Posted by: Coach C () on Wed Nov 19 19:05:08 2003

The link below is to the son of a friend of mine. He is a College player. What do the members of this forum think of his swing and how he can improve it?
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> http://webpages.charter.net/nickkio/newhitter.mpg
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> Thanks,
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> Nick
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This player looks like a good college hitter, but he is inside-outing the ball with the hands and body. Because he insides out the ball, he has a V-shape to his swing, thereby, decreasing his chances for square contact when he is a little off with his timing. He also is a low-ball hitter, who probably finds additional trouble with the inside pitch up and in. The reason he has trouble with the inside pitch is because he over emphasizes extension with the arms/hands. He needs to learn how to hit with short arms and no wrist snap. The bat should roll-over naturally. Scap load (IMO) is not something we teach, but like Tom say's should happen. The key is this....the bat must pivot between the two hands and not where the top hand forefinger and thumb meet the bat. Essentially he is casting the bat, but much later in the swing than most poor hitters. He's casting just prior to contact. This hitter has probably been told to stay inside the ball, but he is doing it by throwing them forward to inside the ball, when he should be keeping his hands inside the ball perpendicular to the ball. While I think Bernie Williams does many things right, I would suggest Lance Berkmann, Jim Edmonds, Garret Anderson or Barry Bonds are better role models for this approach. Tom's right though, Bernie does great, I just don't care for his wrist roll as much as the others.

Good Luck

Coach C