@DrivelineBB Hitting trainer | Wilmu baseball alum | Former Hitting Coach/Recruiting coordinator RCSJ-Cumberland
Joined March 2014
- Tweets1.8K
- Following516
- Followers742
- Likes4.2K
Jack McDonald retweeted
MLB hitter's full signal attack angle data pre and post season.
Left side: February
Right Side: September (more green, this is good)
It's really common to lose bat speed throughout the season, but huge to see the attack angle in a better place - Both getting into and staying in ideal ranges for a longer period of time.
Example of an in season adjustment that can set you up to make big progress throughout the offseason.
Jack McDonald retweeted
3 years ago, I started at @DrivelineBB
I didn’t even know if I wanted to be a hitting coach.
And here we are.
These are 3 of the biggest things I’ve learned in the last 3 years 🧵
Sometimes as a coach, what you don’t say is more important than what you do say.
When an athlete is learning a new move, the best solution is usually the one they find themselves, that's self-organization. Our job as a coach is to guide them, not control them. 🧵
As coaches we must design a practice environment that promotes self-organization.
- pitch type
- pitch angle
- bat type
- ball type
- physical constraints
- ball flight goals
This doesn't mean setting up the environment and just stop watching the hitter.
A coach still monitors the athletes' progression. Create the environment for targeted changes and steer the player in the right direction.
Jack McDonald retweeted
Drew's Deck 🃏 Bat to Ball game
Draw a card, score total bases if you meet the rule:
♥ In the heart (take ♥ = -1, take non-♥ = +1, swing non-♥ = -1)
♦ Even = pull, odd = oppo
♣ 15-30° LA
♠ 90+ mph EV
Aces = x2
Some highlights ⬇️
Jack McDonald retweeted
Varying MOI of bats in training paired w/ other constraints can go a long way towards cleaning up pull side ball flight.
Pivot Picks ⤵️⤵️combat an inefficient load while the bats vs. a same side SL clean up path manipulations that were limiting pull side potential.
Jack McDonald retweeted
Take a look back at Maddox Mihalakis getting work in with Hitting Trainer @carsonevanss on Trajekt over summer as he prepared for the MLB Draft League!
Jack McDonald retweeted
Here's the full Hittrax games leaderboard running live, which allows our hitters to get immediate feedback on how well they are executing the task in some of our hard to score games.
Here's @_lybrookV_ hitting a home run while playing MVP Baseball '04 Home Run Derby.
A staple of our training here @DrivelineBB is making challenging environments with reward systems that encourage adaptations that lead to better in-game results.
Today was the test run of my most recent project, a web app that automates the scoring of these games.
Jack McDonald retweeted
Why Victor Scott II’s swing breaks down:
“it’s like a checklist.” When one step goes wrong, it’s all gone.
Full Swing Design on YouTube
@kozy_shack
Today's Environment:
- Short distance LH Cutter
- Long distance RH SL
- ipitch RH SL
Competition: MVP 04' HR Derby
- Start with 5,280' of distance
- Every ball in play subtracts from total distance
- First to 0' wins
Jack McDonald retweeted
More info on how Bat Path variables interact ⬇️.
qevers23.github.io/bat-path-…
A tool that demonstrates ball flight based on path metrics that can be manipulated. Flush contact is assumed, but this provides insight into how spray angle & flight change as the path changes.
The beauty of working @DrivelineBB is that I can build things that I would have loved to have seen as a college baseball coach.
Ideally, this provides insight into how aspects of the path work together & how we can use them to make our hitters better⬇️.
qevers23.github.io/Bat-Path-…
Jack McDonald retweeted
We are 3 Months into Ian Anderson's Return to Throw off of Shoulder Surgery
Here is a look into exactly what we have done to get Ian back better than he was before and the principles being followed.
Details Below 🧵
Jack McDonald retweeted
I've been thinking a lot about player acquisition at the college/professional levels.
Success in this area generally means hitting on more guys than you miss on & finding a few "diamonds in the rough".
🧵w/ my thoughts on how we can do this using available data at each level.
Jack McDonald retweeted
Victor Scott II’s best swing of the day came off one cue:
catch it deep and still pull it in the air.
Getting the ball out front and pulling it is “the happy accident in game.”
The intent here is to “turn deep,” which means holding the back hip in the hinge so the barrel can turn behind the ball.
Shoot out of the backside and the hands have to push forward, and there’s no room left to get there.
The machine is coming in at an open angle, which “really shows whether you hold that space or not.”
Drill: Kershaw, off the machine at an open angle
Watch the full swing design on YouTube
Jack McDonald retweeted
CLE/LAD are high airpull% but overall below-average bat speed. They maximize damage by going pullside. ↩️
MIL/TBA are high bat speed with low airpull%. They maximize damage with hard hits to all fields. ↔️
Neither is a "better" approach necessarily. If you don't have great bat speed, you have to maximize the damage on contact the best you can (air pull shots). With high bat speed, you have more choice of where you can hit the ball productively.
But hitters with low bat speed AND low airpull% don't tend to succeed (basically only Turang does, and he has a large predicted vs. actual split).
Of course minimizing strikeouts without sacrificing bat speed is valuable (like TBA).
Side note: Kurtz lol 💥
Jack McDonald retweeted
Here is how we can train Connection
Offset Open + Oppo Angle Machine + Barrel Loaded + Oppo Ball Flight Target
These extreme angles reduce our margin for error and encourages the barrel to enter the zone deep and stay connected with the torso, if not, you'll be missing under
Jack McDonald retweeted
Elite bat speed buys you margin for error. A mishit ball coming from an 80mph swing can still leave the yard, while a mishit 70mph swing won’t.
That’s why small swing changes for guys like Walker or Cags pay off the most, and Walker still has room to grow.
RotoGraphs: Jordan Walker WAS the Next Driveline Baseball Fueled Breakout fantasy.fangraphs.com/jordan… fantasy.fangraphs.com/jordan…
Jack McDonald retweeted
An example of a bat speed day off @TrajektSports with our pro group.
Today we did a blocked 95 mph heater and had our guys swing speed trainers and hit leather smash balls. Having the intent to move fast while facing game like velo helps transfer that bat speed to the game.
Just one example of what makes training with Trajekt at @DrivelineBB so valuable.
Some quick clips from myself and @_Chrisleone on how we use our Trajekt at our @DrivelineBB AZ facility, and why getting a lot of reps off it is the best use of your time this offseason. 🧵
First we talked about bat speed training, and how we use blocked sessions off MLB level pitches so hitters can develop the ability to swing faster in difficult environments and learn new moves with a high intent.