Lesson 1: The Complete Hitter Standard

Learning Objective

Explain the four pillars of a complete hitter and identify the game gap in a hitter you coach.

About 20 minutes, including the applied work.

Today's Lesson

“Most hitters aren’t short on effort. They’re short on the right work.”

A complete hitter needs four pillars working together: the Swing, Strength & Explosiveness, the Hitting Processor and the Mental Approach. Most coaching only touches the first one, and only in the cage, where the speed, location and timing are known. Games give the hitter none of that. The difference between how a hitter performs in the cage and how he performs in a game is the game gap.

Your job as an AHD coach is to close that gap. That means you coach all four pillars, you measure before you teach, and you never judge a hitter by one good round of BP. The swing matters. It just isn’t the whole job.

Softball note: Every lesson in this course is for baseball and fastpitch coaches. The examples say “he,” but everything applies to your softball hitters. For the game gap test, feed the mixed round underhand from a low, hip-level release so the ball comes in on the plane she sees in games. From 43 feet she has less time, so her game gap often shows up first in decisions and timing.

Why It Matters

Coaches who only train the swing build great cage hitters who struggle in games. A four-pillar view tells you where your hitter’s next hits will actually come from.

Today's Work

• Pillar inventory (10 minutes): list the last 10 things you coached a hitter on. Tag each one Swing, Athletic, Processor or Mental. Count how many landed in each pillar.
• Game gap test (15 minutes): with one hitter, run 10 front tosses he knows are coming, then 10 mixed in speed and location. Count hard-hit balls in each round. The difference is his game gap.

Track It

Which pillar did you coach the least? What was your hitter’s game gap, and which pillar do you think explains most of it?

Next: Lesson 2, Coach the Hitter, Not the Picture.