Hitting With the Proper Swing Path

Question:

I have a 9 year old with a wild upper cut swing. Most of the time he swings under the ball. Any drills that can correct him of this habit?

Answer:

You need to start your swing in a strong position of power, with your top hand on the bat at shoulder level, and your hands over or behind your back foot, weight back on your back foot. This is critical. Hands up, weight back.

Take a short stride with your stride foot toes pointing to home plate, with your weight still back. When the hands come forward, they need to come down at about a 45 degree angle to meet the ball in the contact zone. The bat head needs to stay above the hands. Your back foot needs to rotate up to the toe, to open the hips.  The key is repetition. Muscle memory.

When Should My Hitter Start Switch Hitting?

Question:

When should a player start switch-hitting? What do you consider a good age to begin? How proficient should the hitter be from his strong side before he begins learning to switch-hit? Do you consider learning to switch-hit to be a big advantage for being recruited by college/pros? Just off the top of my head, it seems that many of the top hitters in the Majors are not switch hitters.

Answer:

My son and I started to work on switch hitting when he was about 10 years old, but he didn’t start switch hitting in games until he was 13. I wanted him to get a real feel for balance through his swing and develop more strength before I put him in a game situation. When he started switch hitting in games, he hit only left handed for the entire year (he’s a natural right handed hitter). This was the year he was going to go to the big field and I thought he might struggle somewhat switch hitting, but most kids struggle when moving up to the regulation size field anyway so I didn’t worry about it. He ended up having some success and has improved to the point to where he is a better hitter from the left side.

If you want your son to switch hit, you should have a reason for having him do so. Does he have some speed? If he has some speed, or potential to have speed, then there are some advantages to hitting from the left side. If he is going to be a power hitter with little speed, than I would say let him stay on one side. Most switch hitters are natural right handed hitters, there is a different advantage for left handed hitters. Most pitchers are right handed, hitting from the left side hitters will not have to deal with the offspeed pitch breaking away from them. Another big advantage to switch hitting is that players won’t be platooned if they are proficient from both sides of the plate.

If my son would have been a natural left handed hitter, I don’t believe I would have taught him to switch hit. But don’t hold me to that because I have a 2 year old and he hits off the tee lefty, I think because he watches his brother hit from the left side so much.

Learn How to See the Ball

So when does hitter first see the baseball? Where does hitter look for a Pitchers Release Point? How does hitter track and recognize FB/CB/CH? How many times does hitter actually see the 95+ FB? At release, at half way, at 30 feet?

Release point: that place by his body where the pitcher first exposes the ball as his hand moves forward to throw.. You identify it watching the pitcher as he warms up and/or pitches. See it better if you align your stance with it (not with the plate) – Remember, it can differ fron righty to lefty, overhand to buggywhip releases, and end positions on the rubber. Release points can vary by the width of the Rubber plus two armlengths, from rightys to leftys.

Visual Pickup: as he exposes the ball with the forward motion to release, pick up the white of the ball and follow it in, and that flash of white becomes the ball.

You’ll pick it up and follow it better and longer if your stride and motions are smooth. To check & drill for smoothness: pick a speck on the wall (release point), set up your stance with it, stride to it, see how steady the spot remains through the stride and early upperbody moves. If the spot doesn’t remain steady into the latter, you’ve got analyzing and work to do.

You can track the 95mph pitch unbroken, to well within 10 feet. (Ask a catcher)

Pitch recognition: different folks do it different ways. Most pick up seam/spin pattern as an early warning sign to react to. But it demands an early and clean visual pickup.

I believe that in a clean early visual pickup and good followup, you’re focused so well on the ball that you don’t sense the background, and all you see is ball. But if the pickup etc aren’t right, you’re forced to separate the ball from the background, you see it all, so the ball looks smaller..

Making the Decision to Swing

When is the right time to swing? Watch the video to see how the pros decide on the right time to swing at the plate.

How to Hit the Curveball

All Major League hitters can hit a fastball, only the best big league hitters have a solid plan to hit the curveball.  No one can hit the great curveball, even the curveball low and away, the hall of fame pitcher’s pitch.  Even the best hitters don’t swing at that pitch until they get two strikes.

So why would I be crazy enough to try to teach you to hit a curveball if it was an un-hittable pitch?  The answer is simple.  The best pitchers in the baseball can not throw their off-speed pitch in a great location for a strike consistently.  Therefore, there is good news.  You don’t have to hit the un-hittable curveball.  Your job is to be prepared and in a good position to hit the pitcher’s mistakes and take advantage of his weaknesses.

The secret to hitting the curveball is:

• Preparation
• Knowing the different types of off-speed pitches
• Being familiar with same side/opposite side pitching
• Studying the pitcher’s habits
• Practicing curveball drills

Practice Doesn’t Make Perfect, Perfect Practice Makes Perfect

Winners are made in practice.  Everyone says, “You have to practice like you play,” but very few know what that really means, and even fewer do it.  Practicing like you play is quality practice, and it takes mental toughness to practice with that knid of intensity and desire.  Watching Greg Maddox and Roger Clemens practice their pitching between starts, you can see their intensity and concentration.  When they throw a bad pitch, they do not have the attitude, “It’s okay; it’s only practice.” Instead, Maddox and Clemens both respond like they do in a game; they get upset.  When they do not execute a pitch the way they want to in a game, they adjust, refocus, and get it right.  This is also exactly how they behave when they practice.

In practice, you should push yourself to do it right, again and again.  You pust pressure on yourself to be consistent, because that is what it takes to be great.  You cannot hit one or two balls hard out of 10 swings and call yourself successful.  Great players are able to repeat their mechanics and approach consistently, day in and day out.  You do not make the Hall of Fame in any sport by having one great year.  You are a Hall of Famer by performing at a high level for many years.  Consistency starts with good practice habits.

If You Can Do One, You Can Do the Other

This season, I worked with a Double Aoutfielder who was hitting just over .200.  He was depressed and wondered if he would ever be able to hit for average, but his defense had always been good.  He bought into HEAD GAMES and the same day he had three hits, including a two run home run.  He called me a few days later after that breakout performance and was elated to tell me that during a two week stretch that he hit over .350.

I have numerous success stories from players who became convinced that it was only logical that the same ability used to  perform one skill could be utilized for another.  This player uses the book and the c.d., but the HEAD GAME that he felt helped him more than anything else was abdominal breathing.  This technique is extremely powerful in effecting maximum performance. Proper breathing and centering on the skill at hand can deliver remarkable results in the field or at the plate.

Teaching Players of All Ages

Question:

Your material is top rate. I am having incredible results with both my kids (boy – 7 and girl – 9). I am managing my son’s team as well as a coach for my daughter’s team. My approach thus far is to cover all aspects of hitting fundamentals with all the kids starting on the set up and working forward. My time with each player is limited to about 10 minutes a week. Are there fundamentals that I should focus on that will get more observable results than others? With these kids getting limited reps, the progress is slow. I have completed the entire swing and am wondering if I start back at the beginning as most kids still struggle with the basics. I would appreciate any thoughts.

Answer:

With young kids, I recommend you start with their legs. Make sure their legs are in the proper position, so that they can complete their swing staying on balance. The practice time you are able to give them is not enough alone.  Give them specific areas to work on, such as working on balance in front of their mirror at home. If they have a tee at home, give them something specific to work on. If you can get more help, I would set up more drill stations so the kids can get more swings. They need to swing the bat everyday to improve their skills.