The Goal of Training
To improve skill at taking poor-outcome pitches (i.e., those out of either the strike zone or the hitter’s attack zones) by training the brain’s inhibition (‘stop’) system. An important concept when attacking ‘take’ decisions is understanding that the systems in the brain that control action generation (the ‘go’ system) and action inhibition (the ‘stop’ system) are distinct and independent of one another. If a hitter trains only the ‘go’ (swing) system, the other key piece of hitting, the ‘stop’ (taking poor-outcome pitches, ‘take’) system, is neglected. To be complete, hitters must train each system so that they are effective both at going when they need to go and at shutting down or stopping when they need to take. There is ample scientific evidence that the inhibition system in the brain can be trained to improve skill at preventing or stopping unwanted actions, especially when worked on in the performance context. There are two general effects that unfold when training ‘take’ decisions. As the hitter trains to take a specific pitch, the association between that pitch and a stopping decision is developed and strengthened so that every time that pitch is seen the brain automatically activates an inhibition mechanism. Additionally, with focused inhibition training, the strength of the impulse to swing at that pitch weakens over time. So, the overall effect is two-fold: the pitch doesn’t activate the ‘go’ system as strongly and the ‘stop’ system engages more effectively to shut down the swing.
There are several drill strategies to work the ‘stop’ system in more generic and specific ways to increase a hitter’s ability to take unwanted pitches. Below we lay out a progression that trains taking in a broad way (e.g., balls out of the strike zone) followed by a progression of strategies designed to train the hitter to be more effective at taking a specific pitch (e.g., high fastballs up and out of the strike zone). These training strategies are then taken to game-like situations to increase their likelihood at transferring to the game.