SETPRO SMART POWER REPORT PAGE 4: REACTION TRAINING, WHY, WHAT, HOW

Maximum hitting success with REACTION/STRESS TRAINING.

The closer you can simulate game type conditions, the more effective your training. For most players, the closest the come to game conditions is batting practice. Until now the only real way of developing game bat speed was batting practice. Drills hitting a stationary ball (batting tee) or soft toss developed parts of your swing. But you have needed batting practice to develop the entire vision-brain-nerve-muscle system. The problem is it takes thousands and thousands (a typical major league batter has taken 100,000 to 200,000 quality swings) of batting practice swings to get there. And we are talking about quality practice (pitching that simulates real game velocities and conditions). How available is this to you? The average high school player is lucky to get 10-20 swings two or three times a week. Also, how do you know how well you are swinging the bat? Some days the ball “jumps” off the bat. Others, you are lucky to get it out of the infield.

Train under Major League pressure with REACTION TRAINING.

SETPRO's REACTION TRAINING SYSTEM is a break through in sports training. With the REACTION TRAINER you can train against major league pitching (or little league, high school, softball) every day of the week. Each swing of the bat is precisely measured for speed, power and reaction time.

How Reaction Training works.

The REACTION TRAINER consists of a swing computer and trigger unit. These two units simulate the timing of a pitch and measure your swing performance. The standard trigger unit has an electronic light that flashes twice, once to start your swing move and the second time when the pitch reaches the plate.The length of time between flashes is equal to the time it takes for the pitch to go from the pitcher to home plate. More advanced trigger units are available as accessories. The PWUTS-1 simulates the timing of the entire windup, delivery and ball flight. The VIPER-RT adds the effect of the ball flight coming towards you. You can set the pitch speed (from 1-255 MPH). The computer then measures your time to hit the ball (your reaction time). The computer also measures your bat speed (1-255 MPH) and power (distance in feet you hit the ball).

Reaction training puts you under the same vision-brain-muscle stress as hitting against a pitched ball. Training under stress conditions the muscle memory system. Now your game swing will generate maximum power.

How do you hit a light?

A lot of coaches question the value of reaction training. Usually I’ll hear second hand that a coach has made the comment “what good is reaction training using a light (trigger unit)”? If you have any knowledge of the sports training world you should know the names Vern Gambetta and Steve Odgers. Both are trainers with the Chicago White Sox. Both are considered the top baseball training people in major league baseball.The White Sox have invested many thousands of dollars in a device called the Bassin Anticipation Timer.

The following is taken from “Sports Vision” by D. F. C. Lorean and C. J. MacEwen, published by Butterworth-Heinemann Ltd. It describes the Bassin Anticipation Timer.

...Visual motor reaction and response speeds are critical components of visual anticipation timing. Anticipation timing is a larger concept that encompasses not only the reaction and response speeds as such, but also the timing of the visual motor actions when a visual target can be seen moving prior to the response. The Bassin Anticipation Timer (see picture) is the standard instrument for assessing anticipation timing, and it is also used in different ways for enhancement training. It consists of several interlocking rails with a row of red lights which sequentially illuminate at different rates of speed. The sequential illumination of the lights simulates a moving target. 

The athlete's task is to make a motor response at the precise moment that the last light on the rail illuminates. The control panel then displays the temporal relationship (amount of time early or late) between the motor response and the onset of the final stimulus light. After each response, the athlete should be asked whether they think the response was early or late, and training should be structured to refine the precision of the response and also the internal awareness of any response errors. Speed of stimulus movement can be adjusted over a wide range, and the rails can be adjusted to mimic the types of target movement typically encountered in different sports.....

The Bassin anticipator does not have wind up and delivery simulation capability. The VIPER-RT does. And costs thousands less than the Bassin Anticipation Timer.

The REACTION TRAINER is not a substitute for batting practice. You need both. The reaction trainer is the ONLY system that allows you to build power and quickness with pitching simulation for muscle memory. Now you will get the maximum benefit from batting practice.

SPRT5A “REACTION” TRAINING SYSTEM

A break through in sports power training. Combines power training and reaction training. Same features as SP-3A plus measures REACTION TIME to a simulated pitch and Ballistic Overload Failure (BOF) training. BOF means training until full muscle recruitment has occurred. BOF occurs when your swing speed drops (less than your peak). The SPRT5A REACTION trainer has BOF training. It will count your swings and tell you when you have reached failure (time to stop). You take only the number of swings that are required to maximize your training.Reaction training is vital to establishing vision-brain-muscle memory at maximum bat speed. Reaction training creates the same training stress as hitting a pitch. Set pitch speed and distance. BOF training actually measures when you have taken the correct number of training swings. Includes SPEED/POWER/REACTION COMPUTER and REACTION TRIGGER UNIT. Trigger unit requires tripod (uses ordinary camera tripod).

VIPER-RT, Vision Power Reaction Trainer.

Now have an even more realistic simulation of ball traveling at you. The VIPER accessory is an add on to SPRT5A. Combines PWUTS-1 wind up and delivery with techniques of BASSIN ANTICIPATION TIMER. The BASSIN ANTICIPATION TIMER was developed to test and train the visual skills of athletes. Major league baseball players have found it particularly useful (see insert). The BASSIN unit sells for thousands of dollars. The VIPER-RT is more effective because it adds wind up and delivery simulation and costs far less.