Hitting Tips For More Power

Hey, guys, Coach Rick here with Gameday Baseball. Today, I got three tips for our hitters out there trying to get more power.

So with power today, when I’m going to start on the swing, I want to start quickly by talking about our posture. As a hitter, we don’t want to be on the balls of our feet like I would shortstop when I’m trying to move quick. As a hitter, I want to be strong, planted in the ground. So think more like I’m doing a squat. Now the barbell on my back, heels in the ground, butt back. So I’m hinged here with my pelvis. That’s me getting strength. As a hitter, I don’t want to be just athletic. I want to be strong. So what I want to do as a hitter, I want to be strong in my heels. I want to pinch my pelvis back. So I feel a little tension here. My butt behind my heels, my chest out even or over with my knees. From here, I’m going to be in a much stronger position, trying to create as much ground force as I can. As a hitter, I want to be connected to the ground because this is where the power is. If I’m on the balls of my feet, I’m not going to be able to generate that same kind of power. So again, I want to push my butt back just a little bit, create the hinge. I want my heels strong on the ground, and I want to feel myself connected to the ground.

Tip number two. Again, we’re not even at the swing yet, but tip number two, I want power from my abs down to my heels. I want to be like a tree planted in the ground. So from my abs down to my heels, I can be tight in the ground. I can flex my abs. I can be strong with my lower half. My upper body, my shoulders, and my biceps and triceps and forearms and hand, I want to be as loose as I can possibly be. Let’s think about spaghetti. Hands, upper body, as relaxed as possible. Lower half strong into the ground. Because if we want to generate power as a hitter, we have to understand my legs are gonna take my upper body. I don’t want to swing from my upper body. I want to get connected to the ground with my lower half. If I use my legs properly, my hands will follow. And my goal is to hit her, is to take my pelvis and my torso through.

And again, I don’t want to let my chest fly open with it. And that’s going to be our third tip. Very often for a hitter, it is so easy. We go and hit. We try to generate power, especially if we’re athletic, we’re going to swing with our whole entire body. So the first thing that’s going to fly open is my chest, my shoulder, and I’m out here. The problem with this is even though I might be generating some power with my legs, my upper body torque has already happened. My barrels back here. Even when I hit this ball, I’m just going to have the power of the bat. I’m not going to have generated or kept any power with my upper body. So my goal is a hitter is even though I engage my lower half hard, my goal is a hitter is to stay closed in my chest as long as possible, this is my upper body torque. I want my chest and my barrel to come through together. So how are we going to do that? What I want you guys thinking about as your practicing hitting the cage, hitting off the tee. We all know we want to get that knob to the catcher as we land our launch position. But when it’s time to fire, we’re driving our backside. Think about taking this knob to the second basemen. If you’re right hand, if you’re left handed, take that knob to the shortstop. If I can take that knob from the catcher to the second basemen, it forces me to stay closed, keep my barrel inside my hand. And now I’ve created this pocket of power with my upper body so I can drive through and finish my swing.

So those are our three tips for creating power as a hitter.

Up your hitting game with these tips and resources for hitting at the top of your game. And if you are looking for some more hitting drills to hit with accuracy, consistency, and power, the Hitting Vault has a bunch of great drills for your game.