Posted by: Travel Baseball USA.com (travelbaseballnj@yahoo.com) on Tue Feb 19 11:17:58 2008

You don't get backspin by swinging down on the ball. You get backspin by getting the barrel of the bat even to the flight of the pitch. You must tilt back towards the catcher and keep your hands above the barrel as you swing. This will allow you to hit just under the center of the ball. Swinging down produces ground balls.

http://www.travelbaseballusa.com

> >>> How do you get backspin on the ball? My son's coach told me that it is by swinging down on the ball and hitting the bottom half of the bat head with top half of the ball. <<<
>
> Hi Bob
>
> Since the bat-head is above the batter’s head at launch and can be at the knees at contact, it is obvious that it must have been swung downward. However, in all high level swings, the downward arc of the bat-head bottoms-out and is on an up-slope in the contact zone. As your post points out, far too many coaches believe (and teach) that the bat should still be angling downward at contact.
>
> As far as “backspin” is concerned, a bat on an up-slope that strikes the ball below its’ centerline will also induce backspin. In other words, the bat does not have to be angling downward to produce backspin. – Below is video clip that shows the bat-heads path in the contact zone.
>
> <a href="http://www.batspeed.com/media/Justin_swing_plane1.wmv">Across the plate view of the swing plane</a –
>
>
> Jack Mankin