Bat Speed -- Baseball Hitting Forum

Posted by: Coach C () on Tue Jun 17 13:51:34 2003

My son has a swing likened to Will Clark. Smooth, fast and very powerful. He bats left handed but is naturally right handed.
>
> There are times (e.g., when's he's nervous or trying to hit the ball hard) that his swing is longer than others and the bat loops a bit (from low to high). The result is that the bat goes under the ball.
>
> What is the cause of this and how do you fix it? I've been told that his bottom (right hand) is too dominating and that he should practice hitting with only his top (left) hand choked up on the bat. Any thoughts?

I spent the better part of my college days dealing with this same issue. I was a switch hitter, but a natural right-hander. From the left side I would normally be under the ball. My fix after years of work was not to pull with the front hand or shoulder, but rather feel that I was keeping the lead arm straight and rotate the lead shoulder back towards the rear shoulder. For years I equated the hands as the primary means of hitting, thus creating more of a cut across the body, rather than a swing around the body. This new approach for me allowed my hands to play a more passive role (just holding the bat) and allowed my weaker hand to feel more supportive. In the early years I did tons of top hand work, which only compounded the problem (created more a cut swing), which left the barrel below the ball. Today my swing feels in tact, and although I feel that keeping my arms straight is a strong key for me, video analysis reveals that in fact I am very connected and the barrel is normally in line with the lead arm (which is all I ever wanted). Does your Son trap his rear elbow behind his body at times?

My suggestion is not to do top hand work, but train the lead arm and front side to not pull across the body, but rather swing around the body. Hope this helps. We don't want the top hand doing the wrong thing and dominating a stroke that should be dominated by core and shoulder rotation. The hands hold on!!!!! Jacks video will help to explain this.

Good Luck

Respectfully,

Coach C

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> My son has a swing likened to Will Clark.  Smooth, fast and very powerful.  He bats left handed but is naturally right handed.
> > 
> > There are times (e.g., when's he's nervous or trying to hit the ball hard) that his swing is longer than others and the bat loops  a bit (from low to high).  The result is that the bat goes under the ball.  
> > 
> > What is the cause of this and how do you fix it?  I've been told that his bottom (right hand) is too dominating and that he should practice hitting with only his top (left) hand choked up on the bat.  Any thoughts?
> 
> I spent the better part of my college days dealing with this same issue.  I was a switch hitter, but a natural right-hander.  From the left side I would normally be under the ball.  My fix after years of work was not to pull with the front hand or shoulder, but rather feel that I was keeping the lead arm straight and rotate the lead shoulder back towards the rear shoulder.  For years I equated the hands as the primary means of hitting, thus creating more of a cut across the body, rather than a swing around the body.  This new approach for me allowed my hands to play a more passive role (just holding the bat) and allowed my weaker hand to feel more supportive.  In the early years I did tons of top hand work, which only compounded the problem (created more a cut swing), which left the barrel below the ball.  Today my swing feels in tact, and although I feel that keeping my arms straight is a strong key for me, video analysis reveals that in fact I am very connected and the barrel is normally in line with the lead arm (which is all I ever wanted).  Does your Son trap his rear elbow behind his body at times?
> 
> My suggestion is not to do top hand work, but train the lead arm and front side to not pull across the body, but rather swing around the body.  Hope this helps.  We don't want the top hand doing the wrong thing and dominating a stroke that should be dominated by core and shoulder rotation.  The hands hold on!!!!!  Jacks video will help to explain this.
> 
> Good Luck
> 
> Respectfully,
> 
> Coach C

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