Details on the Swing

Many people ask me to explain how the hands start the bat instead of the upper body. I always teach for the hitter to pull his/her hands through with the bat head back.  But several players have said that when they pull their hands through it seems as though it is done with my front shoulder and front forearm and this pulls me off the ball.

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.

Hitting with Full Extension

There are many coaches that teach contact occurs at extension.  Video has disproven this statement.  Making contact just before extension allows the hitter the ability to hit through the ball.  If all the mechanics are done correctly, you will have the proper extension.  With the proper extension the hitter will:

• 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.

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.

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..

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.

Where to Put Your Hands and Arms

Let’s examine the correct placement for the hands and arms.  This varies from player to player, yet despite these variances, there is success with each.  If you look at Craig Counsell, he holds his bat up over his head with the barrel of the bat pointing to the pitcher. His stance looks very uncomfortable.

Contrast this with Eric Davis who holds his bat down close to his belt buckle.  There is an important fact to know here.  No matter where these guys stand, or how their arms are in the stance, after they take their stride, all good hitters come to the same point with their hands.  That point is right around the shoulders which is about the top of the strike zone, on top of or behind the back foot.  It is not where you start, but where you finish that matters.

Learn How to Have a Winning Attitude

Approach attitudes include a player’s plan (what he is going to do) and his approach (how he is going to do it).  Players have approach attitudes about everything that they do in the game.  These attitudes can change from pitch to pitch, just as their job and the situation in the game changes.  Approach attitudes direct the player; they are his guidance system.

The words hope, need, not, and won’t are negative.  Keep them out of your self talk vocabulary.

As a starting point, examine your attitudes concerning the following:

• Seeing the ball
• Where the best point of contact is for pitches inside, middle, outside, etc.
• Hitting pitches to the opposite field, up the middle and to the pull field
• Bunting for a hit, sacrifice and squeeze
• Hit and run
• Hitting mechanics
• Your strike zone

Learn How to See the Ball at the Right Time

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.

Stop Striding to Where the Ball is Pitched!

Many coaches mistakenly tell their players to stride to where the ball is pitched.  This is not good advice.  In order to be consistent with your approach, you need to stride to the same spot every time.  If your timing is going to be correct, your stride food will be down by the time the ball is halfway to home plate.

This must happen in order to execute the proper swing.  If you follow poor advice and stride to where the ball is, you will be limiting yourself to that one area and you won’t be able to make adjustments.

Keep your stride short

The Stride should be no longer than 8 inches.  If your stride is too long:

• Your weight is going to go too far forward.
• Your hands will come forward prematurely
• Your head will have too much movement
• All of these will make it difficult for you to see the ball clearly, and your bat speed and power will be greatly diminished.

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