Elite Baseball Development Podcast: Helping Hitters to Higher Ground with Doug Latta

Written on March 11, 2020 at 5:17 am, by Eric Cressey

We’re excited to welcome renowned hitting instructor Doug Latta to this week’s podcast for an awesome discussion on hitting set-up, mechanics, and approach. Doug’s one of the best in the business and he shared some tremendous insights in this discussion.

In lieu of a sponsor for this episode, we’ve got an exciting announcement. With this being our 50th episode, we’re running a $50 off sale on my popular resource, Sturdy Shoulder Solutions. You can get the discount through this Sunday at midnight by heading to www.SturdyShoulders.com and entering the coupon code podcast50.

Show Outline

Why Doug was one of the pioneers for hitting the ball in the air and what resistance he faced as he advocated for this approach
What the misconceptions are about hitting the ball in the air in the hitting community
How coaches should reevaluate their methodologies and practices to ensure athletes are practicing swings that “play” in game scenarios
How the use of data in hitting instruction has brought a more outcome focused training approach
What hitters can do to stay on top of the revolutionary work in pitch design
Where the world of hitting is headed and where the industry is falling short for hitters
How Doug defines the concepts of getting to 50/50 and having balance in a swing, and why these concepts are so important
Why telling hitters to stay back is terrible advice and how players can create a backside-driven swing without compromising their balance
What coaching cues and interventions Doug utilizes to change old habits that are hindering a hitter’s ability to swing the stick
What key characteristics are non-negotiable for having an elite swing
Why the solution for movement patterns is often in the set-up, and how this principle relates to creating dominant hitters
What are some of the physical roadblocks Doug encounters in players’ movement profiles that limit their ability to get into the proper positions in the batter’s box
How a good swing looks consistent from younger levels all the way up to the big leagues
Why age 13-14 is a critical time to receive good coaching
Why young hitters should spend less time buying tokens and practicing their swing in a cage and more time mastering their set-up and move into their swing
What parents of young hitters can do to put their kids in the best position to be successful as a hitter
How 90% of what you do to become a good hitter doesn’t involve swinging a bat
What resources and professionals Doug recommends checking out for those interested in taking their knowledge of hitting to the next level

You can follow Doug on Twitter at @LattaDoug and learn more about him at www.BallYard.net.

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