Posted by: Jack Mankin (mrbatspeed@aol.com) on Fri Feb 6 14:50:24 2004

I have three questions for you, concerning weight distribution on high-inside and low-inside pitches, cues for triggering hip rotation, and, finally, switch hitting. Each respective topic will be labeled as A, B, and C. I would appreciate if you could give me brief answers to each topic.

A) I've watched many tapes of baseball, and it seems that on high-inside pitches, the weight seems to be against the front thigh at contact. Yet, on low-inside pitches, the weight seems to be against the back thigh at contact. The back foot will become light, but will bevome lighter on high pitches than on low pitches. Do you agree with my logic?

B) In this site, you advocate squishing the bug on the front foot for soft-stride hitters. I use a slightly different approach, and want to share it with you. Working with individuals (yes, I instruct now as a volunteer), I instruct them to stride onto the ball of the foot, opened 45 degrees, and to drop the heel. If this is done correctly, at contact (i.e., on inside pitches) the front foot has rotated to the point where the toes face the pitcher, and the back leg forms an "L." If they still cannot master this movement, I instruct them to do the following:

1) Drop the heel, but roll onto the outside part of foot

and, at the same time

2) Lift the back heel off the ground slightly (no squishing)
3) Turn the back knee down and in slightly
4) Turn the back hip around the axis (spine) slightly.

Do this until the movement becomes unconcious, and all that needs to trigger the hips is the front heel drop. Any problems with this approach?

C) This is theoretical, but if a person can hit lefty with some degree of success, does what side of the plate you hit from have any bearing on how far you can hit a ball?

I would appreciate a response (my edit: to answers A, B, and C).

Sincerely,
BHL
Knight1285@aol.com


Hi BHL

Reply for (A) – You may be right on weight distribution for high and low pitches. I have just never found it something I looked for or found it necessary to asked a hitter about.

Reply for (B) – I see nothing wrong with a 45 degree foot plant. I would not recommend alternatives 1,3, or 4. I am not sure where you are headed with 2.

Reply for (C) –Unlike linear mechanics, a good rotational swing supplies good power and quickness for both inside and outside pitches. Therefore, I think a player’s effort is more wisely used perfecting his rotational mechanics from a single side. That along may take years to reach his maximum potential. – Obviously, if a batter generates equal bat speeds from both sides, he should hit the ball about as hard from either side.

Jack Mankin