43Drills

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.

This generally begins because of fear of the ball and may continue later simply because of habit. To help correct this habit, place a ball glove or something flat to the left of the hitter’s stride area (for right-handers), so they know when they are stepping out. If they realize they are stepping out and continue doing it, they may have a balance problem. Have them lift their front heel off the ground during their stance and stride. This will help them keep their weight forward toward the plate.

Stepping out may also be due to the desire to pull the ball. Discourage strict pull-hitting. The hitter should develop the mental image of hitting the ball straight back at the pitcher and hitting to all fields.

If fear is a factor, it is important to convince the player that he is safer when striding straight at the pitcher than when bailing out. The proper movement of the batter when a ball is thrown at him is to turn inward toward the plate and then toward the catcher (while dropping his head if the pitch is high). This protects his head and chest (the two dangerous places to get hit). Bailing out opens the hitter up and usually results in exposing the chest and head to the ball. Also, I know several young players who have overcome their fear through on-deck prayer.

There is a lot of controversy concerning the angle of the bat when hitting a pitched ball. Based on watching film of great hitters and what has proved successful for the kids I work with (and in line with Ted Williams’ approach to hitting), a level swing is not swinging the bat level with the ground. A level swing also only refers to the path of the bat head through the hitting zone, not the initial part of the swing involving the hands coming down to the ball or the follow through after contact.

A level swing involves swinging the bat level with the path of the pitch. This is a slightly upward swing (the degree to which depends on the pitcher). This increases the likelihood of hitting the ball squarely, even if contact is a little too late or too early. When hitting down on the ball (which is popular among many coaches), the hardest hit balls will be grounders. Lines drives will flutter and only occur when slightly undercutting the ball. Weak line drives are also produced by big uppercuts and the only hard hit balls will be high fly balls (which are easier to catch than low fly balls).

Correcting for uppercuts and undercuts begins with the position of the hands when the stride foot is planted (launch position). Aside from the hands being over the rear foot at this point, their height is also important. Uppercutting (more than what is required by the path of the pitch) often occurs because the hands start too low ñ often by the ribs. Undercutters generally start their hands too high, somewhere above their shoulder. Ideally, the hands should be close to shoulder height. From the rear shoulder, the hands should bring the bat head down into the hitting zone and then up at the ball. When the bat head flies forward, it should go through the contact area level with the path of the ball.

Some players accept striking out as part of the game. Others find it humiliating. Some take weak swings trying to just make contact or swing at something they can’t drive early in the count so they aren’t faced with the possibility of striking out.

Developing patience at the plate and reducing the fear of striking out can be facilitated by having confidence that one can still have a successful at bat with two strikes in the count. If this confidence is lacking (or if a player simply needs to reduce his number of strike outs), a player should consider developing a two-strike swing.

While a lot of players shorten their stride and their swing with two strikes (which is good), sometimes a more radical approach is needed. One thing I would suggest, especially for younger players, is to avoid the stride altogether with two strikes. When faced with two strikes, take your stance in the batter’s box. Before the pitcher delivers the pitch, take your stride and hold it with the weight back a bit and your hands over the rear foot. Then simply take your swing from this position.

I’ve seen hitters do this over a course of a year and actually end up hitting better with two strikes on them than early in the count. Makes you wonder if you even need a stride (actually you do to reach your potential as a hitter). Once a player has confidence in his two-strike swing, he should show more patience and take better swings early in the count.