Posted by: Mike (reyg121@yahoo.com) on Tue Jan 8 20:15:59 2008

> > Hi coaches
> >
> > Just my opinion but if you are late to the ball you might think about
> > using your top hand a little more.I know most coaches cringe when you
> > mention top hand.Give it a try by putting your hitter on his back knee and have them use only their top hand in a soft toss drill.It
> > sounds like your hitter is trying to inside out every pitch.That is
> > a great two strike approach,but when i get my pitch early in the count
> > i want to get my hips open and get my front shoulder back as my front knee firms up.That will have the bat head pointing at the second
> > baseman at contact for aright hand hitter.I had a little left hand
> > hitter in high school,who hit 460 and he hit middle left he was in the
> > top 15 in orange county he led the team in all categories except home
> > runs he didn't hit any.He was 135 pounds maybe.
> > good luck coaches
> >
> > Bob
> >
>
> hey bob!!
>
> very good insight!!! far too many hitters AND coaches forget the primary designation.. either you are RIGHT handed or LEFT handed... THAT DESIGNATION INDICATES WHICH IS YOUR POWER HAND!!!THAT MEANS THAT HAND IS MORE POWERFUL THAN THE OTHER HAND!! THAT MEANS YOU SHOULD RELY ON THAT POWER HAND TO PROVIDE MOST OF THE POWER!!! HELLO?!?!?
> i have my students wrap their power hands onto the bat with duct tape & then hit off a tee or soft toss.. this gets them in the mindset that they must not EVER turn loose of the bat until they have gone all the way sround.. this also makes them understand they must be accelerating from the moment they launch & continue to exert maximum force all the way thru the swing.. this gets the hitter to understand that he can generate far more power by pushing off his back leg, torqueing his lower body,& keeping his power hand in tight to his torso.. the hitter must realize & utilize the strongest parts of his body- the leg, the hip & the arm on the power side.. i believe this is key to generating maximum batspeed, to keep your hands in tight..this will generate far greater batspeed & power than implementing a too wide, too open stance & buggywhipping with just the arms & shoulders only..
> any number of hitters & coaches will tell you you can generate more power with your arms extended, but that is simply not true..
> to those people i say try this:
> sit on a barstool that spins... now have someone spin you around... now extend your arms like you are on the cross. what happens? YOU SLOW DOWN!! now put your hands on your belt buckle... YOU SPEED UP AGAIN!! proof positive that extending your arms will slow your batspeed.. there are situations where you are adjusting or going after a bad pitch out of the zone, & you feel the need to extend your arms... but once you do, you diminish your batspeed.. so try to keep yourself out of those situations where you swing at a pitch with diminished batspeed.. that is the pitcher's pitch.. & you shouldn't be helping the pitcher to get you out... he's not helping you, so don't you be helping him.
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> get my bat head pointing at the second baseman at contact.For a right hand hitter.If your going to open up your front foot you will need to move your back foot closer to the plate.But
> > know your hitter find out what their capable of.
> > have them use only their top hand in soft toss

George,
I hope you watched the video jack posted. It looks like to me both hitters who are great have pre pitch movement and a so called hitch before the ball is coming. I guess those buggy whippers can sure hit the ball a long way. Explain to me why these hitters can hit like that but the rest of shouldn't try to mimic these same mechanics that produce home runs and batting titles.