Posted by: Cavanaugh (tldz136@yahoo.com) on Wed Mar 12 13:56:37 2008

i have been batting lefty and throwing righty my hole life. I am now 17 years old and frustrated about my baseball swing. Growing up, i loved baseball. There were no worries or anything. I hit the ball good and I was recognized as one of the better players on the team. I was hitting line drives and homeruns. I was getting better and better as time went on. Then little league ended and it was on to the bigger field. During the first year,my hitting slowed up (usually expected because playing against more talented kids). Although i struggled at the plate, i was still good for my age group. The following years i did alright but i wasnt a "stand out" like i was in little league. The older i got the more frustrated i got.
I started to look into the mechanics of hitting a baseball. I then came to the conclusion that i had a "long swing" instead of the more compact swing,"short swing." I never noticed that my arms were coming away from my body as i swung. My hips were turning just because the momentum of my arms swinging forward. From then on, I was on a journey to converting my swing from long to short. I looked into the internet, books, and videos of lefty batters that throw righty. I knew that if i had batted righty growing up, i would never of had this problem( because your more powerful arm should be closest to the ball at impact). I then began to wonder how Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski, Ty Cobb, Mel Ott and so many other baseball players were having shorts baseball swings. After realizing the amount of players like me (Bat left/throw right), I went out and bought Ted Williams Book on hitting. It was helpful and useful but after reading the book noticed that alot of players like me "cock their bat" before they swing. Noticing this kind of made me stressed seeing that i'd have to cock my bat in order to get a shorter swing but i decided not to since i wanted my swing to be natural.
So the conclusion of my research lefted me almost were i started off in the beginning. As i thought back on my little league years i began to think that the main reason why i had done so well at hitting was because of the lightness of the bat. So the transaction from a light to a heavy bat was different and difficult. I began to loose intrest in baseball because of my decent hitting. But decided to continue bettering my swing.
I started to think of ways to cock my body so that it would explode my legs->hips->shoulders->arms towards the pitcher for maximum power. One effective technique i did was tightening(or flexing) my (shoulder/armpit area) so that when i swung my arms wouldnt leave my body. This was very successful. I was hitting the ball with loads of power and hitting line drives. I still wasnt satisfied. Thinking of my improved swing made me realize that it seemed that my shoulders were turning before my hips. You may think thats impossible but my shoulders were turning which would carry my chest then my hips. So when i swung, my hips werent faced towards the pitcher like they should be. I then tried to improve this aspect of my swing but i hit a road block. When i try to hit righty, my swing is compact and powerful. Everything goes perfect. But in my situation, i can't start batting righty now because i'd be wasting peoples time. And also it kind of felt like my dominant left eye was weaker than my dominant right eye. So it felt more comfortable on the left side of the plate.
I have a few questions...
1. Is it possible for me to develope a short swing without reminding myself at bat what to do (ex.step,turn hips,chest,shoulders...)?
2. How do major leaguers (bat left/throw right) develope short swings that are so efficient?
3. When I bat right, i have a short swing. But when i bat left, i struggle to get a short swing but im so much more comfortable from the left side. Is there anyway i can get a shortswing like my right side to be like it on the left?
4. What ways can u trigger your hips so that they open up towards the pitcher?

I always felt a step below everyone else because i hit and threw opposite. There were other kids like me too who struggled as well. It bothered me when my coach kept telling me to turn my hips before i swing because its kinda hard to do so since my right powerful arm is on the bottum of the bat. So when i hit, i struggle to keep that arm there because its stronger than my left arm.

As you can tell from the long analysis, i am very determined to develope a short swing thats natural not forced or that needs improving. I am sorry about this long long page of background info but i am so frustrated. Thank You for all your help ( i really need professional help)
Thank You