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.

How and When to Play Pepper

Question:

I recently read in Mike Schmidt’s book that his favorite drill for hitters is “pepper”. What are your thoughts on playing “pepper” as a way to develop the hands, bat control, etc.?

Answer:

Pepper will develop bat control if played the correct way. Use no more than three fielders and one hitter at a time. Have the hitter hit one hoppers to each fielder, do not allow them to use more than one ball. If the hitter hits the ball past the fielder the hitter must go get the ball. This is an incentive for the hitter to have good bat control. Of course if the fielder makes the error he must retrieve the ball.

As they become proficient at the short pepper move two of the fielders back to about twenty yards and have one of the fielders throw to the hitter at the regular short distance, the hitter must now hit long pepper to each of the fielders. This helps them to develop bat control along with the proper bat angle. We have our hitters play pepper on a daily basis.

Q&A for Effort Level

Question:

In working with my son, he seems to struggle with a problem, he has had on and off for 4 years now. He is currently 13. When he is not swing well, he appears to be too aggressive with his hips and shoulder, ie. pulling away from the ball. I shows up to look like he is not having aggressive hands, with the result of hitting a lot of weak balls to the opposite field. He is right handed. We have worked a lot off the tee, short toss, and live pitching on the outer part of the plate. He has a good understanding of the various contact points. We just haven’t had any long term success at fixing this problem. When his front shoulder pulls off, of course his bottom hand pulls away from the ball, ie. causing him to “what I call, slice the ball”. Sometimes during the season he will get in a real groove where the ball just jumps off his bat, but he eventually falls back into the problem of pulling away from the ball. We have also worked the one handed drills extensively over the past few years. I would appreciate your advice on how to approach this problem for long term success.

Answer:

Take a look at three areas:

• Overswinging, this is one of the areas where most young hitters do not understand. Young hitters generally want to see how far they can hit the ball, This causes them to use their body too much and therefore overswing. It’s best to develop a swing that is about 80% of his max. This does not mean that the hands are not aggressive, but he should feel like he has something left in his body. In hitting, swing at 80% will give you better hand speed. This will help him with the next two areas.
• Balance, swinging at 100% will keep him from having great balance and actually slow his hands down, and as in your son’s case, will miss direct the hand path. Swinging at 80% will allow him to work on the correct hand path and will help with the next area.
• Head position, this is on of the most important aspects of the swing. The proper head position not only allows him to see the ball well, but also allows the upper body to stay over the ball. Have him keep his head down past contact.

Perfect each of these three areas and he will be making consistent hard contact. Good luck.

Hitting with the Proper Effort Level

Question:

In working with my son, he seems to struggle with a problem, he has had on and off for 4 years now. He is currently 13. When he is not swing well, he appears to be too aggressive with his hips and shoulder, ie. pulling away from the ball. I shows up to look like he is not having aggressive hands, with the result of hitting a lot of weak balls to the opposite field. He is right handed. We have worked a lot off the tee, short toss, and live pitching on the outer part of the plate. He has a good understanding of the various contact points. We just haven’t had any long term success at fixing this problem. When his front shoulder pulls off, of course his bottom hand pulls away from the ball, ie. causing him to “what I call, slice the ball”. Sometimes during the season he will get in a real groove where the ball just jumps off his bat, but he eventually falls back into the problem of pulling away from the ball. We have also worked the one handed drills extensively over the past few years. I would appreciate your advice on how to approach this problem for long term success.

Answer:

Take a look at three areas:

• Overswinging, this is one of the areas where most young hitters do not understand. Young hitters generally want to see how far they can hit the ball, This causes them to use their body too much and therefore overswing. It’s best to develop a swing that is about 80% of his max. This does not mean that the hands are not aggressive, but he should feel like he has something left in his body. In hitting, swing at 80% will give you better hand speed. This will help him with the next two areas.
• Balance, swinging at 100% will keep him from having great balance and actually slow his hands down, and as in your son’s case, will miss direct the hand path. Swinging at 80% will allow him to work on the correct hand path and will help with the next area.
• Head position, this is on of the most important aspects of the swing. The proper head position not only allows him to see the ball well, but also allows the upper body to stay over the ball. Have him keep his head down past contact.

Perfect each of these three areas and he will be making consistent hard contact. Good luck.

How to Teach a Young Player

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.

Keeping Score

Baseball Basics: Keeping Score In Baseball

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