Posted by: Coach C () on Fri Nov 21 07:12:49 2003

> There was a young hitter at our HS that during BP could hit more out than anybody that has played there in 33 years. For a year I watched this in amazement. He had a little back and forth waggle sort of in front of his body like Sheffield, lifted his front knee (toward his rear shoulder), swept the bat tip behind him and flatter at toe touch and killed the ball. It comes clear now what was happening....he had a pretty good swing when you boiled the style and excessive movement away. His down fall was lack of consistency. While he had power to all fields he hit many off center balls,pop ups etc. My son hits it farther with the sweep but will he likely give up his consistent line drive pattern? Do you recommend more sweep hand action vs. starting in a high cocked position?

Hard to say what is right for all, but my preference is a pre-cocked position for the reasons you described. I like the idea of feeling one simple move to the ball with my arms...preferably a shorter one. I think the longer sweep tends to lead to hand manipulation, improper wrist play and front side pulling. Certainly others have done better with the long sweep action, but I give you Moisis Alou and Mark McGwire, who are not short of power. Less movement, better ball tracking.

Good Luck,

Coach C