43Drills

The angle of the bat in the stance, as we have said before, isn’t very relevant as long as the bat is in the proper position in the launch position (or after the stride when the foot is planted and the hand are over the back foot). When the hitter has no indication of whether or not the pitcher is throwing consistently high or low, the bat angle when the swing is about to begin should be at a 45 degree angle. This maximizes the opportunity of being able to hit a high strike and a low strike solidly.

When a hitter notices that a pitcher is keeping the ball down consistently, he can look for a low pitch and angle his bat up (point the knob toward his feet and the barrel toward the sky). If the pitcher is throwing high, the bat can be flattened a bit prior to the swing. Changing the angle will keep the bat head in the hitting zone longer when in fact it corresponds to the height of the pitch. Generally, looking for a high or low pitch should take place when there is some consistency on the part of the pitcher and when the hitter has less than two strikes. With two strikes, the hitter needs to be ready for all pitches in or near the strike zone.

Many coaches and parents instruct hitters to point their front toe at the pitcher when striding. Pointing the toe when striding at the pitcher will cause their hips to open before the start of the swing. Opening the hips early (before the swing actually starts) reduces the power of the swing. Premature opening of the hips can also make it difficult to hit an outside pitch. Instead, the toe should be pointing somewhere between closed (in the direction of the plate) and a 45 degree angle (in the direction half-way between the plate and the pitcher). This will allow the hips to explode open when the swing begins. Keeping the front toe closed is one of Charlie Lau’s “Ten Absolutes of Good Hitting.”

Some wrong advice given to young hitters is to hit off your back leg. During the swing, the weight should shift from the backside of the hitter to the front side. Energy is transferred to the hands by the stiffening of the front leg (similar to pole vaulting). The back leg adds nothing at the point of contact with the ball; it simply aided in the weight transfer.

The rear foot is pivoted up on the toe. Many good hitters actually have their rear toe off the ground an inch or so at contact. In addition, the advice of “squishing the bug” with your rear toe seems to emphasize one’s weight staying back during the swing rather than going forward and pivoting hard with the back foot. This isn’t a good image for hitting. The focus instead should be on getting the weight up on a stiff front leg.

Contrary to popular opinion, you should not roll your hands or wrists at contact of the bat with the ball. Rolling your wrists at contact will reduce the hitter’s ability to power through the ball. Another version of this is to look down at the V (made by your arms) at contact. Instead, wrists should roll after contact. The hitter’s palms should be flat at contact (one up and one down). The hands “flat snap” through the ball and then the wrists roll. Wrist roll and full extension of the arms with locked elbows ideally occurs when the bat is pointing straight at the pitcher (during the follow through after contact with the ball).

A related problem is the hitter who stiffens and locks his top arm before beginning his swing. This makes it hard to get a flat snap into the ball. This also slows the bat down because the hands are too far from the body during the initial part of the swing. Ted Williams has argued that swinging a bat should be like swinging an ax. You will have a tough time cutting down a tree if your wrists roll on the ax at contact.

We have all seen the swing where the hitter turns his head half way around during his follow through. Some kids try to hit with their whole body, including their head. While keeping their head down when making contact with the ball is essential, there is more to seeing the ball than simply having the head in the proper position.

When my oldest was on an 18-game hitting streak, his teammates were using his bat and eating the same thing he was for lunch. Many asked him why he was hitting so well. He told them he was keeping his head still during the swing. He concentrates on his head being still. He tries to swing as hard as he can without significant movement of his head. This allows him to see the ball clearly.

Obviously the head does move somewhat during the swing. There is forward movement during the stride. A short stride with the weight back minimizes this kind of movement. The head must also turn down toward the bat at contact. This turn should be smooth.

Someone once wrote that 90% of pro players who are experiencing slumps say they simply are not seeing the ball very well. Young players who have nice swings but consistently hit a little above or below the ball might benefit from concentrating on their head during the swing.

Many young hitters have trouble with outside pitches, particularly low ones. While striding away from the plate (or stepping out) is one obvious reason for this, there are other reasons as well. To understand these reasons, we must first consider the path of the bat head during the swing. The bat head comes down and trails the hands to the hitting zone. Depending on where the ball is, the hands snap the bat head around (with the palms facing up and down).

