4 Week Bat Speed

Explosion Program
By Miles Noland

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Table of Contents:
Bat Speed Report Outline
1. Introduction
2. Common mistakes in the swing that hurt bat speed and how to correct
them
a. getting long
b. poor back leg action
c. poor load
d. Drills to do to correct these problems
3. Strength and conditioning
a. exact sets/reps of each exercise
b. sample training program
c. inseason/offseason
4. Overload/Underload training
a. philosophy
b. exact number of sets and reps
c. inseason/offseason
d. 4 week bat speed solution
5. 4 and 8 week workout videos of exercises, hitting drill videos, PDF
downloads of workout programs, get this at
http://athletehitting.com/4weekbspro/

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Introduction: 4 Week Bat Speed Explosion

http://athletehitting.com/4weekbspro/ is where all of the videos and downloads
are located for this product. Bookmark this page on your computer so you can
refer back to it.
My name is Miles Noland, and I am here to teach you how to get the most bat
speed possible. A little background on myself, I was at the University of Kentucky,
in my first year there, we led the SEC in home runs, and had four guys hit 16 or
more in the season. That season we also led the SEC in RBI, runs scored, doubles,
on base percentage, and slugging percentage.
At Wabash Valley JC the year before I got there they hit 38 home runs. In my first
year we hit 74 home runs, and my second year we hit 95 home runs. We led the
country in home runs and RBI, and were 2nd in runs scored.
I have used methods with my hitters to help them greatly increase the power in
which they hit the ball, and the results speak for themselves.
What Im about to show you has been tested and tweaked, and I extracted only
the most effective methods that I used.
Now more about bat speed.
You may not know it, but your body is like a coiled spring, loaded with potential
energy.
As you start your load and the swing progresses, more and more energy is
converted to kinetic energy.

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When you make contact later on in the swing it allows for more bat speed at the
point of contact. Have you ever beat out in front and missed or hit a weak pop?
Your arms were extended, and contrary to old-school beliefs, you have no power
in extension.
In terms of power, bat speed is the single most important factor in hitting for
distance.
For example, if you swing your bat 65 mph at a 60 mph pitch, hit it on the barrel,
and it can travel 400 ft. If you increase bat speed only 5mph to 70 mph on the
same 60 mph pitch, the ball will travel 425 ft.

Increasing the pitch speed 5 mph will only increase the hit 5 ft, not 25 ft (like
when increasing bat speed the same 5mph). So in summary, increasing bat speed
is much more important than increasing pitch velocity.
Bat speed is all about momentum, which is a product of mass X velocity.
For example, a 30oz bat has 6 times the amount of momentum as a 5oz ball,
which is why swing speed is much more important than pitch velocity.
The difference between a double and the ball getting caught, or a ball on the
warning track and a home run, can be only .5mph in increased bat speed.
So every little bit you increase your bat speed the farther the balls you hit will
travel.

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Have you ever seen a small kid (or maybe a big kid) with not much bat speed
struggle to hit the ball out of the infield?
He has no chance to hit well because his margin of error is so small.
I have coached guys with so much bat speed that when they got fooled they hit a
single. When they didnt get fooled, it was a home run. Guys like this have a
huge margin for error, and this is the type of hitter you want to be.
Now you understand the importance of bat speed and how it is the key for your
success as a hitter, lets get to the good stuff.
But wait, not only is it important to have great bat speed, it is very important to
hit the ball on the barrel of the bat. The great benefit of these bat speed drills is
they also promote hitting the ball on the barrel.
You must hit the ball on the barrel and have bat speed to be a great hitter, and
what we do here is teach you to do both.

