I'd love to have you stop by and do our practice ending workout and get your opinion on that as well. Its only 15 min. max but is 144 tabata squats in 12 squat intervals and 8- 40 yard 75% sprints.

Before you criticize just give me some info to make a change to the better thats all.
Seems fair to me.

good idea. Ninja, what is your way of going about hitting that is supior to Coach Travers'?

Ninja if you don't mind i'll take this one, admin i'd be more than happy to explain my approach to hitting if you want, for me to compare it to cybers he'll have to tell more than the nothing we already heard, i asked him to explain in other threads but the reply was i'll need a video, a clinic, and 3-4 years give me a break. I wasn't planning on coming back online but if he'll explain a little maybe i'll learn something i'm always open to good knowledge then i'd be happy to tell you what makes a good hitter in my opinion. iI think Ninja and I are just asking for a little accountability, by the way thats whats wrong with the country when people get called on something they get defensive and come up with excuses, cyber just tell me how to hit your way, I'll listen save the self gratification and start with "once in the batters box..............." Have Stevo tell me i don't care i just want to know.

Go to Steve's site and ask him yourself. I'm sure he'd be glad to explain it to you.
Send him a PM and tell him Cyber sent you.............better yet email him at
support@englishbeyhitting.com . You can go to his site as well and send him a PM. www.englishbeyhitting.com

Where you turned this into a negative I don't know but I'm about positive coaching and helping athletes get better. Those that know me would tell you that. I'm not afraid to post my thoughts and forward good information whether it be a coach or player. I'm not making money on anything I put out there. I'm also not forcing anyone to believe in what I say.

A few of us are anxiously waiting for you and ninja to explain your philosophy, thats all. I'm not hiding behind a name. Send us your stats, maybe a clip of your swing and quite possibly you could sway us toward your expertise in hitting. Hitting is like pitching. There is a bunch of info out there and you have to believe in what you teach. I happen to believe in what I'm doing or I wouldn't be coaching.

Let me know what Steve says. He's a no nonsense guy and very serious about what he does.

I am going to change the subject a little and go with a little mental aspect of hitting.

When talking about making adjustments in a game Ted Williams said:

“When someone had a good fastball and I was late on it, I’d tell myself to start earlier. If I fouled a couple of pitches back, I’d tell myself to raise my sights. I wouldn’t analyze my swing; hell I trusted my swing. And why should you change your swing when you just missed?”

Here is another by Ted Williams: “Hey, When you swing and miss, you’re either swinging under the ball or over it. Most of the time, under it. If you’re late, you are on the fist. If you’re early, you’re on the end of the bat. So there isn’t really much to think about.

This is a very simple answer and makes every player stop and consider that “This really is a kid’s game.


So why all the over analyzing and the listening to people trying to make a buck. There is no magic way to make big league hitters. Work on the fundamentals of hitter and your hitter will develop or he won’t. Sometimes you have to take into account that you don’t have the talent. A miracle pill that cost a lot of money will not work.

And how many HS/College athletes can actually hit like Ted Williams ? Very Few. Why? Because they don't understand the body movements, the connection, the rotation, etc....and most importantly the posture.

Ted Williams probally sold more (to make a buck) then Englishbey has. Steve's site is based on members not sold over any other site. I've spent minimal to learn from someone who teaches how to be efficient. I'm just passing along valuable info to whoever wishes to listen, thats all.

I can quote all day. Tell a 10 year old kid that quote and he still has no clue. They need to be taught how the body moves in hitting. Its not squishing the bug, mike to ike, and arm swinging.

I still have not heard anything from the critics on how your expertise can teach a kid to hit. Until then, I'll stick with Englishbey.

Good stuff Ninja, do you got anything on Teds approach to a breaking pitch like maybe what he looks for (i.e. the pitchers wrist, release point, or spin) or when he picks up the ball (i.e. does he watch the pitchers glove waiting to see the ball or does he pick it up at release) i don't expect you to look that stuff up i guess i'm making a point, but would love to talk about some of these things with someone i can relate to like yourself. As I'm sure you know Ninja a good at bat doesn't start with the swing of the bat.

