Curious??

If college coaches and pro scouts are always talking about a guys bat speed, what are guys doing at the high school and showcase levels to improve it? Other than trying to shorten up one's swing (which sometimes causes problems in itself), what is being done? My concern is that aluminum bats are making our hitters lazy and we don't spend enough time working on this. I'm interested in hearing some comments and opinions.

 

First of all, i don't know what's good or bad for improving bat speed. However i'll share with you what a lot of kids in the Greensboro area are doing.

Several kids in this area work out with Carmine Pagano at Carolina Acceleration which is in the same building as Greensboro Batting Center. CA does a hitting program using bands and other methods to build quickness and bat speed. It's not just arms and wrists. A lot of work is done with hips and core body. I don't know the details.

One of the ways they measure progress is they measure the speed at which a batted ball leaves a tee. On the way out of the program they measure you again. The average kid sees his speed improve 7-10 mph. They do some other measurements but I do not have details. As an example, a kid I know well went from 82 mph to 91 mph. It was a 3 month program. And that kid hit it hard this year, earning a starting spot on varsity as a freshman.

I'm not qualified to say whether it works or not. However watching a few boys at school that are doing this training they have improved their power significantly.

Another kid simply does tons of curls with a 10lb. weight on a rope and cut-off broom stick. he has big, strong hands and wrists and forearms. He also had a very good year with the bat however he has always had power.

Again, I don't know what works but these two boys improved. One spent a lot of money, one spent very little but they both performed very well. Whatever works for you.