How to Get Into the Position of Power

Q:

When my 16 year old tried setting her hands in the Position of Power, she feels like it’s harder the pull down with the bottom hand, getting that short path to the ball. She feels “trapped” a bit and has too much top hand, her swinging loops under the ball. How can we get the hands set and still get that pull down angle with the bottom hand?

A:

The Position of Power is a position that every hitter should be in when the stride foot lands. The hands do not need to move very much, as long as the hands are just behind the back foot when the stride foot lands. The hands should not feel “trapped”. This should be a fluid movement that is not segmented.  It sounds like your daughter is not properly staying inside the ball.

The easiest way to correct this problem is to not think of cocking the wrists, just think about taking the hands back. This will allow for a free and easy swing, when she thinks about the wrists, she would probably have a tendency to be stiff.

Learning How to Practice

Question:

I am coaching 11-12 year olds. Majority of them are struggling to hit the outside pitch. If they do make contact, it’s usually a weak grounder pulled to the shortstop. Any suggestions for teaching them how to hit to right field? I know they have to let the ball get deeper into the strike zone but am unsure how to teach the right field swing correctly. Thanks.

Answer:

The number one thing is practice. They have to do the drills and put in the practice time. Tee work, soft toss are very important. Make sure they are staying inside the ball, letting the ball get deep as you mentioned. Keeping the front side closed as long as possible and keep an eye on the back foot, the back knee & foot should not fully rotate. The back knee and foot should point to where the ball is hit. This will help the hips to stay closed. You do not want the hips fully rotated when hitting the outside pitch. Also, make sure the bat takes the proper angle to the ball, the barrel of the bat should not drop below the hands until contact is made. The proper bat angle will enable the hitter to stay in top of the ball. Lastly, head position is very important, have your hitters keep their head down past contact, this will help them to stay over and on the ball.

Becoming A Crunch Time Player

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 an the greatest competitors have all choked at some point in their 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, atletes 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 guts.  Athletes who are said to be chokers compete as hard as they can… to the point of self-destruction; they go “over the edge” to the point of losing 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.

Don’t Be Afraid of the Ball

Question:

I coach Little League (coach pitch) and seem to have problems with hitting. At practices most everyone hits. However, in the games most step toward 3rd base and miss the ball. Also, they seem to forget their form and swing.

Any suggestions on fundamentals of stance, swing and position of arms along with drills to help proper step and swing?

Answer:
When kids step in the bucket it deals with one of two areas.

• Wanting to pull the ball too much.
• A fear of the ball.

With the first area, pulling too much, start the kids in practice, have them hit the ball to the opposite field. This will help them to keep their front side in. Emphasize to them the importance of staying square to the plate as long as possible. If their stride is too long (more than 4-5 inches) have them widen their stance some. Keep their stride easy and short.

If some of the kids have a fear of the ball, first teach them how to react the proper way. When they know how to get out of the way, they will have more confidence to stand in.

Teach the kids to have an aggressive approach by hitting the ball right back up the middle. If you’re the pitcher and you’re over 40, you better get a glove. It can be dangerous!!!

Could Aristotle Have Been a Great Athlete?

This genius believed that the mind’s only function was to be a cooling mechanism for the circulatory system.  Bet you know someone like that.  Well, according to humorist Will Rogers, everyone is ignorant, just on different subjects, and Mr. Aristotle was at least deficient in one area.  However, had he been right, at least that would have eliminated the problem of TOO MUCH THINKING, which is usually an athlete’s Achilles heel.  I am constantly amazed and dismayed at those in any sport who teach  mechanics excessively and little or nothing on the mental aspect.  The number one theory seems to be If there is a problem, it’s got to be mechanics, right?

If  that were  true, then each and every athlete that I work with, even by telephone, would not be making immediate improvement.  I know mechanics, but by telephone I do not have the luxury of analyzing and advising in this area.   I am not minimizing the necessity of teaching sound mechanics, which requires thinking, but once the skill(s) are learned, right brain play, which eliminates thinking, is absolutely essential.  Proper breathing and focusing solves the problems of  worry, doubts and fears and allows for peak performance.

