Want to Stand Out At The Plate? Royals Manager Ned Yost Shares How…
In this week’s coaching blog straight out of our baseball coaching academy, former World Champion and Royals’ Head Coach Ned Yost tells us what he looks for in a hitter. He looks for pure power, it’s always something that stands out to him. He also keeps an eye out...
Elon Coach Mike Kennedy on Swing Plane
In this video straight out of our Baseball Coaching Academy, Elon University coach Mike Kennedy talks about a very important topic to be a successful hitter: swing plane. To Coach Kennedy, swing plane simply means controlling the barrel. According to Coach, you...
The Hitting Drill You Should Start Doing Today
What hitting drill should you start doing today? The University of Maine's Coach Nick Derba thinks it's the "top hand" drill. Derba believes the top hand is the most important hand in the swing. The top hand drill is where you simply have your hitters only use their...
How Big Papi Approaches Every Practice Swing
How does one of the greatest hitters of all time approach his practice swing? Coach Darren Fenster of the Boston Red Sox got to hit with Papi for a few days and said he was always focused on improving his swing every time he touched the bat. This could...
The Simplest Hitting Approach That Led to the Highest Team Batting Average in the Country
What simple hitting trick led to the highest team batting average in the country? In this video, Coach Jason Rathbun of Herkimer College talks about the key to coaching successful hitters: simplicity. With your hitters, sometimes the worst thing you can do is over...
Dante Bichette on Setting up the Pitcher
Dante Bichette played 13 seasons in the big leagues, most notably as a 4 time All-Star with the Colorado Rockies. As a career .300 hitter with nearly 300 homeruns, Bichette credits much of his success to his ability to “setup” the pitcher. He used to love...
Yankees’ 3B Shares How To Start Driving the Baseball & Stop Your Front Shoulder From Flying Open
This week we have an exclusive hitting lesson with 2012 Silver Slugger, Chase Headley. In the video, Chase reveals how he keeps his front shoulder from "flying open" on the inside pitch and why hitters should load with your hips instead of your shoulders....
Is This Common Habit Keeping You From Being A Great Hitter?
A common mistake high school hitters can make is getting hung up on their swing mechanics rather than getting in the right place mentally before and during an at bat. Dante Bichette, the proud owner of the first home run in Colorado Rockies’ history, claims...
MLB All-Star/Hitting Coach Shares Key To Being Locked in at the Plate
Today we are joined by 4x All Star and former Rockies hitting coach, Dante Bichette. Dante finished his big league career with a .299 batting average and 274 home runs including almost hitting for the triple crown in 1995 when he had a monster .340 batting...
Mike Martin’s Favorite Hitting Drill
Today Next Level Ballplayer got together with Mike Martin, the (now retired) head coach of the Florida State Seminoles at the ABCA conference. In this short interview, we go over Coach Martin’s favorite hitting drill. He shares a simple drill that is extremely...
Baseball Wisdom From Third baseman Chase Headley
In today's video, big league ballplayer Chase Headley shares some deep insights on the major adjustments he's had to make throughout his journey to the big leagues. From facing elite level pitching to the mind-set players need to adopt to compete at the highest...
Todd Cunningham’s #1 Philosophy on Staying Confident in the Batter’s Box
Todd Cunningam, a young outfielder in the Atlanta Braves organization took some time today to chat with Next Level Ballplayer. In this interview we cover how Todd slows the game down. You’ll also get to hear his best advice for aspiring players who are trying...
The Two Keys To Becoming a Great Hitter
I get emails from hitters all the time asking for help with a common problem. It usually sounds something like this: “I feel great hitting in practice, but once I’m in the game I continue to struggle. It’s so frustrating. Any advice?” Today we are joined by former...
The Key to True Success as a Hitter with Blue Jays Mental Coach Steve Springer
Some of you guys might know that Franco and his good buddy, Steve Springer, share a hotel room every year for the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) annual convention. It's a exhausting and awesome four days of non stop baseball talking and catching up with...
Why You Need To Know Who You Are As A Player Today!
Who are you as a player? Are you able to answer that right away or is your answer more wishful thinking?... “Well, I’d say I’m a cross between Mike Trout, Miguel Cabrera, and Derek Jeter.” Knowing who you are as a player helps you prepare and practice in a way that...
