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.

Work ethic

What is your work ethic like? Are you the first to come and the last to leave? If you are not doing more than your coach asks, it’s not enough.

Ability to make adjustments

Don’t wait 2 weeks to make an adjustment. Adjustments should be made game to game – at bat to at bat-pitch to pitch. I used Jordan’s at bats as an example. Learn to make the adjustments necessary to get you past your present difficulties. Believe me, the difficulties will come. The sooner you make the adjustment the shorter the duration and severity of the difficulty.

Not being afraid to fail

Sorry but I have to jump to another sport to illustrate this point. Tiger Woods will possibly go down in history as the greatest golfer ever. What did he do after he had so much success including winning the Masters at his young age, something no one had ever done before? He changed his swing. His critics thought he was crazy. Having had so much success, why would he change? We frequently hear the saying, “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.” I disagree. Just because it’s not broken, doesn’t mean you can’t make it better. Tiger obviously agrees. He wasn’t afraid to change – to make himself better. He wasn’t afraid to fail. The results speak for themselves. You will only improve when change takes place. You’ve heard me say this before, you either will get better or worse, you won’t stay the same.

Have you ever watched hitters on TV or at the ball park and wonder why one stands forward in the box and another stands deep in the box? Why one is close and the other far from the plate? There are various places to stand in the box. One of the most important concepts to realize when choosing where you are going to stand in the box, is that you must have good plate coverage. You need to be able to cover the outside corner of the plate, however you do not want to stand too close to the plate. So where is the ideal place for a hitter to stand? Part of the answer to this question has to do with the length of the bat you use and also the length of your arms.

To determine how far to stand from the plate:

• Place the end of the bat on the outside corner of the plate.
• Lay the bat down, placing the knob of the bat on the ground.
• Put your front foot where the knob of the bat starts.
• Put your back foot slightly wider than shoulder width apart.
• Lastly pick up the bat and see if you can touch the outside corner.

• Two steps behind the tee.
• Step first with the lead foot.
• Plant the lead foot in what would be your standard position in the box.
• When the stride foot lands, you should be in a good position of power.
• Now hit through the ball with a good finish.

Unfortunately in their mind, there is nothing more for them to learn. Always be ready to learn. I spoke to Rudy Jaramillo, Hitting Coach for the Texas Rangers, and he told me that Rafael Palmeiro just learned two years ago what it took to be a consistent Major League hitter. This was not in the minor leagues, nor was it his rookie year, this was after 10 years in the big leagues!

I recently received an e-mail from a customer. He has been solicited by a recruiting service to help his son get a scholarship. The recruiter told this dad that college coaches don’t care much about a kid’s swing, they can teach a kid to hit – all they are looking for is a good arm and glove. I was taken back by this advice. That is just another example of mediocrity and miscon-ceptions that circulate in this game. First of all everyone in professional baseball knows that the guys that hit – play – the gloves come in for late innings if necessary. Secondly you better not wait till college to learn how to hit because it will be too late. Don’t fall for it. Don’t let anyone, or anything take you away from becoming the best you can be. Not everyone will make it to the big leagues. However, having a solid work ethic, having the ability to make adjustments, not being afraid to fail, and becoming a student of the game are all qualities to take you as far as your abilities will take you, but more importantly, they will allow you to make it in the real big leagues – life.

A Long Swing can be the result of:

• Using too heavy a bat
• Having used an aluminum bat which has such a large sweet spot that gives the appearance of a good swing which can be deceptive until you face good pitching
• Trying to hit the ball too far and over swinging

So I wanted to post this to make it 100% clear, the hitter must think hands, otherwise the front side will take over, pulling off of the ball. I also have hitters think about the backside pushing through the front side. The bat head must stay behind the hands until the knob of the bat becomes even with where the front hip was. It’s critical that the hands stay inside the ball, in doing so, will allow the hitter to be short and accurate to the ball. Good luck.

• Stay balanced after contact and through extension
• Keep his top hand palm up as long as possible through extension
• Have a “V” in his arms at maximum extension out front
• Keep his head position down through extension
• Think about driving the ball back through the middle

If you are not getting good extension generally it is due to a flaw in the swing.

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..

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