Posted by: Doug () on Thu Apr 22 20:26:55 2004

Does anyone have tips for a 29-year old on how to stop dropping his hands? I have tried both the high tee and wall drills, as well as bringing my hands down in my stance. These things have helped as my hitch has lessened, but a teammate informed me that it is still present. My question is how often should I be doing these drills with how many reps each time and what other types of things can I be doing to eliminate this problem? I appreciate the advice. MH
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> > Mike, You did not say if you were dropping your hands and then bringing them back up. If your hands are about shoulder height when your front foot touches down, you are fine. A hitch is fine too.....it is an action of cocking (lowering) your hands and then raising them back up. Ruth, Williams, Foxx, Mays, F. Robinson, Mitchell and Bonds all hitched. If you are just lowering your hands, start with them high and then lower them to your shoulder as you stride. If you are hitching, it does not matter where you start your hands as long as they come back up to shoulder height when the front foot comes down. If anyone tells you that a hitch is bad, just tell them about the the guys mentioned above, along with many other HOF players.
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> > Doug
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> Doug,
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> Thanks for your response. That's somewhat encouraging. However, since I can't see myself and I haven't gotten much more than a "you're dropping your hands again" comment, it's hard to say if I'm keeping them down or actually raising them back up. My guess is that I am not raising them back up to shoulder level before I start my swing, which is why I'm having trouble catching up to the fastball. It's not so much that I use it as a timing mechanism, but I think it's just a bad habit I've had since I'm young. In any event, I'm presuming that I should be just drilling as much as possible to train myself to keep/get my hands to shoulder height in the proper load position as I start my swing. Any other thoughts/suggestions/comments? Anything and everything is appreciated.

Mike, If you can get your hands on a camera, film yourself in BP or in the games and then watch it in slow mo or frame by frame. if your hands are back over your rear foot and at about shoulder height when your front foot touches down, you will be in good shape to swing the bat. The hitch has been bad mouthed for many years and is just part of the load for many great players. Don't call it a bad habit until you check the film out......it may not be the problem.

Doug