Ideal Cage Work (Free Content)
The attached video below is from a recent trip I made to Birmingham, Alabama to see our AA team play. I'm not sure if you can hear me very well in the video, but I'm describing how hapoy I am with the Cage work that was going on. In one cage Charlie Romero, our Double-A hitting coach, is doing flips, working on guys mechanics, pitch recognition, changing timing with slowing the ball down and changing location. I was in the other cage feeding the Ipitch machine on a random sequence from that day's starting pitcher. I feel like, if you have two cages and a group of players and you're trying to get ready for a game, or just practicing and developing, this is one of the best ways to develop hitters on a daily basis. One working cage where they can lock in, slow things down, work on all facets of their swing and approach. Then, go next-door to face velocity and spin, especially when it's coming randomly. It's easy to put fast balls down the middle and go whack away and feel great about yourself. And there's not necessarily anything wrong with that. However if you're trying to take your game to the next level, number one, you need to work on your move to the ball in a controlled environment, where you can change locations & change speeds while practicing an efficient move to the ball. Then, being able to face velocity and spin in a random setting, helps you train to the truth, meaning, game speed.
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