Posted by: Pro_Hitter (andygreen29@hotmail.com) on Wed Oct 29 14:34:14 2003

There is nothing wrong with the shoulder going down to initiate the swing (especially on a belt high pitch or lower); as a matter of fact, the majority of big leaguers swings begin this way although that is not the terminology you would teach or they would use. The swing begins (from a hands/bat perspective) when the back elbow tucks in by the side (thus forcing the shoulder to drop a little). Plus, I would hate to have a swing like Edmonds :) In order to curb it a little bit though, you should attempt to eliminate your tilt backwards at impact. The way this is done is to allow your hip rotation to take you forward a little. That is not a problem and it should occur somewhat naturally. In my experience, I control that backward lean because I'm trying to do a little bit more with the baseball than needs to be done. If I just allow my rotation to bring my shoulders/hands/bat through the zone at the proper angle, there will be plenty enough juice left to drive the ball and the swing angle will be about 10-15 degrees (a desired uppercut amount - essentially a circular hand path.

I just finished my college fall season, and I;ve been having this balance problem. When I keep my weight back (60-40) I start my swing by pulling my back shoulder down. I end up uppercutting too much (like Jim Edmonds) and at contact my back is bent backwards. But when I keep my weight centred, I'm lunging at contact. What can I do to get rid of this?
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> > <<<< dougdinger, Are you starting (stance) in an equal balanced position and then making a negative move (back) to 60-40 or are you starting at 60-40 and then trying to swing from that position? If you are striding from 60-40 to a balanced position and then rotating, you should not be lunging. It is hard to coach when not seeing your swing, but it is my guess that when you lunge, you are going from 60-40 to 40-60 and that is a lunge. When you start from 60-40 and leave it there you are then in an uppercut mode.
> > Try starting from an equal balanced stance and then make a small negative move and then a positive move back to a balanced position which would be when your front foot comes down. When the front foot comes down you should have started your lowering of the rear shoulder, rotation of the hips and shoulders and the back elbow should be moving into the slot. If you lower your back shoulder when you start your swing, you will (1) put yourself in a position to swing into the path of the ball, and (2) keep yourself from lunging. You lunge with the upper body, and it usually happens when a player is swinging with level shoulders. If your back shoulder is lowering properly, it is hard to lunge.>>>>>
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> > Doug
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