Hitting Through the Ball

Keeping the barrel of the bat in the contact zone as long as possible is what you want to do.  This reduces your margin for error.  Your timing does not have to be perfect.  Every good MLB hitter has an inside the ball swing.  This type of swing will allow you to be accurate with the barrel of the bat to the ball which will allow you to hit for high average and increased power as you gain more strength.

Picture this: imagine someone driving a rod through your shoulder, through your back leg, and through the knee.  You should be straight, with your body in a perfect balanced position.  As you make contact, you weight is now center with your back heel up.  You will either end up on the top of the toe, or just turning a bit on the ball of the foot.  I prefer that you get up on the toe to make sure you weight is in the center position.  At the point of contact, after contact, and during your follow thorough your weight will be balanced.  The key here is to go form back to center.

Structuring Your Goals

Before continuing, I would like you to distinguish between two important kinds of goals: outcome goals and performance goals.  Outcome goals are the end of products of achievement, such as hitting .300, or making the All-Star team.  Performance goals are explained below.

Performance Goals

Performance goals have to do with specific behaviors you need to master in order to achieve your outcome goals.  Examples of performance goals are hitting the outside pitch to the opposite field, consistently staying focused and alert on every pitch.  Performance goals are the stepping stones to achieving outcome goals.  They are the nuts and bolts of what you need to do in order to achieve the outcome you want.

Baseball Statistics Guide

Baseball Basics:
Baseball Statistics

Why You Need to Stop Squishing the Bug

When coaches talk about rotational hitting, many of them teach their kids to keep all of their weight on the back leg, rotate the back leg and use a term called, “squash the bug”.  The concept they are trying to teach is to rotate the back side, which is good.  However if all of the weight stays on the back leg, the hitter will end up spinning off the ball.  That is why it is so important to combine weight transfer with rotation.

Along with having poor weight transfer, this technique will also cause your player to drop the barrel of his bat and cause a long swing.

The SwingAway is great for working on correcting this issue in the swing, since you are forced to hit the inside portion of the ball in order to drive the ball up the middle.

Keeping the Game Fun

Question:

I am a tee ball coach and have intentions of coaching throughout my son’s playing days. I hear of 7-8 year old select teams practicing or having a game (sometimes doubleheaders) 7 days a week. Is that normal? It seems too much for any age.

Answer:

That type of game schedule is too much for that age level if you are looking to keep the game fun to the kids. The kind of schedule is more for the adult coaches to feed their ego. Three games a week with two practices, teaching the fundamentals that the kids do not understand. Teaching the game so the kids will have a chance to have fun and play the game correctly. That type of game schedual is too much for that age level if you are looking to keep the game fun for the kids. The kind of schedual is more for the adult coaches to feed their ego.

The Turning Point of the Game

What is a pressure situation?  In baseball a pressure situation can be any possible turning point in a game, or perhaps any time a player feels an urgency or a necessity to perform in the “right now” as if the game was on the line.  Pressure situations rarely announce themselves.  Pressure situations can be the bottom of the 9th in the final game of the World Series, or a clutch at bat in the first inning of a Little League game.

Nobody wants to choke in a pressure situation, but the greatest athletes and the greatest competitors have all choked at some point in the lives and/or careers.  When athletes choke, people say they have no guts, no courage, and they view the”chokers” as not mentally tough.  But, athletes who choke deserve a pat on the back because of their great desire.  Desire creates pressure.  No desire = no pressure; it is that simple.

Choking-up is trying too hard; it has nothing to do with guys.  Athletes who are said to be choking compete as hard as they can… to the point of self-destruction; they go “over the edge” to the point of their emotional control and self-discipline.  Great desire and competitiveness are attributes that every elite athlete must have, but strong emotions can easily take control, which is when choking occurs.

Which SwingAway is Right for You?

One of the questions we get asked the most is: what SwingAway is right for me?  To answer that question we’ve developed a new chart that helps you understand the differences between the four models.

Click here to see the chart.

The Proper Set Up

Question:

We have a hitter on our American Legion Team who claims that keeping his back elbow up at the point that he completes his stride; i.e. getting into a “Position of Power”, or “launch” position, or “loaded” position, allows him to attack the ball with a downward approach. His back elbow, at the end of his stride, is parallel to the ground. As i understand biomechanics, this position has to elongate the swing. It also seems to me that his hands and arms have to be really quick for pitchers that have some pop on their fastball, as well as good offspeed pitches, to compensate for the longer path that the hands have to take to the ball. In coaching hitters, I have difficulty convincing them that starting with the back elbow at a 45 degree (or so) angle in their stance and keeping it there after their stride gives them more time to decide if they want to commit to the pitch; in part, because they see so many major leaguers starting with the back elbow up and parallel to the ground.

Is it true that most major leaguers who start that way and are successful, i.e. , high batting averages, bring the elbow down to about a 45 degree angle when they get into their “position of power”? If having the elbow slanted toward the ground in the “Position of Power” is so important, why not start there. The player whose approach I like to get our hitters to emulate is Mike Piazza. His swing is extremely short and smooth. (Being from the New York City area, I get to see more of him than others). The other example I like to use is Tony Guinn. What surprises me is that this kid is being coached/instructed by someone who, the player says, is an advocate of your program. I find that difficult to believe. Any comments or suggestions?

Answer:

Coaches and kids see the set up of Major League hitters but most coaches do not understand what happens when the ML hitter gets into the position of power. The back elbow will relax before they swing. Some people cannot be convinced, I don’t argue with them, but I will have them do some drills that relaxes the back elbow. Doing one hand top hand drills will force the back elbow into the proper position. I would just keep reminding your hitter to stay short to the ball and see if over time he gets in a more relaxed position. Good luck.

Hitting Through the Ball

Question:

My son consistently makes contact, however he does not hit through the ball and his bat angle at contact continues on a downward plane instead of a even plane. He always hits grounders and never/seldom line drives. Other than telling him whats happening and demonstrating the proper technique, I can’t seem to get him to adapt the proper mechanics (I think this is where I was going with the Dad thing!) Anyway, are there some drills you can recommend that might creat a muscle memory for the proper mechanics in hitting through the ball and the proper swing plane?

Answer:

Your son sounds like he has the correct idea of starting at a downward angle. In his toss drills, and off the tee, have him start finishing his swing shoulder high. As you stated the swing should level off, if you work on the finish, he should level the swing off. Make sure he is not rolling his top hand too soon, the top hand should not roll until well after contact. Do some tee work, move the tee about 5-7 inches in front of where he would normally make contact. If he continues his downward angle he will not be able to make good contact. He will have to level his swing in order to make contact. Have him try to drive the ball back up the middle, keeping his hands going through the contact plane.

Developing a Short Swing

It is essential that hitters develop a short, compact swing now. The longer they wait to begin this development, the harder it will be to achieve. Get his/her hands down to approx. shoulder level, and make sure he/she does not lift them while striding. They should be at shoulder level about 6-8 inches from the body, and approx. even with his back foot when his stride foot lands softly. From there, start the lower half (approach–inward turn of back knee and back heel rotating off the ground) while keeping hands back (creating torque between lower and upper body, then pull the knob to the top inside half of the ball with both hands–this will guarantee he pulls long enough to obtain the proper short stroke.

Also, make sure he keeps the barrel above his hands and near his back shoulder as he brings the barrel to the ball–otherwise, he will cast the barrel away from his body–long swing.

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