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Chapter 1: Mistakes Hitters Make Which Cost Them Bat Speed

Most hitters make some common mistakes that dont allow them to get the most
out of their swing, and this hurts their bat speed.
1. Getting long or getting around the ball
Yes, I know that everyone knows you should be short to the ball, but how
do we actually do this?
I believe that hitters getting long is a product of starting out at tee ball. In
tee ball you dont have to worry about being quick to the ball, because the
ball is just sitting there, so kids take a long, slow, uppercut swing, and they
are successful. Once they face live pitching they are forced to change or
not be successful.
However, as kids get older, they can still succeed with a longer swing as
long as they are facing slower pitching.
At the highest levels of baseball the swing cannot be long, because most of
the pitchers throw hard, and you will be consistently late if you cannot take
a direct path to the baseball.
a.) Stay short (best drill)- Fast Track Drill (stop getting long)
Set up a tee up like its an inside pitch. If you are right handed you
would typically pull this ball to left field.

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In this situation, however, you are going to hit the ball on a line directly
over the second basemans head. Impossible? Not really.
If you keep your hands in the track tight to your body, the shaft of the
bat will be tight to your back shoulder, and your bat will be quick to the
ball.
The barrel of your bat will also stay flat through the zone for a long
period of time as well, increasing your chances of hitting the ball on the
barrel.
This drill is often very frustrating for hitters that have a long swing,
because they will struggle keeping their hands tight to their body
throughout the track.
This is because they are so used to getting early hand separation from
their body to go around the ball. However frustrating, this drill when
consistently done will help hitters feel the track their hands should be
in when attacking the baseball.
This drill is also great because it gives instant feedback. If you got long
you will immediately know it, because you will pull the ball. Good
hitters get jammed, REMEMBER THAT.
Hitters that are always early (like I was when I played) are always out.
This is drill is very powerful because getting your hands in the tight
track forces your bat to stay flat through the zone for a very long time,

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which gives you a bigger margin for error.

b.) Proper load- I address this in a video, but many hitters are taught to be
stiff and mechanical. Coaches often say, dont do this, dont do that,
and hitters are scared to make mistakes.
However, a huge cause of poor bat speed is a hitters poor load. And
when I say poor load I mean no load at all.
Hitters are taught to go straight to the ball. Now try this for me, take
your hands from where you start to the hitting areayes, it looks like
you are chopping wood, and it is impossible to square up a baseball
swinging like this.
Now, when hitters try this method when actually swinging at a pitch
they realize quick that chopping down at the ball will not be effective.
Now, their body craves momentum to create the bat speed necessary to
hit the ball, but it is forced to get long to create this momentum because
there is no load.
So, the no load forces the long swing path. I will cover this in video, so
dont worry if you are confused.
So a good load is key. The hitter needs to rhythm towards his back side
(load), and in its simplest terms, drive everything forward.

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A good load is essential to good bat speed.

Great drills to reinforce a good load and being athletic in your swing are
the:
1.) Lead leg lift- lift your front knee up even with your hip, hold for 2
seconds, and then put into the ground and swing.
This drill forces you to hold the flex on your backside, and you must be
loose and rhythmic to complete this drill.
2.) Anti-bat wrap- This drill helps prevent a bat wrap. Point the end of
the bat slow and easy directly at the pitcher and back to where you
started 3 times, and then load and swing.
Putting the bat in front of your head makes it hard to get the bat behind
your head on the load. You also must have a loose grip and it forces you
to move, which makes it hard to be stiff and unathletic (exactly what we
dont want).
3.) Chicken Wing- From starting bat position to pushing your elbows
very close to each other 3 times, this forces you to be loose and
rhythmic in your hands, forearms , and shoulders.
4.) Walk through drill- Start about five feet back from where your
normal stance would start. Take a step behind your front foot with your
back foot and then step forward with your front foot (as your stride) and

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swing.
The forward movement helps your body understand rhythm and
keeping your body moving in a straight line.
You cannot be stiff and unathletic with this drill, and if you are, this drill
will help you improve.
All of these drills with help your bat speed because great bat speed
requires good mechanics, being loose and athletic, and being explosive.
These drills work on all of these traits without any useless verbal cues
that the hitter doesnt understand.
5.) Back heel to sky: So many hitters are taught squash the bug. The
basis of energy starts with the lower half, and then moves upward.
That is why we have a huge problem if we squash the bug, because
this starts our energy flow moving in a circle.
Yes, hitting is a rotational movement, but in our brain, we need to
think of it in a linear way.
Our whole goal in hitting is to hit the ball on the barrel. To give
ourselves the best chance of hitting the ball on the barrel we must
keep the barrel flat through the zone for as long as possible.

