“They’re definitely my go-to’s, because they really help me get my hips firing, and just moving quick,” Gibbs said. “Even on game days, I’ll do those drills before I hit with my game bat in the cages to warm up. It just really helps my hips fire and just feel great… Those are the three main drills, and I’ve always had those ingrained in my program. I’ve always liked them and had fun hitting with them…”
While he’s made subsequent trips back to Seattle to be assessed, most of his work with Hirsh and Driveline has been done remotely sharing videos and messages, and encouragement, through the TRAQ app.
“You have to commit to it, you have to buy in, and it did come with a lot of me pushing him early on like, ‘Dude, you’re so close to 70 miles an hour. You’re so close. Keep going, keep going,’” Hirsh recalled. “And then eventually he cracks that 70 mph mark and it’s like, nice job. You just broke through!”
He also gained weight and strength through a Driveline, individualized strength plan, a key component in gaining more ability to damage.
When he first arrived in Seattle, he weighed 174 pounds. Today his 5-foot-10 ranges between 190 and 195 pounds.
“I’ve gotten a lot stronger,” Gibbs said.
There was one other process adopted by Gibbs that ingrained healthy development habits: the benefits of data-based feedback loops.
Gibbs bought a Blast Motion swing analyzer and employs the tech regularly to monitor progress in terms of his bat path and swing speed. There’s also a HitTrax at his high school’s batting cage.
The data streams he studied also helped him gain conviction in his training regimen. It helped push him to become even better.
“I think the Blast is the most important. It holds yourself more accountable,” Gibbs said. “I think a lot of people just go hit in the cage, they take some swings, they tell themselves they’re feeling good. But they never really have numbers, or see ball flights, or see how hard they’re hitting balls or anything. They kind of just tell themselves that. And that can be good, but you never really know if you make much progress.”
The results have followed and been undeniable.
As a sophomore he hit .290 with only two extra base hits, a pair of doubles.
But last season as a junior, he hit .360 with two home runs, eight doubles, and a triple – and was at the top of the slugging leaderboard.
This was supported by underlying gains.
During his first assessment at Driveline, his bat speed was in the low-60s mph. He topped out with a 94 mph exit velocity in testing.
During his most recent assessment in November, his bat speed had spiked to 74-75 mph.
“When he first came in, his average bat speed was around 60 miles an hour during his first assessment, which is below the high school average,” Hirsh said. “Now, his average bat speed pushed up to 73 miles an hour. A 13-mph increase in bat speed over the past two years is cool to see.”