If the hands stop at the point of snapping the bat head around, the bat will enter and exit the hitting zone too quickly (although such “rotational” swinging is taught by some people). Instead, the hands should continue in a forward direction toward the pitcher and the arms should fully extend forward after contact. The wrists should then roll and the follow-through should be high (above the shoulder for those following through with both hands on the bat).

Lack of proper forward extension can also occur when striding too late and beginning the swing before the front foot is planted. Swinging prematurely leads to landing on a stride foot that is pointed straight at the pitcher (instead of being closed or half closed). The hips open up before the front leg is firm. This tends to result in full forward extension to the left of the pitcher (for RH batters). Often the symptom of pulling the front shoulder out is observed when this occurs, but this isn’t the problem that needs to be corrected (try telling kids to keep their shoulder in there and it doesn’t work because their shoulders are following their hips). Rather, the stride must begin and end earlier and the hitter should be conscious of fully extending his arms toward the pitcher after hitting the ball.

It is difficult to diagnose this problem with the aid of a video camera. Filming directly behind a hitter can show where the bat is pointing at full extension or if full extension even occurs. A side view of the hitter can show if the stride is completed before the swing starts. An easy way of determining this, is to compare the strides when hitting the ball and taking the pitch. If the front foot stays close when taking the pitch yet pointed straight when swinging, the swing is premature.

Swinging late is often a problem with young players. One reason for swinging late involves the hitter not knowing where he is suppose to make contact with the ball. Many want to make contact over the plate instead of in front of it. Carrying the ball to the plate and having the hitter swing slowly, indicating where they want the bat to make contact with the ball, is a good way to show them to hit the ball out in front. Also, they should be taught that the point of contact needs to be further out in front of the plate when the ball is pitched inside and closer to the plate when the ball is pitched outside.

Players also need to understand that they must swing at a smaller ball against a fast pitcher. They have to make the decision to swing a bit earlier and fire the hands at the ball when it is further from the plate than they are used to (the ball looks smaller further away from the plate).

The most important thing for good timing, however, is to teach hitters to make adjustments with their stride foot. If they are swinging late, they need to lift the front foot and begin the stride earlier. If they are swinging early, they need to lift the front foot and begin the stride later.

A swing that is slow in relation to a player’s physical ability reflects a problem in thinking. Often a player slows down his swing in an effort to “just make contact.” Making contact is not hitting. This is very poor advice to give a player in most situations. If a player takes a good swing, he will generally make better contact than if he just tries to get the bat on the ball.

Mental focusing on bat speed often corrects a weak swing. One good way of creating this focus is to define the position of the hands in the launch position (right before the swing starts) as point A. Also, define the hands above the lead shoulder after the follow-through is complete as point B. Then have the player concentrate on getting from point A to point B as quickly as possible (without losing his balance or pulling his head). Make sure the hands extends fully forward in getting to point B. Emphasizing “A to B” during batting practice will help to develop a faster swing.

Many young players fail to keep their weight and hands back when striding toward the pitcher. A simple way to work on this is to have players take (not swing at) pitches during batting practice and freeze until you have time to look at the position of their hands. Also, striding from their ready position (or stance) over and over will help remove the lunge from their swinging habit.
Over striding is a serious problem for many hitters, leading to movement of their head and loss of balance. Often, widening their stance can help correct this problem (they simply can’t stride as far). In addition, placing their ball glove six inches in front of their lead foot during batting practice can help them from striding too far. Some hitters reduce their stride by trying to simply pick up their front foot and placing it back down (it will still go forward when they are hitting).

Prematurely opening of the hips and shoulders robs hitters of power. This problem is most common among younger players who begin to drift open while waiting for the ball to approach the plate. In some cases this can be corrected by striding later (if the stride is in fact too early). This can also occur when the batter’s head isn’t picking up the ball.

Opening up helps the head to turn to get a better view. Thus, getting the head in proper position in the stance and maintaining it through the stride might correct this problem. For many other hitters, drifting open is a result of wanting to pull the ball regardless of where it is pitched.

Hitters need to realize that they will get more power on the inside pitch they can pull if they stay closed until they swing and that pitches on the outside part of the plate shouldn’t be pulled anyway. Telling a hitter to point his front shoulder at the ball when tracking it to the plate appears to work for some players in correcting this problem.