By the time you know what to do, you're too old to do it.
Ted Williams



NOW, I can relate to that quote.

Cyber,
"If you don't think too good, don't think too much."
Ted Williams

Both SVCOACH28 and ninja411 have valid perspectives on hitting.

"The natural hitter" will produce linedrives effortlessly with a consisitency that that will just leave you in awe. My experience with players like this is that they'll put the work in the batting cage but they don't need any technical instruction on their swing. Everything just seems to be centered on the barrel and timed perfectly. They are the gifted and are few. If you have a kid bat .767 in high school and scouted by MLB then you just tell the other guys, "See what he's doin'....do the same thing."

There is a grouping just below that I'd refer to as "the great potentials". They hit well enough to hit for high average but they need to work hard and pay attention to their swing. Just a little guidance from a good coach is very beneficial.

Then there is the "average everyday player" that makes contact and battles. He benefits more from drills and technique than anyone else. Obviously, this is the bulk of many high school programs.

And there is the "I got no chancers". No matter how hard you work, how much time you put in and how much technical instruction, they got no chance.

If you have a team with one natural and alot of potentials then the "professional" hitting instruction is going to be wasted.

If you've got a bunch of "average everydays" I can see where it might be worth the price to invest in a hitting system they can buy into. It's not going to make them any worse and it might make them good enough to compete.

It really depends on the mix of talent in your team. You only have so much time to practice and hitting is just a part of what needs to be covered before season starts.

Good One as Well Villa. We all know that too much thinking will hurt any hitter regardless of which philosophy you care to follow.

What Englishbey stresses is posture, connection, and rotation. If we all can at least get our players in a proper posture at the plate it gives them a chance. If they can stay connected longer it gives them an even better chance (this takes time). Connected to the body and not arm swinging. The rotation is the toughest to teach because it requires some efficient lower body movement. Striding is where most problems occur. Its called inefficiency and we as coaches need to try to eliminate most of those as best we can. Its not easy.........thus we look for help.

With the metal bats you'll get those cheap hits. Doesn't work real well with wood. We don't see too many .700 averages hitting quality pitching so we are teaching kids from your second level above down. Its an ongoing process.

Hey VillaGorilla that was a great quote.

Hey Williamsmith that was very well put.

I just have one question. Not that you have to a superstar or anything to be a good coach. I would say that 99.9 percent of all the first rounders that go in the draft gets a chance to play in the big league. Even if it’s a cup of coffee. Baseball is a business and owners see the money they pay on first rounders as an investment. So their main priority is to take care of them and make sure they get to the big leagues so they can get a return on that investment. Sometimes they give these first rounders 6 to 7 years to figure it out and if they do they get rewarded with a bunch of money. If they don’t some other team picks them up and gives them a chance. This is what I find amazing. Steve Englishbey was a First round draft pick. (9th overall). Amazing. What is more amazing is that he never played in the big leagues and only made it as far as A ball. WHAT. I am flabbergasted. No double-A AA , no triple-A AAA. Then you want to sell things to make a living. He must have really shit the bed. WOW

And he'll be the first to admit that. His teachings came well after his career ended. Maybe Steve can post some info for those who are quick to criticize but hide behind a name. MOST of us on this site are upfront who we are. I would suggest before you continue to criticize me, Steve Englishbey or the many others then give us some facts about what you know and your credentials. Its only fair. Until you can proove anyone wrong put up a few experiences about yourself. I'll copy and paste you thoughts about Steve and hopefully he'll give some background about himself. I'm sure after his studies of the swing he'd wish he could go back. For now, he's a well respected coach in the baseball community at all levels.
Go to his site, its FREE on the PUBLIC FORUM. He doesn't hide anything. He battles with many on other baseball sites but he knows who he's battling with. All I know is my team is working hard to understand the swing and I'm sticking with it. I promo many sites for my team and kids I help from all levels. I'm just passing along information to help. Thats it !! No push, no money back to me so get off the money issue.

We'll be waiting for the curtain call on who Ninja and Villa Gorilla are. Prove me wrong. Prove Englishbey wrong. Back it with Facts and I'll possibly be a follower of your philosophy as well. Right now, your proving absolute ZIP!! Fun as Always.