Posted by: Zig Ziegler (zig@skilltechnologies.com) on Wed Feb 12 06:40:55 2003

Robin,

You are almost correct. An athlete with proper balance and weight distribution and rotation to the ball and alignment is crucial. The length will always be an issue related to the outcome of the swing. If the objective is the maximize rotary power and speed, coupled with timing, the shorter bat will yield greater results. I have analyzed thousands of players and have yet to come across a female athlete that has the balance and strength to swing a 34 inch, 28 ounce bat or anywhere close to that length or weight. That does not mean it is not possible for me to find that athlete, I just haven't found her yet. With the aluminim bat I can get away with many technical flaws.

You see Robin the problem I have found lies in the interpretation of physics and human motion. Combined the two become the science of human movement and can be related to sport. So many coaches and athletes are performing segmented drills and focus on teaching to the effect of movement. In other words coaches tell an athlete to "Make sure your turn that back foot." And "Get your hands to the ball." And emphasis the need for "More bat speed." In softball most girls either pull the ball or hit it the other way. Players are not taught timing or other key points to prepare the hitter for the at bat. Too much emphasis is put on all of these technical effects related to earlier actions of the body.

The swing is not as complicated as it is being made out to be for the athlete to learn and the coach to teach. Until we decided to get into this over a year ago, the focus was in the wrong place.

I am in Indiana at the moment and last night before I started my clinic, I watched athletes hitting and pitching with their parents, by themselves, and with other coaches.

I AM LOST!

What parents are trying to teach their kids and what some instructors are teaching keeping athletes from being athletes. Last night I worked with a 17 yr old baseball player who should be one of the best athletes in the country. But his conditioning program is holding him back. His swing is natural and fluid. But he lacks the strength the control his bat. He is 6ft 3in 190 and swings a 33in 30oz. wood bat. And at that size he should be crushing the ball. but after anaylzing his swing with our 3D-SkillCheck, he doesn't have the strength to stay balanced through his swing. Our test identified his lack of hamstring strength, and upper back strength. We walked over and tested his ability to do pullups, and he couldn't do one "correctly". He did one it just wasn't using the right muscles.

At the end I my night, I encouraged a young girl who had been watching, but appeared to shy to say anything to let me spend a few minutes looking at her swing (16 yr old, 5ft. 6in., 150 lb.) As we analyzed her swing she did exactly what she had been taught. "Get on your toes so that you can be ready to swing." Wrong. "Stand up straight." Wrong. "Start you swing with your hands." Wrong. These were the answers she gave to me when I asked her what happens in your swing. she replied with what she had been told. Right or wrong, it was all she knew.

How instructor teach has to change. It can be done. I can't take one book and say here are all of the drills an athlete should do. Instead of writing a book and putting together a video, I wrote an individualized analysis for each athlete. Identifying exactly what they need to work on.

I would love to get together with Jack and have him involved in some of the clinics that we are doing around the country. (or at least in California).

Sorry for the long answer to your question, Robin, but there are not many girls who swing the bat and maintain balance. It doesn't have to happen on every pitch, but off the T, it shouldn't be a problem. It comes back to what they have been taught.

By the way, all athletes who have premature wrist roll have gotten long early in their swing. The distance from the hands to the body has gotten out to over six inches from the body or the angle has increased to over 50 degrees. If this happens early in the swing (because the athlete is thinking of getting the hands to the ball) the athlete will reach maximum bat acceleration. The wrist will roll because the arms have now fully extended. In order to continue their rotational path, the wrists must roll and now are being acted upon by the forces of the body. This is often mistaken by some coaches as great bat speed or release of the bat. The bat releases like a whip, it does not roll on release. The roll is a part of follow through. Just what are we really teaching.

Zig Ziegler