Indoor baseball training facility with players practicing batting, wearing helmets and jerseys, some with names and numbers, behind a protective net.

Backyard Hackers Off-Season Program

We're running over 20 hours worth of weekly training sessions at our Hackers HQ this off-season near downtown Appleton.  Sessions will start in October and run through mid-March. 

We focus on two things — generating power in both throwing and hitting, because those are the two skills that will limit opportunities as ballplayers develop if they don’t keep up.

While kids are growing, they can expect to add about 3 mph to both skills from just existing. They get bigger and a little stronger, and power increases. The results that our 6 month program has AVERAGED over the last 5 years is about +6 mph per year in both hitting and throwing — that’s about 2 years of growth in a half year. (This is without a consistent weightlifting opportunity as part of our programming, which our new app, Training: Hacked hopes to address.)

We offer 5 flavors of programming during the winter: Team Training, Little Hackers, Baseball Pitchers, our regular program, and a new, more independent program for ‘Experienced’ ball players.

The Off-Season Menu

A group of young women practicing softball indoors, working on their throwing velocity with plyoballs, with a netted area and a whiteboard in the background.

‘Regular’ Program

A young baseball player doing a pitching workout.

Baseball Pitchers

October to mid-March. Available to only baseball players. Hour-long sessions usually focusing on throwing velocity, mechanics, arm care. . .and SO much more. Group sizes of 7 or fewer. All skills are directly taught and practiced by professional coaches, aided by local coaches that we mentor.

October to mid-March. Available to both softball and baseball players. Hour-long sessions usually focusing on hitting and throwing. Group sizes of 7 or fewer. All skills are directly taught and practiced by professional coaches, aided by local coaches that we mentor.

October to mid-March. Available to baseball and softball players. Hour-long sessions for kids not quite ready for the independence and direct instruction of our regular program (usually ages 5-9yo). Practices are setup as developmentally appropriate activities for the kids to explore.

A smiling young softball player and a man are taking a selfie in front of a sports net inside a gym. The woman has long blonde hair, and the man has a beard and is wearing a gray baseball cap and gray hoodie.
Indoor sports training area with green artificial turf, baseballs and toys scattered on the ground, a blue wall with a rack holding baseball bats, and chairs along the wall. A netted section is visible in the back.

Little Hackers

‘Experienced’ Group

October to mid-March. Available to both softball and baseball players. Athletes choose the exact focus and goals of their programming, then use our app, Training: Hacked to execute their dreams. There are 2 times per week for athletes to train and check-in with coaches, otherwise this program will help developing independent accountability and demonstrate the work necessary to take their game up a notch. Baseball players can choose to focus on hitting and pitching through this group. Participants are VERY encouraged to have completed at least 1 year of the ‘regular’ session.

Three men standing in front of a sports net with a large baseball-themed banner behind them. The man on the left is wearing a gray hoodie and glasses, the man in the center is wearing a black Nike hoodie, and the man on the right is wearing a red hoodie with white text.

Team Training

October to mid-March. Available to both softball and baseball teams (or a mix!). Let our coaches work with your team, including the coaches! Work with our team to customize what your team needs to learn, and when they want to practice. We work with you on everything. You always have at least 1 Hackers pro with you as we give you the best deal in training. (We’re not checking whether everyone is on the same team — get 12-14 kids to give folks an even better deal.)