Posted by: george stanley (saint_george13@yahoo.com) on Sat Jan 5 02:30:36 2008

> For the average high school baseball/softball player, would it be beneficial to start with the hands hidden from the beginning of the swing rather than the additional hand movement during the swing. If the player shows some talent, then work with them coiling during the pitch.
>
> Some times I think the move movement, the more chance for error. I guess the questions remains, how beneficial is it to coil during the pitch?

HIDING THE HANDS!
the thing that kills most hitters is any movement post pitch release..
i ask hitters "assuming 90 MPH, how long does it take from the instant of pitch release to the moment the ball reaches a point about a foot in front of the plate?" the few hitters i have spoken with have NEVER NEVER NEVER given me the correct answer!! that is the work of the previous coaches they have been listening to who are simply out to lunch, & don't make the hitters realize how little time they have to get to the ball on time....
the first order of business is to make the hitter aware he only has 0.41 seconds to get the bat to the optimum point where you will hit the ball on the button... if you take 0.42 seconds, YOU WILL BE LATE!! IT IS A SIMPLE MATTER OF BEING ON TIME... EITHER YOU ARE OR YOU ARE NOT...
if you implement post pitch release movement of your hands, to either drop your hands, do a little circle hitch, & draw back the arms & shoulders, this will cause you to be late on far too many pitches that you should be driving... rather your arms & hands should already back drawn back.. once the pitch is released, EVERY PART OF YOUR BODY SHOULD START FORWARD!!..extraneous backward movement in the hopes of generating additional batspeed works, but to the detriment of causing you to be late on many pitches in too many spots.. there is a trade off.. if you simply start forward, like the greatest HR hitter of all time HENRY AARON, the tradeoff is though you may not hit the perfect pitch as hard, is still goes in the seats.. & you will get to more pitches on time & hit them harder.. result: a MUCH better BA with less HR, as opposed to a MUCH worse BA with more HR.. your choice.
for young players, i believe the less extra movement prior to pitch release will help them much more to be much better much sooner.. also they don't learn bad habits so soon, which take forever to lose.. don't worry, they will learn enough bad habits anyway.. it's the nature of the beast.