Posted by: Coach C () on Tue Nov 4 11:01:33 2003

Hi,
> I was hoping someone could help me with my 7 year old son's swing. Over 50% of the time, he hits the ball and "tops it" where it hits the ground a few feet in front of the plate. A lot of the times, it's a hard hit ball, but hitting the ground so soon takes a lot off of it. He used to hit the ball so well from a very early age, but now he's struggling and I'd really like to help him get it back.
>
> Maybe there's too much involved to be able to really answer my question. If so, I apologize for being such a novice. If there are a few key things he should/should not be doing, maybe we can work on that.
>
> Thanks in advance for taking the time to read my post.

Besides the obvious hitting down on the ball, the biggest factor in topping balls is extending the arms too soon, thereby forcing the hands to roll prematurely. My experience is that lead arm can be just as big a contributer as the top arm to the problem. Essentially the hands/arms should not be inclined snap straight and extend, thus getting the hands out or saying be quick with the hands will make the problem worse. My best advice is to learn rotational mechanics, but in the interim have him release the bottom hand at contact in practice...rarely will the bat roll early in that case. Have him learn to keep that arm more passive in the swing and see if it helps. And lastly say "slow your hands down", this will keep the arms from extending to soon and rolling the bat over. Good Luck!!

Coach C.....