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Softball (SRT)




Coaches are always searching for answers and comparing things to see if something can be gained by choosing one approach over another. There is much to be gained by implementing strike recognition training (SRT) into your daily BP sessions. The image above shows how simple and easy it is to integrate brain based style sessions into your daily routines. 

The regular or mini protection screen is sufficient for throwing BP and protecting the pitcher. It is not sufficient for training or developing strike recognition.  Protection screens are limited in their scope of influence because they weren't designed to provide visual information for the hitter.   They do a great job of protecting the person throwing BP but this traditional device provides no collateral strike recognition benefits for the hitter.  

When the protection screen is used with the VX-5 hitters get an unmatched benefit that correlates to greater strike recognition during games. On average hitters strike out 16% less and walk 13% more as a result of implicit   strike recognition training. It really doesn't take a genius to see how important visual information is to a hitter.  V-flex is an absolute necessity for hitters struggling with strike recognition issues. Training the brain to respond to strikes and not balls isn't a mental or cognitive process its a neurological one. One that requires physical changes in the hitters brain that are expressed in strike swinging probabilities and efficiency. 

Establishing baseline strike recognition numbers will provide everyone a solid foundation from which to begin training. There are certain types of strike recognition numbers that need to be collected to insure a true representation of the hitting population on your team.  Some numbers to help guard against false positive tendencies due to explicit training, some protect against neuro-receptor burnout because of the intense focus generated by V-flex and some to quantify game day correlations indicating true progress. 

After decades of subjecting hitters to thousands of explicit training drills the time has come to move toward a more brain centered approach to strike recognition training.  V-Flex addresses this issue by offering coaches and players an (implicit) training approach for engaging the brain directly. Bringing in fresh approaches and innovation that sparks imagination is a great way to motivate and empower players.


Edges have been hard to come by on the hitting side of the ball. There seems to be no shortage of .400 hitters during batting practice but when those same hitters step into the batters box in a game they hit .150. Most, if not all, of the disparity between the numbers can be traced to a couple of key factors which are based in neurology, physiology and biology. 

In all things hitting it is important to measure specific outcomes as they relate to the strike zone. Since balls are hit hard less than 3% of the time and strikes are hit hard 18% of the time it is important for hitters to swing at strikes. The results associated with swinging at balls are profoundly bad. It is important to note that swinging at a ball is much much different than taking a strike. They are both recorded as strikes but they aren't the same. Faced with such undeniable evidence we found it quite practical to design a system around swinging at strikes.

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