Why Your Mindset Inside The Batter’s Box Is More Important Than How You Feel
Attention Hitters! The next five minutes will change your baseball career for the better if you let it. We are joined by University of Washington Hitting Coach and friend, Donagal Fergus. Coach Fergus is one of my favorite guys in the baseball world because of...
The Two Keys To Becoming a Great Hitter!
I get emails from hitters all the time asking for help with a common problem. It usually sounds something like this: “I feel great hitting in practice, but once I’m in the game I continue to struggle. It’s so frustrating. Any advice?” Today we are joined by former...
Want a Deeper Focus In the Batters Box? Make This Simple Adjustment In Practice
Many players and coaches assume that when a hitter is struggling the plate the culprit is a mechanical or mental problem. Very seldom is the question, "is the hitter seeing the ball effectively" asked. "Sure they're seeing the ball...their looking right at it!" So...
One Trick To Hitting High Velocity Fastballs
Sometimes one adjustment in your hitting approach can make a BIG difference in how productive you are at the plate. Having the right information to help you decide what adjustments to make and how to go about doing it, could be a huge advantage for you as a hitter....
Having Fun In a Game of Failure and More with Adam Dunn
Hey what's up guys, hope everyone is having a great week. If you are a fan of long home runs, you are automatically a fan of the White Sox's Adam Dunn. Dunn is in his 14th big league seasons and has 443 (and counting!) home runs to his name. Despite being one of MLB's...
Wanna Play Baseball With Confidence? Ask Yourself This Question
Serious hitters and coaches, listen up. We have a gem today. Not too long ago I spent a long weekend in Dallas at the American Baseball Coaches Association representing Next Level Ballplayer and catching up with friends and former coaches of mine. I had my usual...
How Punching Your Couch Can Turn You Into A More Explosive Hitter .
Wanna be a more explosive hitter? Just start punching your couch. I thought about ending this article there, but for the sake of clarity, we have former Astros and hitting guru Chris Burke here to break it down for us. In the quick video below, Chris does a great job...
Ben Zobrist on Why His Hitting Approach Completely Changes Each April
Ever wonder what MLB All Star hitters work on in the pre season? Today we are joined by Rays All Star Ben Zobrist, to break down his pre season hitting philosophy and how that translates into in season success. Hint: Working on hitting away in practice helps Ben pull...
Why Angled Front Toss Is Logan Forsythe’s Favorite Hitting Drill
A lot of times I hear players talk about a certain hitting drill they like to go back to when they are struggling a little bit, but rarely do I hear a hitter talk about a specific drill he likes to do when he's feeling great. Today we are joined by big leaguer Logan...
Inside the Mind of Brandon Phillips in the Batter’s Box
Today we're going back to a previous interview we did with the Braves' Brandon Phillips to get inside his mind while in the batter's box. While it seems that Brandon can come off as crazy (and hilarious), there is a very important lesson in today's post... Each player...
Taking Pitches vs Being Aggressive Early in the Count" w Indians' Hitting Instructor Jason Stein
Depending on the day and person you will hear many different hitting philosophies. Some coaches preach working the count and others are all about being aggressive at all times. Today we hear a very compelling argument for being aggressive... Especially on that first...
James Ramsey On His # 1 Work Ethic Tip, Making BIG Positional Changes and More
If you're a player who's currently preparing for the upcoming baseball season and training this fall, make sure you take notes on this video. James Ramsey has played with some of the best college players and has given a fantastic perspective of what it means to play...
Favorite Hitting Drills of Buster Posey and James Ramsey
James was an All-American at Florida State University and then was the 23rd overall pick in the 2012 draft. We covered a lot of great material in our interview that we'll publish in the near future, but today we have a quick clip of Ramsey talking about his favorite...
6 Tips For Hitting Off A Tee Like A Big Leaguer
If you are a baseball position player, you’ve no doubt hit off of a tee before. The question you should be asking after each “tee session” is... Did I get better hitting off the tee today? An honest player would admit that most swings off the tee are mindless...
Trusting Your Swing Like A Big Leaguer with Astros’ Coach Rodney Linares
Today, I’m excited to sit down with Astros' Minor League Head Coach, Rodney Linares. Rodney spent six seasons in the Astros' organization as a scout and hitting instructor before becoming a coach. He has had the opportunity to work with some of the top hitters in the...