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To keep the barrel flat through the zone as long as possible we must
first drive our back knee toward the pitcher in a straight line, and this
causes the back heel to go to the sky.
Doing this we gain ground toward the pitcher, and our energy flow is
going toward where the ball is coming from, in a straight line.
If we start off squashing the bug, our energy flow starts off
moving in a circle, which causes our bat to be in and out of the zone
quickly, creating less margin for error.
Squashing the bug is hard habit to break, but as a hitter we must
understand the feeling of driving our backside forward, and
specifically back knee to the pitcher.
This is the difference between hitting above the ground, and
hitting in the ground. We want to hit in the ground, because this
gives us a firm base and allows to create more kinetic energy, which
produces more bat speed.
A great drill to work on this is the Back Knee Through Drill. Put a ball
on a tee, take your normal stance and load, and then swing.
The same time you normally would get your back heel to the sky, you
drive the back leg up off the ground and land it on the front side in
front of your front foot.

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This will feel very strange and most hitters will have trouble doing
this successfully when they first try.
However, to do this correctly, hitters must hold the flex in the back
knee (another good habit reinforced), and aggressively drive the back
knee forward (exactly what we want).
This exaggeration/overcorrect will help the hitter understand the
feeling of what his back leg should be doing, and this will allow him
get closer to the proper back foot/leg action in his swing. In other
words, this will help him the habit that we want.
Refer to http://athletehitting.com/4weekbspro/ to access all of the training
videos and downloads associated with this product.

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Chapter 2: Strength and Conditioning for Bat Speed

First off, there are two separate groups I am gearing this towards, ages 9-13
and ages 14+. Around age 13 the body starts dramatically changing and is
ready for increased loads and demands. Some 13s are ready for the 14+
program, however, many should complete the 9-13.
A background for my training..
I am a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, a Youth Fitness
Specialist, and a Precision Nutrition Level 1 Coach.
I design programs and direct a training program for baseball players at
Noland Fitness in Lexington, KY.
I am focused on developing the overall strength of the body first. Recruiting
more muscles fibers during exercise is the way to best strengthen these
muscles, and will change CNS patterns to be more explosive.
In addition to building a firm base, we placed an increased emphasis in
developing the core, hips, glutes, and back, as these are the primary muscles
involved in rotational movement (hitting, throwing), which is at the core of
baseball movements.
Number one in training is staying healthy, and we will not perform exercises
that are more risk than reward. I understand the unique demands of
baseball, and specifically throwing, which leads to increased stress on the
elbow and shoulder, especially in pitchers. We take precautions to protect
arms, and always stress proper form before increasing weight.

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See the document download page for a complete chart of sets and reps of each
exercise for the entire 4 weeks. I have included two sprint workouts that are
to be done two days a week, which will accelerate your explosiveness and
athletic ability.
Each workout has been put in a video showing you exactly how to do the
exercises. The exercises in the video are in the exact order listed on the
workout program. You can access all of these documents at
http://athletehitting.com/4weekbspro/
Be sure to watch the videos of each exercise and perform them correctly. Form is
very important to get the most benefit. Performing exercises with poor form can
result in injury.

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Chapter 3: Overload/Underload Training

Overload-Underload Training is a training method that utilizes identical

movements that one would encounter in his/her sport (swinging, throwing),
only the resistance will be increased or decreased slightly.

Overload-Underload training works by replicating the exact motion that is

used in the sport, there is a direct carry-over to the movement in the sport,
which isnt always the case with traditional weight training.
Simply put, using a resistance that is slightly above what one usually
encounters increases strength. Using resistance that is slightly lighter
increases movement speed and teaches the body (specifically the nervous
system) how to fire at a quicker rate. When combined, the body learns how to
become more powerful.
Is there any scientific evidence to back up Overload-Underload training?
Yes! There are around 30-40 studies documenting the effectiveness of
Overload- Underload training in baseball alone! Overload-Underload training
has been used since the 70s by Olympic athletes to increase running speed,
swim speed, as well as discus, shot put, javelin, and the hammer throw.
Here are two of the numerous scientific studies on Overload-Underload
training if you would like to pursue more information.

