Coach Tichy Video Drills
Beneath each drill I have provided the rationale for each drill.
When you watch A Rod hit his back foot moves from its original starting spot. Although A Rod hits for power, every hitter has rotational and linear movements to their swings. In this drill I am trying to replicate the linear movement of his backfoot by allowing it to travel towards the pitcher. Does the back foot have to stay stationary? Absolutely not. It from time to time will move from its original spot. We are trying to use our lower halfs momentum during this drill.
This drill provides an opportunity to focus on the back foot movement as a seperate entity. The front foot remains closed during this drill to provide torque and eliminate early rotation. This is one of the most essential drills that I teach!
This drill emphasizes the torque in the bat necessary to drive the baseball. This drill needs to done very carefully. The end of the bat should never go past the crown of your head. This drill teaches the hitter how to gain leverage. Notice how the top hand is slightly over the bottom hand. Make sure to not allow bat wrap in this drill. This drill is for advanced players. If done incorrectly this drill can be counter productive!
Remember the bottom hand is the power hand. During this drill we isolate the bottom hand. It is critical to choke up, use a lighter bat, and or a bat designed for bottom hand drills. If done incorrectly the barrel will drop below your hands. When we do the bottom hand drill we allow our bottom hand to bring the bat across our chest with the barrel above the ball through contact. The most important part of this advanced drill is how I follow through. Do not allow seperation of the lead arm away from the body during this drill. Please try to mimic my follow thru while doing this drill.
This particular drill is named after the great Robeerto Clemente. It isolates the upperbody through the swing. It allows you to focus on your upper half movements. Make sure that while you perform this drill your shoulders should remain level. Focus on balance through the swing and level shoulders and you will get alot out of this drill. Especially a sore knee!
The doubletap tap drill is designed to teach rythym while working on the negative move and then the positive move to the swing. Remember our swing is like a pendulum. We start with our weight in the middle, work back,work to the ball, then through the ball. This is similar to the way Sammy Sosa used to hit as well as Chipper Jones. It is a tough drill to master because there is a lot of movement.
This drill is one that you do prior to the step-through drill. It works on getting your back side through on your swing. Many players leave too much energy stored up on their backside. Very much like a fastpitch softball pitcher you must allow that backside to work through when you hit.
This drill allows the player to use their legs more. By getting into your stance then widening and lowering it you end up in the extreme crouch. Most hitters that I have worked with will hit the ball harder out of this position. The reason is that they can feel their legs more throughout their swing. Unfortunately remember you must be comfortable to hit. The extreme crouch is not for everyone!
In this video I demonstrate the three footloads in order. First heel lift, second lift and replace, and lastly knee drive. Notice that in each one, the foot lands in the same place. As a hitter you should be using one of these three loads. The video demonstrates the loads from easiest to hardest.
This particular drill teaches rythym and linear movement , while working on positive move. Make sure when you do this drill you step in front with your back foot as your first move. Once your good at stepping in front then you can challenge yourself by stepping behind. It is important for you to work your line during this drill. This means to keep your feet in line and square to the plate.
This drill is perfect for guys who drop their hands while they hit. Use oa chair or a tee that can telescope as high as your hands. Try to stay on plane with the tee and you will eliminate the dropping. While you are in the cage make sure that you try not to hit the ball into the top of the cage. Work line drives to correctly complete this drill.
The no feet drill might be the most important in the series of drills! It provides you the opportunity to work on the upper half of your swing. Most hitters rotate before they strike the ball. During the drill you lock your feet to the ground with no movement. This allows you to keep your hips facing home longer. This allows you to work the hands and increase your ability to hit the other way. Your allowed to make a negative move just try and keep your heels on the ground and feet quiet. It is hard to do without practice. During the video you can see my heel come up ever so slightly.
In the next three drills the direct purpose is to stay short to the ball. These drills I learned in college from one of the greatest hitting coaches of all time former head coach at Oklahoma State Gary Ward. Coach Ward felt if you were short and quick you would have more time to read pitches and be a more disciplined hitter. In drill #1 I have the bat resting on my chest in the 45 degree angle. My purpose is to attack from that particular spot directly to the ball creating a short path to the ball. Durings these drills it eradicates alot of bad movement in the hands. Make sure not to wrap the bat around your neck during the swing. Perfect position over power.
Instead of off the chest now you are off the shoulder. We basically have moved our hands back. Same principles apply as above.
Chest, shoulder, and now head. In this drill I am hitting out of the touch position off of my head. This creates a short and direct path to the ball.
This drill works on body torque and extension through the baseball. You start with your stance facing the pitcher with locked feet. When you hit you turn your upper body and strike the ball while working full extension in the direction you hit the ball. This is a great drill to feel the power created by shoulder turn in the swing.
This drill should be done in sequence following the open drill. This drill works on body torque in a more realistic manner. The move from open to shut allows the body to feel the torque in the upper half of the body. Body torque allows us to drive the baseball!
Named after the all time home run king of Japan Sadaharu Oh.This drill provides the opportunity to work on balance and power with the lower half. This drill is similar to the leg lift in the pitching motion. Lift the leg ,balance ,land softly, and hit the baseball. When you land you should be no longer then the length of your bat. If you swing a 33 you should be 33 inches wide at the end of the drill.
This drill promotes positive movement to the baseball. This drill is an advanced drill. It is vital to land in a even stance with feet toe to toe no wider then the length of your bat. It is also important to limit your head movement during the swing. When you stride out keep your head as still as possible.
This drill emphasizes the importance of the top hand. Remember the top hand is your control hand. During this drill keep the barrel above the ball and take the knob of the bat towards the pitcher. The top hand drill is a drill that you must supervise to ensure that it is being done correctly. Choke up on a regular bat, use a little league bat, or a specially designed short bat for this drill. During this drill focus on correct movements and balance thru the swing.
This drill is just one step less then the Happy Gilmore drill. This drill works on the positive move while getting your backside through the baseball. Make sure that when you walk through your back foot crosses the front foot.
This drill I took from Edgar Martinez. This was a warmup drill for him. The focus with the weight on is to keep the barrel close to shoulder through the swing, do not let your hands move away from your body (cast) while you swing, and maintain perfect balance at the end. This drill also promotes hand strength and driving the barrel through the hitting zone.
Made by: AJ MARISCA on December 18th, 2009 7:33 am :
Guys
Didn’t the original blog have written instruction for the drills? Will they be added to this page?
Made by: JohnStutz on February 8th, 2010 5:49 am :
we are working on it AJ