News

Algard Baseball Winter Workout sessions

I am pleased to announce that Algard Baseball will be holding winter workouts starting the first Sunday in January and will run until the end of March, from 8-10 am at Grange warehouse. We would like to give a big thank you to South Parkland Youth Association for providing us with the space to be able to workout our players.

These sessions are designed to start getting college baseball players, varsity baseball players, and legion baseball players geared up and in shape for the up incoming 2022 baseball season.  During these sessions we will give instruction on all aspects of the game.  Position Players will begin hitting progression programs to help build them for the upcoming season, along with fielding progression programs that will build their strength to stay healthy throughout the season.  Pitchers will have their space where they will be able to do their band work, driveline, pen work, etc.  We do not have a heated place where pitchers can throw long toss, so pitchers will either throw outside the warehouse, which will be weather permitting or will have to throw into a net the facility. These sessions are by invite only, so if you or your child would be interested, please join our email list to ensure that you will receive a spot in our programs.  Also, our programs will be taking place in Allentown Pennsylvania, so we are understanding that travel may be an issue for some people.  If these times or facilities do not work for you or your child, please contact us directly to see if there are any accommodations we can make. 

These sessions are free, they are designed to help all players build up their strength and work on their mechanics for the upcoming season.  Also due to covid-19 we are going to ask players to where masks in doors if they are not vaccinated and follow the CDC guidelines.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to reach out, email us at walgard14@gmail.com for any questions or concerns. 

Off Season Hitting Drills

Off Season Hitting drills for High School and College Players

The offseason is a very important time for a baseball player, it’s a period to let your body heal after a long 10-month season.  For most college and high school players on the east coast team practices will start in January, preparing for the long ruling upcoming season.  So, a baseball player’s down months in the year are November and December but maintaining yourself throughout these months is very important.  Games can not be won in the offseason, but they can very much be lost by lack of hard work and dedication.  For hitters, being inactive for even just a couple weeks can have a long last effect on a players timing and rhythm at the plate.  The goal is to continue to swing but keep yourself in good physical physique at the same time.

The best thing for a hitter to focus on in the off season is tee drills, tee drills allow a player to physically feel their mechanics of their swing, which allows adjustments to be made much easier than a player can feel exactly what they are doing.  The three best tee drills are high 1 ball, low 8 ball, and long tee. 

To explain high 1 ball and low 8 ball, home plate is 8 baseballs wide from the inside corner of the plate to the outside black of the plate.  High 1 ball is simply a tee set at the top of the strike zone on the inside part of the plate.  The goal of this drill is to keep your hands inside the baseball and be able to backspin this ball right over the head of the shortstop into the left center field gap.

Low 8 is the exact opposite of high 1 ball, now put the tee at the very bottom of the strike zone on the outside part of the plate.  The goal of this drill is to stay behind this pitch and hit this pitch with backspin over the second baseman’s head in the right center field gap.  You should do these drills back-to-back because the biggest take away from doing these two drills is that it forces a player to make an immediate adjustment.  In high 1 ball the goal is to keep your hands inside the baseball, while in low 8 ball the goal is to stay behind the ball, which are two completely different swings.  The faster a player can make adjustments the better off they will be when it comes to game time.

Lastly, long tee is a great way to see where you are currently, to do this drill simply place a ball on a tee and put it anywhere in the strike zone you desire.  But the goal is to hit each of these pitches where they are being pitched, if you set a tee up on the outside part of the plate, you should be hit the ball to the opposite field.  If you swing at a pitch setup on the outside part and you pull it, you’re rolling over the pitch which gives you direct feed back that something is wrong with your swing.  Could be over rotating either your top or bottom half, could be wrapping your bat path which causes your swing to be long, etc.  While doing this drill you should never leave the tee in the same exact location for two consecutive swings.  Reason being if you leave the tee in the same location, you are just training yourself to hit one exact pitch instead of the whole strike zone.

These are just a few drills that college baseball players do all the time during the off season.  If you would like me to look at your swing and give feedback, feel free to email me at walgard14@gmail.com or if you are looking for more drills to do in the off season please do not hesitate to reach out.