Posted by: Major Dan (mjordan@dht.com) on Tue Oct 10 06:45:37 2000

> > > I followed your thread of a few weeks ago with interest. My 12 year old son is a very good example of this as he hits predominantly to left and left-center and tends to hit grounders to the right side.
> > > > > > Can you give details and specifics of how you built up your left side strength and balanced your top hand action in your swing.
> > > > > > What exercises? Weights? You mentioned one-handed swings. What else?
> > > > > > We have already gone out and worked some on finding the contact point for hitting to the right side. This will be our winter project so I want to do it successfully.
> > > > > > Thanks.
> > >
> > > It has nothing to do with you son throwing right and batting left. I am the #4 hitter at my high school and I pull the ball all the time. It has to do with his mechanics.He has to get the bat head out front.
> > > > >
> > > > > > TO #4 H.S. HITTER I 1ST STRESSED A DIFFERENT MECHANIC TO PULL THAN FOR GOING AWAY.BUT ALSO WHEN YOU ARE USE TO HITTING AWAY AND YOUR BOTTOM HAND IS DOMINANT YOU MUST CONSIDER THAT THE BOTTOM HAND KEEPS TRYING TO DOMINATE ALL THE WAY TO THE BALL AND YOU NEED TO ALLOW THE BACK ARM TO BALANCE OUT AT A POINT IN THE SWING SO YOU CAN EXTEND HIGH INSTEAD OF L;OW AND ELEVATE THE BALL.STRENGTH NEEDS TO BE BALANCED OUT BUT YOUR RIGHT THAT WHEN TRYING TO PULL WHEN YOU USUALLY GO THE OTHER WAY THERE WELL NEED TO BE SOME MECHANICS CHANGES OR ALL THE REAR ARM STRENGTH IN THE WORLD WONT HELP.IF YOU HAVE HAD THE PULL MECHANICS ALL YOUR LIFE ITS HARD TO UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH THAT LEAD ARM DOMINATES THE SWING PLANE WHENGOING THE OTHER WAY THEN TRYING TO STOP IT WHEN YOU TURN ON AN I.S. PITCH.
> > > > >
> > Still there is nothing wrong with hitting everything the other way. The guy that bats #3 at my H.S. is a strict push hitter but he does it with some power. You can be a very good push hitter.
> > >
> > I agree with both of you - Matt's mechanics need to be adjusted AND I am now seeing that he has dynamics and a throws right/bats left hitter that a righty/righty doesn't have. Since I am righty/righty, I just don't live in that world.
> >
> > He will probably always be a 'push' hitter to some degree and that is not a bad thing. But I think it is in his interests to have gap to gap doubles power. That is the dimension I would like to see added. What do you think?
> > m.d. i will assume he is hitting up the middle to opp.field,if he is hitting mostly ground balls and line drives now tell me if he uses what i call an a-c ax swing in which his launch position is pretty much where his hands ars in stance.Some even point knob at pitcher and come straight to him with hands.If this is his swing i think we can work from there on the adjustments,if different tell me more.

RQL - Yes, line drives and hard grounders from 3rd base line to up the middle. Only 2 balls pulled - both grounders to 2nd baseman. Only 1 popup in 25 at-bats this Autumn in his first season on the 'big' field.
In your terms, Matt has an a-c ax swing. But doesn't pull the knob of the bat toward the pitcher.
Last night, we did some Tee work. One handed/top hand swings were a really new thing for him. They felt and looked different. He used a lighter bat. He had to bring his hips through a lot more - a lot more back-side work. Then did some hitting off the Tee to pull/drive balls to the right side. The combination of the two drills seemed to have a good effect. But this will need a lot of repetitive practice.