Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Mon Sep 25 23:09:12 2000

>>>AFTER HAVING A COUPLE OF BAD AT BATS AGAINST HARD THROWERS, I STARTED THINKING THAT I NEEDED TO SWING EARLIER AND FASTER. THIS LEAD ME TO WHAT'S BECOME A PROLONGED SLUMP. I FIND MYSELF TAKING A BIG STRIDE, COMMITTING TOO EARLY AND GETTING ALL OF MY WEIGHT OUT FRONT. I AM POPPING UP ALOT AND HITTING ALOT OF BALLS OFF THE HANDLE. I MAY HIT THE BALL ON THE BARRELL ONCE A GAME OR NOT AT ALL.I KEEP TELLING MY SELF TO WAIT AND TRUST MY HANDS, BUT THEN IF I MISS A PITCH I KNOW I SHOULD HIT I GO RIGHT BACK TO THE OLD HABITS. WHAT CAUSES YOU TO HIT BALLS OFF THE HANDLE? AM I TOO LATE OR TOO EARLY? HELP<<<

Hi David

Your problem is common with many batters. In most cases, constantly hitting the ball off the handle or having trouble with their timing is caused from an inconsistent swing plane and the bat-head lagging the hands at the contact point. The more the lag the shorter the bat and sweet-spot area is in relation to the balls incoming path. In order to make contact the batter must crowd the plate or take the hands out wider.

David, a bigger stride and quicker extension of the hands will not cure bat-head-lag. These are not the mechanics that generate bat-head acceleration. Angular acceleration of the bat comes from the transfer of the body's rotational energy and applying torque to the bat. I have presented a lot of material about these mechanics on the site.

To become a great hitter you must have confidence in the bat's plane and trajectories. --- Put another way - at the contact point, the bat must be in-line (or, in the same plane) with the lead arm and near perpendicular to the balls incoming path. If you are a little early, the ball will be pulled - a little late, you hit to the opposite field.

Below is a post I made earlier that might help in learning to improve your mechanics.

#####In the instructional video I strongly make the point that learning different mechanics should not be attempted in batting practice or the cage. There are just to many old muscle memories that come into play with live balls. There is also a problem with when batters reach maximum bat speed. With most hitters, the bat rotates 20 to 40 past the contact point before the bat reaches peak velocity. It is very hard to develop mechanics that will correct this while hitting live balls or even off a tee.

It is far more productive to have the batter expend the bat's energy into a heavy bag. At contact all shoulder rotation and torque forces should have been completed. The body having expended it's energy is at rest and maximum bat speed has been reached. The batter can then check his balance and form - was the arms, legs and body in a good contact position - was rotation and torque forces completed or was he still exerting energy. This should all occur as the bat becomes perpendicular to a pitched balls line of flight.

So Ruben, there is a lot that can be worked on inside once you understand what mechanics to work on. So read as much of the information on the site as possible and ask good questions. --- After you have perfected your mechanics on the bag, have someone soft-toss a rolled-up sock (or whatever). Then back to the bag - (back and forth) make sure the two swings are the same. Then progress to harder pitches but never give up the bag.

Note: Students that skip the bag drills progress slower. ######

Jack Mankin