The "Velocity Ramp-Up": A 4-Week Winter Plan to Get Eyes Ready for Spring

It’s the most common story in baseball and softball. A player spends the entire winter working hard. They hit off the tee, they do front toss, they perfect their mechanics. They look like a million bucks in the cage.

Then, the first week of team practice arrives. They step in against a live arm throwing gas... and they freeze. They are late on everything. They look lost.

Why? Because they trained their swing, but they forgot to train their eyes.

Vision is a muscle. If you haven't tracked a 70mph object moving through space in three months, your "visual processing speed" has atrophied. You can't just jump from a stationary tee to live pitching and expect to perform.

You need a Ramp-Up.

Here is a 4-week progression designed to wake up your eyes, speed up your processing, and get your brain ready for game speed before tryouts start.

The Tool: Why You Need the MC3 for This

You can't do this ramp-up with a live pitcher (you’ll burn out their arm) and you can't do it with dimpled balls (they don't spin like real pitches).

You need the MC3 Training System. Its realistic seams and spin allow you to train Pitch Recognition—the specific skill of reading spin—without needing a live arm.

Week 1: The "No-Swing" Tracking Phase

Goal: Re-train the "Soft Focus" to "Hard Focus" transition. The Drill: Set the machine to a moderate speed. Stand in the box with a bat, but do not swing.

• The Task: As the ball is released, track it all the way to the catcher's mitt.

• The Call: You must call out the pitch type ("Fastball" or "Curve") and the location ("Ball" or "Strike") before it crosses the plate.

• Why: This removes the pressure to hit and forces your brain to prioritize seeing.

Week 2: The "Fastball Timing" Phase

Goal: Sync your physical load with your visual cue. The Drill: Load the machine with MC3s in the "Fastball" orientation.

• The Task: Focus purely on timing. You know it's a fastball. Work on starting your load early and "dancing" with the pitcher.

• The Constraint: You must hit the ball back up the middle or to the opposite field gap. No pulling. Pulling means you are cheating/guessing. Going oppo means you are letting the ball travel and trusting your eyes.

Week 3: The "Recognition" Phase (The Mix)

Goal: Train the "Go/No-Go" decision. The Drill: Load the machine with a random mix of MC3s (Fastballs and "Drop Pitches").

• The Task: You are hunting Fastball.

• If you see Fastball spin: Attack.

• If you see Drop/Curve spin: Take.

• Why: This wakes up the decision-making part of your brain. It stops you from being a robot and forces you to be a hitter.

Week 4: The "Game Speed" Phase

Goal: Full speed adaptability. The Drill: Turn the machine up to Game Velocity (plus 3-5 mph for "overload"). Use a full mix of pitches.

• The Task: Everything is live. Strikes are strikes. Balls are balls.

• The Mindset: Treat this like the bottom of the 7th. You are now training your swing decision metrics ▸ under stress. If you can handle this mix at high speed in the cage, live pitching will feel slow by comparison.

No Machine? How to "Fake" Velocity at Home

Don't have access to a commercial batting cage? You can still run this entire "Velocity Ramp-Up" program in your garage or backyard using a concept called Reaction Time Scaling.

You don't need a machine throwing 90mph to train your eyes for 90mph. Velocity is relative to distance.

• The Math: A 90mph pitch from 60 feet takes roughly 0.4 seconds to reach home plate.

• The Hack: A firm, 30mph toss from just 15 feet away also takes roughly 0.4 seconds to reach the hitter.

To your brain, these two events are identical. Your eyes have to process the visual information and trigger your hands in the exact same split-second window. This allows you to train for Major League speed with a parent’s arm.

The Drill: "Short-Box" Firm Toss

1. Setup: Place an L-screen or a sturdy protective net just 15-20 feet in front of the batter.

2. The Tosser: Sit on a bucket behind the net for protection.

3. The Action: Don't "lob" the ball with an arc. Throw it firm and flat (overhand or underhand).

4. The Goal: The hitter will feel rushed. That is the point. They must learn to get their front foot down early and be short to the ball.

The MC3 Hook: Why You Can't Use Other Balls This drill is dangerous if you use the wrong equipment.

• Don't use Wiffle balls: They float and curve unnaturally, ruining the timing you are trying to build.

• Don't use Leather balls: Hitting a hard leather ball 15 feet from a parent (or near a garage window) is a recipe for injury and property damage.

• Don't use Dimpled balls: They are rock-hard and can shatter windshields or dent drywall.

You must use MC3s for this. They are the "Goldilocks" solution. They are regulation weight (so the timing is real), but their composite shell absorbs impact better than rock-hard cage balls. They are durable enough to bounce off the driveway concrete for years, yet safe enough to run high-velocity reaction drills without fear.

Troubleshooting: 3 Signs You Are Ramping Up Too Fast

If you rush this process, you will build bad habits. Watch for these three signs of panic.

1. Lunging/Drifting: If your front foot is slamming down early and your weight is drifting forward, you are guessing, not reading.

2. Casting/Barring Arm: If your hands are getting away from your body, you are trying to "cheat" to catch up to the velocity. This is a classic sign of bat drag ▸.

3. The Fix: If you see these signs, STOP. Do not push through. Go back to Week 2 (Fastball Timing) and slow the machine down. You cannot build speed on a broken foundation.

Your Pre-Season Schedule

Don't Wait Until Day 1

If you wait until the first day of practice to face velocity, you are already behind. The hitters who dominate in the spring are the ones who conditioned their eyes in the winter.

Use this plan. Use the MC3. By the time tryouts roll around, the game will look slow to you.

• Shop the MC3 Baseball (For Winter Training) ▸

• Shop the MC3 Softball (For Winter Training) ▸