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Coop DeRenne, Barton P. Buxton, Ronald K. Hetzler and Kwok W. Ho. 1995:
Effects of Weighted Bat Implement Training on Bat Swing Velocity. The
Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research: Vol. 9, No. 4, pp. 247250.
Coop DeRenne, Barton P. Buxton, Ronald K. Hetzler and Kwok W. Ho. 1994:
Effects of Under- and Overweighted Implement Training on Pitching Velocity.
The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research: Vol. 8, No. 4, pp. 247250.
Is Overload-Underload Training safe, especially for younger kids?
Overload-Underload Training is completely safe as long as the athlete is
prepared for it.
Being prepared means that the athlete is ready to make 50 80 swings at
maximal speed. Younger athletes can definitely gain benefits from OverloadUnderload training.
How much can I realistically gain in 4 weeks?
It is nearly impossible to predict how much improvement players will make
on an individual basis. A professional hitter with a barrel velocity of 82 mph
will have a lot less room to improve than, say, a high school freshman
swinging 50 mph.
The bottom line is all players will gain velocity (peak) or average, and most
likely both. Most players should be able to make gains of 4 8 mph easily;
however, that will again depend on age and skill level.

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The phrase "practice makes perfect" is often used by coaches, but in reality
only perfect practice makes perfect.
That means someone wishing to increase his bat speed must take each
practice swing with perfect technique at game speed in order to have the
hope of making noticeable improvements.
To become fast and explosive, you must train to be fast and explosive. Quality
always wins over quantity. A quick example would be looking at a marathon
runner vs. a sprinter.
A marathon runner runs for miles at a time in training. A sprinter runs a few
short sprints. They are both running but the differences lie in a) intensity, b)
volume of training, and c) rest intervals. Changing those 3 variables makes
the outcome of the training drastically different.
The take-home message is: if you want to throw faster, you need to practice
throwing FAST.
If you want to increase your bat speed, you have to practice swinging as fast as
possible with perfect mechanics.
Information above on underload/overload training is referenced from my
good friend and bat speed expert, Jon Davis.
1. So we know underload/overload training works, now how can we
implement it?
a.) Grab your game bat

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b.) Find a bat 5oz heavier than your game bat

c.) Find a bat 5oz lighter than your game bat (any old bats work)
If you want one bat that does everything (-5oz-20% less and +5oz-20%
more), gives you the training program, and a bat speed radar, then go to
http://athletehitting.com/bat-speed-program/
2. Whether you go get the Fast Bat from the link above or not, I am going
to give you exact reps and sets you need in the inseason and offseason
for you to make maximal bat speed gains. See the separate document
Excel sheet that gives you the chart.
I included a 4 week program for the offseason, and 4 week program for
inseason, so you have everything done for you no matter what time of
year you are in.

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Conclusion
It is important going forward to have an action plan.
All the great information in the world wont matter if you do not take action.
In the offseason I would recommend:
1. Working on your bat speed 3 times a week. Each workout would consist of:
a.) Recommended (in provided Excel sheet) overload-underload swings first
b.) Pick one drill and do 3 sets of 8 reps
2. Workout out 3 times a week:
a.) Use the provided workout program and do exactly what it says
b.) Limit fast food and eat a variety of vegetables, fruits, lean meats, and
other protein sources. Eat healthier carb sources (whole wheat pasta,
bread, sweet potatoes) if you want to gain weight.
You can hit and workout on the same day, but I would recommend hitting before
you workout, so your workout fatigue doesnt affect your hitting.
If you put this program to use, I guarantee you will increase your bat speed and
improve your game.
Be sure to email me with your success story!
Be the best,
Coach Miles
Info.athletebaseball@gmail.com

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