Train Like the Pros: Explore the FREE Tools Inside the Red Wings Performance Center...
- msilver851
- Sep 7
- 9 min read
At the Red Wings Performance Center, our mission is to make pro-level training tools accessible to athletes in Rochester. Every piece of equipment we bring in is carefully (tested and) chosen to support development, provide meaningful feedback, and help athletes bridge the gap between potential and opportunity.
Best of all, these tools aren’t reserved for pros or come with a high price tag…they’re built into every base rental at no additional cost. Whether you’re booking a team session or stepping into one of our Hitting Leagues, the same technology and tools trusted by the top college programs and MLB organizations will be on and ready for you to use.
Here’s a breakdown of some of the tools you’ll find inside the Performance Center and how they can make a difference in your training:
HitTrax
Tool Description
An MLB-trusted hitting simulator that tracks every swing’s data and projects it into real stadiums.
Training application
Logs exit velocity, launch angle, distance, and dispersion
Game-like feedback in live simulated environments, including MLB Stadiums, and NCAA Baseball and Softball stadiums.
Competitive context with standings and stat leaderboards.
How to Implement
If you only pay attention to one or two things, here’s what matters most:
Exit Velocity & Launch Angle: The two core metrics that tell you how hard and at what trajectory the ball left your bat. Together, they create the foundation for understanding power, consistency, and batted-ball quality.
Spray & Distance Tracking: Each swing is projected into a simulated MLB stadium, showing you not just how far the ball traveled, but where it would have landed in a live setting.
Added note:
Team Rentals: Coaches and players WILL ALWAYS see live metrics on screens during their sessions, as part of the base rental cost of $100. If the Hitting Snapshot add-on is purchased (which also includes the use of two pitching machines), each player will receive an individual post-session report with key metrics, including exit velocity, launch angle, and spray charts. CLICK HERE to preview what a Hitting Snapshot looks like!
Hitting Leagues: Integrated by default. All swings are logged, tracked, and compiled into weekly stats and standings, with players receiving their Hitting Snapshot reports automatically after each session.
📥 Think you can hit a homer at your favorite MLB stadium? Book your rental today.
Leather Smash Factor Balls by Driveline
Tool Description
Premium training balls that fly like regulation baseballs but are softer on contact. Outfitted with a genuine leather cover, they replicate the true flight path of MLB baseballs while holding up to thousands of repetitions.
(photos: Driveline Baseball)
Training application:
Provides realistic ball flight while reducing the sting and wear on hands/bats.
Reinforces consistent barrel contact through immediate ball-flight feedback.
How to implement
We use Smash Factor Balls in both cage sessions and pitching machine work. Athletes can trust the ball flight they see while maintaining comfort and durability over high-volume reps...and high velocity reps. A staple when it comes to competition-focused work, players are able to be challenged by high velocity coming out of the pitching machine, without crushing their hands.
Q: Does HitTrax pick up Smash Factor Balls?
A: Yes. While the slight softfess of Smash Factor Balls will typically come off the bat at lower exit velocities than regular baseballs, HitTrax is able to get accurate calculations on all batted balls (include tennis balls, etc.).
Driveline Hitting PlyoCare Balls
Tool Description
Weighted PlyoCare Balls are a cornerstone of modern hitting development. They’re engineered to exaggerate feedback on mishits, forcing hitters to make efficient adjustments. Their varied weights provide a training environment that challenges strength, sequencing, and barrel accuracy.
Training application:
Exit Velocity & Smash Factor: Builds the ability to hit the ball harder by teaching hitters the importance of squaring up the ball consistently.
Swing Plane: Poor bat paths are immediately exposed, helping hitters learn to stay on-plane.
Barrel Precision & Sequencing: Reinforces correct sequencing from the ground up through precise barrel delivery.
How to Implement
PlyoCare Balls are incorporated into tee work, underhand toss, and overhand front toss. Hitters usually progress from Plyo Balls to baseballs in the same drill, carrying over improved movement patterns and barrel efficiency.
Check out Driveline's FREE 6-week hitting program HERE, which includes how to structure your training using Hitting Plyos.
Smash Factor? Like in golf?
Exactly. In golf, Smash Factor is ball speed divided by club speed…a measure of how efficiently energy transfers from the club to the ball. In baseball, the same principle applies: exit velocity divided by bat speed. A higher Smash Factor means you’re squaring the ball up cleanly and getting the most out of your swing. Tools like Plyo Balls exaggerate mishits, helping hitters improve this efficiency until more of their bat speed consistently turns into higher average exit velocity.
