Macenko Weighted Bat Drill


erdy147

Addicted to Softballfans
This drill is done off a tee, hitting into a net.

Changed my heavy bat to a 42oz from a 34oz (modified a 28oz PST to 42oz, but same balance as orig.)
Switched Light bat from a 23oz FP to a 26oz TPS XXL
Use a futsal ball (14.3 oz weight) for part of the drill.

warmup / stretch
10 swings with 42oz + futsal ball
10 swings with 26oz + futsal ball
10 swings with 42oz + futsal ball
10 swings with 26oz + futsal ball
10 swings with 42oz + futsal ball
10 swings with 26oz + futsal ball
10 swings with 30oz + futsal ball (game weight bat)
5 minute break
15 swings with 30oz + regular softballs (7 oz weight)
1 minute break
15 swings with 30oz + regular softballs
---- stretching.

Just on week two (3-4 times a week as I have plenty of time here in the jungle) and will see how it works out over 8 weeks.

How did it turn out?

I started this this morning!
No bat weight yet so just used my 30oz
Light bat is a fp 23oz
Regular was a 27
Was sweating pretty good! Just need a bat weight now!

Just wrap some tape on the end...more evenly across the barrel for balanced and more on the end for and endload feel. Weigh the bat to get it close.
 

doubles all day

Addicted to Softballfans
so on the site i see it has 6 sets how much time in between? just enough to catch your breath? 6 sets how much time does this take? thanks for the help
 

Mwood1986

Member
Ended up buying a 40oz wood bat so I could do this over the off season and you can definitely tell which muscles are being worked the next day.

This is more for building the muscles not gaining endurance so just take your time just try to keep it under 2hrs, that way your not tearing down the muscle you're building up. Probably have at least one day of recovery between workouts. (also to not tear down that muscle)
That's what I did when I had no life and worked out all the time! :D
If you wanted to you could take some lean protein supplement and take your vitamins to help with a quicker recovery, even start swinging opposite after a few months for a month just to throw your body for a loop (really mess up the other team smashing it out opposite)

Don't know if I'd raise the weight of the lighter bat since the lighter bat is for fast twitch muscles, if anything go lighter with more reps, hell on the Bomani video he swung a wiffle ball bat! (Yes a wiffle ball bat does burn with enough reps)
 

stang7222

Addicted to Softballfans
Just started the drill this week. I'm swinging a 32oz for the heavy bat just until my body gets used to the workout, then i'll move to 38oz. I swing a 27oz gamer. My light bat is a demarini steel that broke. I cut about 10" off of it and put the endcap back on. Not sure of the weight, probably about 22oz.

I tested my BBS off of a tee before i started and i was at 75mph. I'll test again in March and see what progress i've made if any.

I plan to do it mon, wed, fri.
 

krunchyfrogg

It's all in the reflexes
This is a really great drill. I'm very happy I found out about it, it's really improved my hitting skills (and now I get to use those reciepts when I buy bats -- haha!).
 

stang7222

Addicted to Softballfans
tried it off a tee today. I didn't like it. It didn't feel like i was getting the maximum out of the workout like i do with dry swings. I will only be doing this drill with dry swings from now on.

Although I've only been at this for about 2 weeks, i can feel that i have gained a little bat speed already.
 

stang7222

Addicted to Softballfans
Haven't measured my BBS yet, but i can tell i'm hitting harder. I hit way more homers in BP. I used to hit a lot of line drives that would skip to the fence. The last 2 bp sessions, those same line drives are hitting the fence or carrying over. I think i've gained about 20-30 feet since starting this. Will update with BBS in a few weeks.
 
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kojak33

Addicted to Softballfans
Finally found a way to make my bat heavier, so I'm going to start this this week hopefully!!
 

Flyman

GEAUX TIGERS!!
I started this today. I have 7 weeks until my Sunday league starts and 9 weeks until my church league starts, so hopefully I'll be seeing the predicted gains by May when church league starts. For my heavy bat, I'm using my 27FL AV with the Sklz variable bat weight (two 5oz bars for a 10oz addition in weight). For my light bat, I'm using one of my son's tee ball bats, LOL. It's 18oz. So I'm going up 10oz and down 9oz for heavy and light. The only thing I'm not sure of is if the Sklz sleeve weighs 2-3oz by itself without the 5oz bars in them.

I'm hopeful. I'm just going to do 10 swings each two days a week to start. My lead wrist was a little sore after starting today, lol. I'm hoping to go up to 3 days a week after I get used to it.

The whole "workout" didn't take very long today. I'm assuming the timing is swing-setup-swing-setup-swing-etc. Take a short break between bats and then repeat. Is that correct?
 

astar151

Addicted to Softballfans
week 12

Coming up on week 12 of doin this... Notice great improvement.... hitting the ball out when I want to now instead of by accident and hitting a lot more line drives last bp session didn't hit one ground ball, however my question is do you keep doing it after the 12 weeks? Will I start to notice a decline in my bat speed if I stop... Do you guys do it through league play?
 

Flyman

GEAUX TIGERS!!
Coming up on week 12 of doin this... Notice great improvement.... hitting the ball out when I want to now instead of by accident and hitting a lot more line drives last bp session didn't hit one ground ball, however my question is do you keep doing it after the 12 weeks? Will I start to notice a decline in my bat speed if I stop... Do you guys do it through league play?

This is great encouragement right here. And it also asks a question I was going to ask when I got close to the end. Keep it up, or stop until the offseason.
 

