We are so excited to roll out the 3D Hitting System to hitters of all levels in the state of Colorado through the introduction of our 3D Hitting Clubs. Our 3D Hitting System matches the best information and the best technology in the world to help hitters meet their goals, and gives hitters here the opportunity to learn the same movements and verbiage used by Mike Bard and his hitting staff led by hitting director, Brad Arnold.


Mike, and his staff, have had the privilege of working with more than 30,000 different hitters.  Among those are 2007 National League Champion Colorado Rockies where Mike served at the Assistant to the Hitting Coach.  National League batting champion Matt Holliday, 2009 Rookie of the Year Chris Coghlan, 2011 World Series MVP David Freese, and 2016 World Series MVP Ben Zobrist (Coach Bard’s SS at Dallas Baptist University), 2013 World Baseball Classic MVP Michael Saunders (pool C), MLB All Stars Matt Holliday, Joc Pederson, Logan Morrison, and Mike currently serves the Los Angeles Dodgers as a hitting consultant.  Mike and his staff, including Director of Curriculum Steve Eaton, have also served the amateur market in Colorado that includes the only two Colorado representatives that have won the prestigious Cooperstown Field of Dreams championship CO Armour (2014) and CO Altitude (2016).  Bardo’s Diamond Sports has had multiple state champions at the USSSA and Triple Crown state tournaments over the last 5 years in both the AAA and Majors levels.  Bardo’s in house youth teams have also captured the only National Titles won by a Colorado youth team in Triple Crown Sports spring/summer nationals (CO 14ers and CO Altitude).  Team Colorado, Bardo’s high school select brand, has captured numerous tournament and state championships over the last 3 years and have had 13 Power 5 D1 commits over the 2016/2017 season.  The 3D hitting staff continues to learn every step of the way, the staff meets weekly to continue towards the “truth” in movement!

The 3D Hitting System is designed to identify inefficiencies in hitters within their movement patterns and set them up with a protocol designed around their individual needs. This statement is true, "When athletes move better, they hit better." This idea is rooted in the development pyramid - movement as the foundation, strength & speed in proper movements, and skill as the tip of the iceberg. We do not make decisions for hitters, we serve as a guide towards a style and approach that best fits the player, his personality, and his movement patterns. Rather than telling hitters how to move, each protocol allowed the athlete a chance to feel out their own needs in getting into a better posture, becoming core-centric in their rotations or creating more freedom in barrel direction and path.

We've already seen an incredible amount of growth in the hitters in our fall program using the 3D Hitting System. During the fall, 47 athletes being developed through the 3D Hitting Systems model experienced an average of 3 mph peak exit velocity increase, 3.6 average exit velocity, and over 20 feet of batted ball distance in just 6 weeks. Some hitters experienced 7-9 mph jumps, and all hitters experienced growth.

There’s no gimmick here - just knowledge, work, and a desire for people to achieve. Your choice to join a 3D Hitting Club represents a monthly membership. It's our goal to earn your business on a month-to-month basis at a price that is affordable and choosable. There's more growth on the way for people choosing 3D Hitting Clubs this November and we're excited for you to join the membership!

Before you shut it down for the year and take this off season off I want you to ask yourself these two questions:
 
“What do I want to achieve next season?”
“Do I have what it takes to achieve that right now?”
 
I talk to a lot of players every year around this time who fail to ask themselves these questions. They want to play varsity baseball, commit to a D1 school, or get drafted but don’t quite have what it takes to achieve that yet. And still, when I ask them what their plans are for the off season their response is that they’re going to shut it down for a couple months. Only in baseball does this seem to make sense to people. If your goal was to do 100 pushups in a row would it help to take a couple months off from doing pushups? Then how do you expect to get better at throwing by not throwing?
 
Here is the level of velocity that is going to be required if your goal is to play Division 1 Baseball:

• Freshman in high school – 80+ mph
• Sophomore in high school – 85+ mph
• Junior in high school – 88+ mph

Here is the level of command that is going to be required if your goal is to play Division 1 Baseball:

• Minimum 60%
• Preferably 66%
• Elite 75%

Do you have what it takes to achieve your goals? If not then you should spend this off season pushing to get better.
 
The biggest argument for taking the off season off is to rest up so you can come back healthy ready to throw next season. But the biggest contributor to getting injured is lack of preparation. If you’re not physically prepared to throw a baseball and/or have poor mechanics, that is when you’re going to get hurt. This is the time of year to build your strength and fine tune your mechanics. The idea that pitchers can simply pick up a baseball after four months of non-throwing and regain their skill within a few weeks is just insane. Like anything else, if you aren’t actively developing extremely fine motor control (which is what throwing is), you’re losing kinesthetic sense and ability. Period.
 
Choose to take full advantage of your off season. Don’t slow down, don’t take steps backwards. Come join us in Healthy Heat and learn to maximize your velocity while minimizing injury so you’re ready to dominate when next season rolls around. 

It’s playoff time in professional baseball, some will say this is when the real work begins.  Emotions are at an all-time high, every play has more pressure than the last.  However, as Trevor Bauer said before his start in Game 1, “All the work is done.”  For many it takes reaching the highest level before they can really see it in that light.  But if you are on a relentless pursuit of anything, particularly baseball, you know the work just has to be done.  

I had the privilege of seeing the work that professional pitchers put in last offseason.  They have to lift, condition, and throw multiple times a week. These are guys at the highest level showing up and just putting in the work everyday.  It is not always pretty, even guys with big-league time make throws that get knocked down by the net that hangs over our infield.  But they keep showing up because they know if they don’t put in the work in December they won’t be at the level they need to be in August and the postseason. 

This past offseason one of the professionals was coming off an injury, the first one of his career.  He had his individualized plan and he was executing it six days a week.  He had worked hard to make the changes we felt were necessary, throwing the ball where he wanted to, and was pain free. He went so far as to say it was the best he’d felt at that point in the offseason in his entire career.  There was just one problem, he was throwing a flat 84. A guy who the season before had run it up to 96 was sitting in the mid-80s and the ball just wasn’t jumping out of his hand like it usually did.  We made some minor changes to his weekly plan and I told him that there was nothing to worry about, that velocity takes time to come back particularly coming off an injury where there are more mental hurdles than physical in terms of cutting it loose.

“I don’t suck anymore!” were the first words out of his mouth after he threw a ball that was just different than any ball he’d thrown all offseason.  We didn’t need to know the velocity because you could see the difference, the ball just jumped out of his hand.  And then the next one jumped, and the next.  Crisis averted, he’s back or at least the life on his fastball was. His next bullpen would be the real test.  Two days later he was 88-90 mph (these guys pitch in front of thousands, they are usually a tick or two slower indoors).  He got a job in the middle of February and went to minor league spring training ready to dominate.  He was 90-93 in his first outing and ran it up to 96 in the playoffs in September.  And, immediately following winning a co-championship in AA, he got the call everyone dreams of receiving - he wasn’t going home for the offseason yet, he was going to the big leagues.

It wasn’t easy everyday, he didn’t always want to train, but he was relentless.  He didn’t get mad because he didn’t see results overnight, he had a goal and he didn’t stop until he reached it.  You just have to keep showing up.  There is no road map, but you have to have a plan.  Yesterday should have no bearing on the work that you put in today.  Some people will have it easier, some people may not even have to work that hard and you will feel like you can never catch up.  That doesn’t mean you should stop - keep going until they are forced to catch up to you.

If you are ready to begin your relentless pursuit to become the best thrower you can be, sign up for Healthy Heat today. 

- Wes McGuire