Driveline Mini Hitting Plyo Balls
Tool Description
Mini PlyoCare Balls are smaller and lighter than the standard version, designed to sharpen barrel precision under greater difficulty. Because mis-hits are magnified, they’re a favorite tool for advanced hitters looking to fine-tune their swing.
What it Trains
Barrel Control: Demands extreme precision, rewarding only flush contact.
Swing Path Discipline: Reinforces clean mechanics, especially deeper in the hitting zone.
Adjustability: Helps hitters train posture and timing against a variety of pitch locations.
How to Implement
Mini Plyo Balls are typically used in shorter, focused drill sets like front toss or tee work. Coaches often integrate them before or after standard Plyo Ball work to challenge hitters’ precision and ensure skills transfer across ball types.
Driveline Axe Speed Trainers
Tool Description
The Axe Speed Trainer set includes three bats…two overload (+20% heavier) and one underload (–20% lighter). Built with Armor Alloy Ultra for durability and a pro-flared Axe handle for consistent grip (and less stress on your hamate bone), these bats are engineered to build explosive bat speed, functional strength, and precision control.
What it Trains
Bat Speed Development: Overload/underload sequencing forces the body to move faster than with a standard bat, leading to measurable gains in swing speed.
Exit Velocity & Power: Training adaptations transfer directly to harder, farther-hit balls.
Grip Awareness & Barrel Manipulation: The Axe handle improves bat-to-hand connection, teaching players to command the barrel more effectively.
Strength & Sequencing: Overload bats demand efficiency through the kinetic chain, while the underload bats train the body to accelerate faster, sharpening swing speed and explosiveness.
How to Implement
The Driveline FREE (available for download here) 6-week in-season/off-season program provides detailed guidance:
In-Season Modules: Focus on maintaining strength and sharpness without fatiguing hitters. Sessions are short and intense, typically slotted before or after regular cage work.
Off-Season Modules: Longer training blocks emphasize building raw speed and durability, incorporating higher volumes of overload/underload swings.
Progressions: Athletes rotate through drills (tee, front toss, and machine work) using all three bats, ensuring a blend of strength and speed gains.
Integration: Axe Speed Trainers are used as both a standalone bat speed program and as a warm-up/activation tool before game-speed hitting.
Why It Matters
According to Driveline testing, athletes who follow this progression see an average increase of 5+ MPH in exit velocity…a measurable jump that correlates directly with offensive production. Used by over 150 colleges and professional ballclubs, the Axe Speed Trainer system is one of the most validated bat-speed development tools in baseball.
📥 Want to try what an axe handle baseball bat feels like? Book your rental today.
Driveline Long Training Bat
Tool Description
The Driveline Long Training Bat is a 37”/37oz overload bat engineered to challenge hitters with additional length and weight. Its design exaggerates sequencing (sometimes refered to as "mechanics") demands, requiring athletes to move efficiently through the kinetic chain…from the ground up…to generate bat speed and maintain control.
What it Trains
Proper Rotational Sequencing: Forces the body to use hips and torso correctly before the hands fire.
Barrel Precision: The extended barrel length magnifies mistakes, reinforcing focus on clean contact.
Overload Bat Speed Development: Overload principles build strength and power that translate back to standard game bats.
How to Implement
The Long Bat is best used in tee work, dry reps, or controlled front toss sessions. Because of its size and weight, it exposes inefficiencies quickly…hitters must create space, stay on sequence, and generate bat speed from their lower half. We often use it as a warm-up or progression tool before transitioning athletes back to standard bats.
Why It Matters
By forcing hitters to sequence properly and stay connected, the Long Training Bat improves efficiency and barrel control in ways that immediately transfer to game swings. It’s a cornerstone of overload/underload training used by coaches across baseball.
📥 Want to try the Long Trainer? Book your rental today.
Driveline Short Training Bat
Tool Description
The Driveline Short Training Bat is a compact 28”/31oz bat designed to expose flaws in swing posture and barrel control. Its shorter barrel magnifies mis-hits, forcing hitters to stay connected and make efficient movements through the zone. By demanding precision, it sharpens mechanics that transfer directly to game swings.
What it Trains
Connection Through the Zone: Reinforces proper sequencing and prevents hitters from “casting” or losing their barrel early.
Deeper, Flush Contact: Trains athletes to deliver the barrel later and stay on plane for consistent contact deeper in the hitting zone.