Rob Ots

I love lamp
Coming up on week 12 of doin this... Notice great improvement.... hitting the ball out when I want to now instead of by accident and hitting a lot more line drives last bp session didn't hit one ground ball, however my question is do you keep doing it after the 12 weeks? Will I start to notice a decline in my bat speed if I stop... Do you guys do it through league play?

never really noticed a decline in bat speed but after a few months of not doing it you can tell. I use it when I'm playing league if I start to get in a slump. Say I haven't done the drill in a couple weeks and I have a bad game, I will go home that night and do the drill and keep doing it for a couple of weeks after that and it always seems to help me find my swing again. Been doing this for 15 years at least.
 

Phanatic

Addicted to Softballfans
I would say during the season I do it more to warm up. Or keep from getting too stiff. Off Season is less risk to pushing it because you have much more recovery time. In season is maintenance.
 

Rob Ots

I love lamp
Did it last night. Always gives me a boost of confidence. It seems to help me correct mistakes in my form also. Things I didn't realize I was doing wrong at the plate kinda come to light once you get midway into the routine.
 

Flyman

GEAUX TIGERS!!
What about cutting down to once a week once the 12 weeks is over? Seems that would keep up the practice without concern about losing bat speed. Maybe kick it back up to twice/wk during the offseason?
 

astar151

Addicted to Softballfans
What about cutting down to once a week once the 12 weeks is over? Seems that would keep up the practice without concern about losing bat speed. Maybe kick it back up to twice/wk during the offseason?

That's what I was thinkin too.... I was doing it 3x a week for the twelve weeks... but for example our games are tuesday & thursday, which day would be the most beneficial? Friday to let your body recooperate over the weekend, and not do it on a day before game days? less there is a tournament that weekend... than skip it that week I would say due to how much playing time for that week
 

Rob Ots

I love lamp
I'm telling you fellas, I play a pretty busy schedule. Not sure yet for this summer, but usually it's Tuesday and Thursday double headers and I also sub on Wednesday and Sometimes we play a coed double header league on Friday nights along with 12 tournaments a year at least. Once you get the intial 12 weeks in, with all that ball, just use the drill as a more or less fine tuning. I mean, this drill can mess with your timing, so if your hitting the ball well and are happy with your performance, I wouldn't recommend using it again until you start to see a slight downward progression in your hitting and at that time, start the drill again twice a week and I guarntee after just a few times, you will find your swing again. This is how I've used the drill for many seasons and it has always helped me.
 

Fro Joe

Snowden is a hero.
That's what I was thinkin too.... I was doing it 3x a week for the twelve weeks... but for example our games are tuesday & thursday, which day would be the most beneficial? Friday to let your body recooperate over the weekend, and not do it on a day before game days? less there is a tournament that weekend... than skip it that week I would say due to how much playing time for that week

Doing it too often on top on playing maybe even lifting is going to cause CNS fatigue and hurt your bat speed.
 

JP3

Addicted to Softballfans
If anyone needs a Light Swing bat .......LMK
I have a few left.......Thanks
 

mcm21078

Addicted to Softballfans
I contacted this member ^^^ for a light bat but does anyone have any recommendations for a light and heavy bat? Would a little league bat work for a light bat (I have no idea how much they weigh and or if its OK to use a shorter bat, assuming they are not 34 inches). How about a heavy bat recommendation? I have a Schutt weighted bat but thats probably way to heavy for this drill. Thanks
 

DSNuts48

Badass
All you need for a bat is the handle unless you intend to hit balls while you do this. So a LL bat would work, or even a FP bat.
 

erdy147

Addicted to Softballfans
I contacted this member ^^^ for a light bat but does anyone have any recommendations for a light and heavy bat? Would a little league bat work for a light bat (I have no idea how much they weigh and or if its OK to use a shorter bat, assuming they are not 34 inches). How about a heavy bat recommendation? I have a Schutt weighted bat but thats probably way to heavy for this drill. Thanks

If you don't have a heavy bat just use some tape and wrap the end of an old bat up...for a more balanced bat wrap down the length of the barrel, for an endloaded bat just wrap the last 4 or 5 inches of the barrel. You can use just about any scale to get a ballpark number of oz's. Go to your local PIAS store they might have some old metal in there that you could use and get for cheap.
 

erdy147

Addicted to Softballfans
just did day one, i assume you should keep your form when doing this?

Definitely! Don't be affraid to really swing away but don't flail all over the place either. I usually pick a spot on a wall or something outside that I can concentrate on. Kind of like pretend that its a softball floating in the air. Just keep swinging through that spot...with a good strong swing and follow through.
 

stickin2j

Good clean family fun
Definitely! Don't be affraid to really swing away but don't flail all over the place either. I usually pick a spot on a wall or something outside that I can concentrate on. Kind of like pretend that its a softball floating in the air. Just keep swinging through that spot...with a good strong swing and follow through.

I usually use my regular tee, but don't place a ball on top, just swing right over. If I hit my foam piece, I know that I am dropping too much.
 

stang7222

Addicted to Softballfans
i noticed some improved power when i was doing it. but i haven't done it in 6 weeks because i had minor neck surgery.

I will get back to it this week. when i do the drill, i position myself close to a fence to make sure i keep my form.

place the knob of the bat against your belly button, and the endcap against the fence. swing away. you won't hit the fence and it will help you keep your swing compact. it helped me immensely.
 
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