How Matt Helke is using science to 'explore a new world' of baseball

Sophie Hessekiel | Nov 4, 2024

Baseball coach Matt Helke / Expression Studios

According to Matt Helke, founder of The Baseball Observer Digital Magazine, baseball coaches have been training batters all wrong for years.

“Hitting a baseball comes down to just one simple question: ‘Are you going to swing at this pitch or not?’” Helke told SI. Since most batting training involves hitting the ball off of a tee or swinging at a soft toss from a coach, that question is largely ignored. In a real game setting, however, “the question has to be recognized and answered before the ball is halfway to home plate.”

“Batters have to take what they perceive and take action," the Performance Optimization Coach explains. "Players need to time and 'couple' their movements in conjunction with the bat’s movement; all of which are dictated by a moving ball traveling at different rates of speed and angles." After over 30 years of on-the-field coaching and research, Helke has developed a science-backed methodology that teaches players how to hit a moving ball more successfully.

Helke's primary assertion is simple: most traditional hitting drills do not prepare batters for real- life scenarios. “Ever see a player not swing at a ball on a batting tee? In a game, does a player ever hit a stationary ball off a batting tee (other than in a t-ball) or a lobbed ball from 25 feet?”

The training that the majority of players receive takes out the hard part – the question. “To swing, or not to swing?” Conventional “swing drills” take part AFTER the halfway point. Yet it’s the crucial moments BEFORE the halfway point that actually dictates a batter’s swing mechanics. So how can a player know the true answer in a game if they rarely, if ever, practice what the question might be?

"As coaches, we constantly see the same hitters repeat the same mistakes: opening up too quick in the swing, continuing to roll their wrists and pull ground balls on the outside pitch, not "loading" on time or swinging at pitches out of the strike zone or in the dirt, going into slumps, etc," Helke explains. "And why? Because players almost exclusively work on their mechanics in isolation, without any game-like environment or condition, erroneously thinking that's how to hit better."

By contrast, Helke's approach is rooted in the latest motor learning and sports science research to enhance each player's unique biomechanics. Helke has extensively researched kinesiology, biomechanics, neuroscience, perceptual and cognitive psychology, mental game and pedagogy to improve his training methods further. "You can't use an old map to explore a new world," Helke told SI. By training players to hit a moving ball, his method reorients their minds, urging them to examine that essential question with every pitch.

— Enjoy free dish of rich and fabulous players with The Athlete Lifestyle on SI —

Fore!: Paige Spiranac rocks low-cut halter top to announce major career news

Heisman worthy: Carson Beck’s sister Kylie flaunts flawless legs before Georgia game

Hallo-wow: Angel Reese paints herself green, dyes hair bright red as Poison Ivy

Rapper riff: Drake owned by Demar DeRozan in Kendrick Lamar revenge fail

Dodger darling: Mamiko Tanaka poses for Dodgers fans without husband Ohtani