Posture Adjustments: Helps hitters learn to adjust to pitch height using body posture instead of compensating with the hands or wrists.
How to Implement
The Short Bat is best used in cage drills including tee work, front toss, or live BP, where athletes must focus on staying compact and efficient. Because mis-hits are magnified, feedback is immediate and clear. Coaches often pair it with PlyoCare Balls or standard baseballs to speed up adaptation and encourage precision under different conditions.
Why It Matters
By challenging hitters to stay connected and adjust posture properly, the Short Training Bat builds efficient, game-ready mechanics. It’s especially valuable for players who tend to get long, lose connection, or struggle with high/low pitch adjustments.
Driveline J-Bands & Resistance Bands
Tool Description
Daily-use bands for arm care, shoulder stability, and strength development (certain strength). Includes cuffed arm-care bands and pull-apart resistance bands.
What it trains
Shoulder and scapular strength.
Arm care and recovery routines.
Injury prevention.
How to implement
Used before and after throwing sessions. Also built into strength/conditioning warm-ups to reinforce stability.
Subjective note, not backed by data, but kind of makes sense: Athletes should aim to use the cuffs velcroed around their wrists, instead of gripping the bands directly. When athletes hold onto the bands, forearm muscles stay tight (gripping), which takes the focus away from the shoulder...the area these drills are actually designed to target. Using the cuffs ensures the right muscles are being worked, making the exercises safer and more effective.
Hack Attack Pitching Machines
Included with all Hitting Leagues, and available as a $50 add-on during rentals, which also provides every player with a personalized Hitting Snapshot report.
Tool Description
Industry-leading three-wheel pitching machine capable of simulating fastballs, curveballs, sliders, and splitters up to 100 MPH with precision.
What it trains
Live game-speed hitting reps.
Pitch recognition and timing.
How to implement
Coaches can run standard batting practice, dial up fastballs or off-speed pitches, and keep hitters adjusting in a controlled, repeatable way. Smash Factor Balls can be used in the machine as well, giving players the chance to work on sequencing and barrel control without beating up bats or hands.
ATEC M1.J Softball Machines
Included with all Hitting Leagues, and available as a $50 add-on during rentals, which also provides every player with a personalized Hitting Snapshot report.
Tool Description
A portable, one-wheel softball pitching machine for fastballs (30–70 mph), grounders, and catching drills.
What it trains
Timing against fastpitch velocity.
Fielding and catching development through defensive reps.
How to implement
Coaches can run standard batting practice, dial up fastballs or off-speed pitches, and keep hitters adjusting in a controlled, repeatable way. Lightweight and adjustable for quick transitions between hitting and fielding drills.
Stalker Pro II Radar Gun
Tool Description
A professional-grade radar gun trusted across professional baseball for its accuracy and durability. It’s built to capture precise velocity readings, whether you’re scouting a pitcher on the mound or a hitter’s exit velocity...or pulldowns in the cage.
How to Implement
Used during bullpens, live BP, and evaluations to measure pitch velocity, exit velocity, and general throwing velocities (pull downs, catcher throwing). The Stalker provides coaches and players with reliable, game-ready numbers that translate directly to performance and recruiting benchmarks.
Why It Matters
The Performance Center isn’t just about providing cages and space…it’s about giving athletes access to the same tools used at the highest levels of the game. From advanced ball tracking to precision overload bats to recovery modalities, every piece of equipment here is designed to help players train smarter, safer, and with purpose.
📥 Ready to experience these tools yourself? Book your rental today.
Why We Believe in Driveline’s Approach
At the Red Wings Performance Center, we believe in Driveline's player development approach because it’s rooted in data, research, and results. Instead of relying on outdated cues or one-size-fits-all instruction, Driveline builds its training on measurable outcomes.
Their system has been validated at every level of the game, from youth programs to MLB clubs, and it continues to evolve through constant testing and feedback. Our own staff has even trained with these methods firsthand, including spending time at Driveline's facility, and has implemented them throughout their playing and coaching careers, witnessing the benefits firsthand. What we value most is that Driveline doesn’t just create drills…it creates repeatable, scalable progressions that players can track over time.
This aligns perfectly with our mission: to give Rochester athletes access to the same pro-level tools, science-driven training, and clear feedback loops that players in the Big Leagues rely on. Driveline’s philosophy isn’t about gimmicks or shortcuts…it’s about sustainable player development, and that’s why we’ve built it into the heart of our Performance Center programming.
...and that was not a paid testimonial.
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