Positive Communication Will Enhance Performance

The University of  California, L. A., in an extensive study,  came to the following conclusions regarding believability of communication:

1. Tone of voice & facial expressions account for 38%.

2. Body language, 55%.

3. The words, only 7%.  (Facial expressions are also body language, so the 55% should be even higher.)

It is only when all three are synchronized, or in harmony, will a person believe the words.   This study is another confirmation that regardless of the verbal message, if the body language conflicts, the person will believe the non verbal.  So, managers, coaches and parents, please be careful in the way you communicate with their athletes so as not to adversely affect performance.  Keep your total language positive, for maximum benefit on and off the field.

Swing Question: Rotation or Weight Transfer

I frequently am asked questions about the all time great hitter, Ted Williams and Charlie Lau. Williams is thought of as being a pure rotational hitter, while Lau was a pure weight transfer teacher. Both are misconceptions and misrepresenting the swing.

Percentage wise, Ted teaches more rotation but if you look at his old videos and still shots, you clearly see his weight going from back to center which is weight transfer. Lau embraced a pure weight shift philosophy and many of his still shots in his book do show hitters on top of their front leg, however, that isn’t what happened to those same hitters in real game action swings.

If any of you have Ted William’s book, The Science of Hitting, turn to the very last page and you will see a perfect swing. However, look closely. Ted has gone to the center position, with his back heel in the air, and his toe – NOT the ball of his foot – on the ground. This clearly shows you the weight has transferred to the center position therefore, it is not a pure rotational swing. A pure rotational swing that would involve no weight transfer, would consist of the weight spinning on the ball of the back foot. It is clear cut, he is definitely not spinning.

The swing is definitely a combination of both rotation and weight shift however, there are vary-ing degrees of this combination. Speaking in mathematical terms, look at it as a matter of the percent used of each. Some hitters will use a greater percentage of rotation, while others will use a greater percentage of weight shift. Ideally the swing should be 50/50. Fifty percent rota-tional, fifty percent weight transfer. Most great Major League hitters are at 50/50 – Palmeiro, A-Rod, and Giambi – just to name a few.

Results of having a pure rotational approach are that the hitter will be guaranteed to have a less effective, more inconsistent circular hand path. When taking a circular hand path through the zone, the barrel of the bat stays on the contact plane for a very short time. This leads not only to an improper hand path but also to inconsistent contact. In addition to that, these hitters will have a greater likelihood of rolling over the ball with their top hand which in turn leads to more weak ground balls being hit.

Contrast that to a hitter using a strict weight transfer or linear path. Despite the fact that he will stay on the ball longer, he will in fact have more of a chopping type swing. That is why a com-bination of the two is what leads to the most success. The proper hand path will start out linear, or straight to the ball and on the finish or follow through, the swing becomes more circular. In other words, the swing is more linear on the approach to the ball, and more circular on the fol-low through. Remember to keep it simple because this truly isn’t a difficult concept, people make it much harder then what it is.

Take Your Practice Swings into the Game

Question:

My 11 year old son hits much better in the more competitive AAU than in LL. In AAU, he really drives the ball. Line drive extra base hits. His mechanics are good. quick hands, uses legs, stays down on the ball. In LL, he doesn’t use his legs, swings at bad pitches, doesn’t drive the ball. I know its a mental thing. He says he is tense. I think its a holdover from last year. His first year in LL majors, he did not hit well then either. (partly because he got hit on the elbow.) He works really hard, takes extra BP. But this is primarily mental. How can I help him overcome this psychological barrier.

Answer:

It’s true when people say that this game is more mental then physical. You talked about him taking extra batting practice, which is very good, however how muck time is he spending creating good mental habits. As much time as he spends in the cage he should spend visualising himself having success. Let him go over mentally all the success he has had in his AAU league. Have him go up to the plate with nothing on his mind except him knowing that he going to have success in that at bat. With this attitude he will always dominate.

Playing with the Right 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 o 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

A Short Path to the Ball

Let’s examine the path the hands will take through the swing.  The goal of the swing is to keep the barrel of the bat in the strike zone for as long as possible:

• Get the barrel of the bat in the strike zone with the shortest possible angle
• Keep the barrel of the bat in the strike zone for as long as possible
• Finish with the extension out front and with a good follow through

If you do this, you will have an efficient swing, one that will be consistent and repeatable.

It is very important to take a proper and consistent angle to the ball; the lower half of your body is what allows you to take this angle.  If the feet and hips are not working correctly, the hands and arms will not be able to take the correct path tot he ball.

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