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Steve’s Unique
Qualifications
What makes EnglishbeyHitting
different from the numerous hitting instruction programs
advertised on the internet, television and sports
magazines, who all basically claim to teach "the
secrets of the Major League swing"? Steve
Englishbey has unique qualifications that enable him to
understand and teach what these elite athletes have
learned to do.
- Steve himself was an elite
athlete, being selected in the first round
of the Major League draft by the Houston
Astros in 1972.
- He has spent hundreds of
hours studying video of elite baseball and
softball hitters.
- He has spent hundreds of hours on
the field working with hitters of all ages and
levels.
- And last but by no means least, he is a trainer
of athletes with a professional background in
physiology, kinesiology and exercise science.
This rare expertise enables him to understand
how elite athletes create the necessary muscle
actions and physical movements to swing a bat in the
most efficient way possible and also to teach young
hitters how to create the same muscle actions and
physical movements.
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The “Trainer’s Perspective”
This last
qualification is what gives Steve the "trainer's
perspective" and really sets him apart from most of
the other hitting instructors in the market and in the
traditional baseball world. Typical baseball and
softball hitting instruction available to the consumer
is based on a combination of two sources: (1) the
perceptions of high-level coaches and hitters and (2)
conventional “wisdom” passed around among college
and professional coaches.
When most hitting
instructors talk about hitting, they typically talk
about things like grip,
stride, weight transfer, blocking, squishing the bug,
throwing the bat barrel, throwing the hands, taking the
hands to the ball, taking the knob to the ball, staying
inside the ball, staying on top of the ball, swinging
down on the ball, etc. Whether or not these
instructional "cues" help elite hitters to be
successful, they are not what set elite hitters apart from the
rest of the hitting world. In fact for the most part
neither hitters nor coaches at the highest levels
(college and professional) really understand what
hitters at their levels are actually doing with their
muscles and bodies when they swing a bat. This should
not surprise anyone. They deal with hitters who already have
elite-level swings, so most of their instruction is
limited to saying the right thing to help those hitters
make needed adjustments. They don't need
to understand what sets elite hitters apart from the
rest.
The problem is that most hitting instruction for young
hitters is based on the stuff taught by college and
professional coaches (and occasionally professional
hitters). It is generally based on their subjective
observations, conventional "wisdom" and the
folklore they pass around in their elite worlds. Once
again, most of this instruction will
not help 95% of young hitters advance to the elite
category or even become as successful as they are
physically capable of becoming. In fact, most of it will
actually prevent them from doing what they really need
to do.
Two Key Elements
in an Elite-Level Swing
What do they really need
to do? What do elite level hitters do that young hitters
need to learn to do? Simply stated, elite level hitters
have learned to (1) generate tremendous explosive power
from the middle of their body and (2) use their upper
body in the most efficient way to transfer that
explosive power to their bat head. In other words, they
swing like elite athletes.
Can this swing be
taught? More importantly, can your
young hitter learn to swing a bat like an elite athlete?
In
our experience, the answer is almost certainly no … if they continue doing
what 95% of the hitting world – both baseball and
softball – from youth league coaches to college and
professional coaches - is telling them to do. However … with
dedication on the part of both the hitter and his parent
or coach and an understanding of the principles and
movements taught by Steve Englishbey, we have seen
mediocre hitters develop swings that are pretty damn
good. And we are pretty damn critical. The success
stories are inside this website. We invite you to join
our forum, spend some time browsing the website, and
take an informed look at whether EnglishbeyHitting swing
instruction might be the answer to your young
athlete’s hitting aspirations.
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