Triggering a power hitting program.

There are no deep dark secrets, nor any short cuts to the magic .300 batting circle. Good hitters get there in different ways, but all of them have one thing in common--a tremendous work ethic. Every good hitter works at his craft--hard, long, and all the time.

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In short, anyone who wants to become a good hitter must dedicate himself to practice and the development of good habits. He doesn't have to himself with a partner and focus on all of the mechanics that go into a smooth, mechanically grooved swing.

At the University of Tennessee, our players spend at least one hour a day in the cage and on the field learning how to hit. They work on such drills as the tee flip, soft toss, power trigger, flat bat, and others. Each drill focuses on a specific area--the hands, hips, head, leg, stride, weight shift, cocking of the bat, and driving the ball to the opposite field.

It is easier to focus on these areas in the cage rather than in actual batting practice. The cage drills can prepare the hitter for practice against live pitching or can complement the actual hitting. The hitter who doesn't have an organized practice every day can work on these drills on his own in a batting cage or even in the back yard.

Example: the hitter can hang up a net and hit tennis balls into it off a tee. During inclement weather, he can hang up a net in a garage. The hitter who is willing to spend hours working on a short quick stroke will benefit when he goes up against live hitting.

I believe that every hitter on every level of the game can profit enormously from the drills we use at Tennessee to develop a good batting strokes and consistent hitters.

POWER TRIGGER

1 In recent years, we have been getting solid results with a Power Trigger device I invented to teach the hitter to take his hands up in and back into the trigger position (Photo 1.) As you can see, the rubber tubing has been pulled tight into what we call the trigger position.

All good hitters must take their hands into a trigger loading, launching position. It doesn't matter what term you use for it, but remember all good hitters get into this position. In Photo 1, you can see that the hitter goes from a ready position into the trigger position and then into the swing. This allows for a weight shift to the inside part of the back foot, usually about 60 to 40%.

2 The next benefit of the Power Trigger is that as the hitter starts his swing the cord forces the hands to the inside to ensure an inside-out approach (Photo 2.) This keeps him from barring out his arm and to stay on the same plane as the ball and hit through it.

The Power Trigger prevents the hitter from having his hands finish too high after contact in the follow through. It also helps develop bat speed. By tightening down the cord, the hitter can speed up his hands and develop bat speed over the course of time.

The Power Trigger basically does three things: It develops the trigger, teach you to keep your hands inside, and allow you to get through the baseball with a proper follow through.

T-DRILL

The batting tee can be used to teach the hitter to contact the ball with a smooth, compact, grooved swing. 3-4 As you can see in Photos 3-4, the hitter takes his hand back to a trigger position and then allows his hands to take a direct path to the ball, driving through it on the desired plane.

The hitter wants to stay on the plane of the ball, about 14 inches. We like to use the tee to hit the ball right back up the middle into a net. Notice how the hitter rotates on his back foot as his hands come through, forcing his shoelaces to face the pitcher. He has fired his hips to gain maximum bat speed. As you can see, he makes sure that his hands finish at the top of his shoulder, which enables him to achieve the proper bat plane through the baseball.

The Power Trigger drill can also allow the hitter to bring his hands into an inside slot to make contact with the baseball. We set the tee up over the middle of the plate and let the hitter drive through the ball, hitting it on a line to the far end of the cage. Coaching point: When the hitter hits the ball--on the inside pitch, middle, or away--make sure the ball comes off the tee on a line. Remember, no pop ups!

THE LEG CORD

Hitters need balance at the plate during and after the stride. One of the most common faults in hitting is to over-stride. We use a leg cord to shorten the stride for hitters and let them determine the right stride for them--the kind of stride that will allow them to stay back on their back side approximately 60-40%.

I like to use this drill not only in tee work, but in live batting practice whether in the cage or on the field. You can tighten the cord down so the hitter is forced to take a stride of only 6-8 inches. This will allow him to keep most of his weight on his back side before he starts to swing, and to keep his knees between his feet after the stride.

The key is to stride on the inside part of the front foot or the big toe. 5-6 This is an excellent aid in developing the dynamics of hitting balance and control stride length as well as the front foot toe stride position (Photos 5-6.)

WEIGHTED BALLS

7 At Tennessee, we like to use weighted balls or heavy balls. You can either buy the weighted ball or soak your old balls in water overnight (Photo 7.)

We like to use them off the tee or flip. We have a flip station where a player sits right off the front part of a hitter and flips the ball to him. We use five weighted balls and five regular balls. This will provide the resistance the hitter has to drive the hit off the tee or have the ball flipped to him (which we prefer). We use 10 balls, five weighted and five regular. We focus on hitting the ball back up the middle inside and away. This will build up the wrists and develop the hands and forearms. It is also a great conditioning drill.

This is resistance training though the point of contact. Hitters learn to hit through the ball and not at the ball--creating the high energy, explosive swing that coaches and players alike identify as "driving through the ball."

The system adds different overloads and underloads to all of the muscles throughout the entire range of the hitters' motion. It will make the hitters fundamentally quicker and stronger than traditional deceleration training.

Proper fundamentals are crucial in hitting a baseball. A hitter needs to practice hitting with different amounts of swings and weights every day to maximize his performance. A player who trains excellently, will play excellently.

By Rod Delmonico, Head Baseball Coach

U. of Tennessee

Rod Delmonico's intriguing new invention, the Power Trigger, has become a hot coaching aid on a lot of collegiate and pro diamonds. You may order it by check for $29.95, plus $5 shipping and handling. Make checks payable to Rod Delmonico at 513 Lost Tree Lane, Knoxville, TN 37922. (Phone: [phone].)