Posted by: The Hitting Guru () on Thu May 27 18:27:11 2004

You see alot of hitters initiate their swings with different triggers. ie, front knee bends inward, allready up on front toe, lifting up of front leg.
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> > What are the thoughts of the batspeed board experts on the ideal trigger to start a baseball swing.
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> > I am currently coaching an 11 year old above agv hitter that lifts his front foot and leg 6 inches straight up and has had pretty good success. When he goes back to the inward knee turn he seems to be late more often than not, and seems to lose power. Any ideas?
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> To me, the triggers you've described are not triggers but loads. Those things load the swing. A trigger, to me, is what if feel that starts the swing forward(not the load). And, what I like is the rear hip.


The ideal trigger is simply what is most effective for the hitter. Whatever allows him to get to the launch position on time is the key. If your student hits well with his trigger let him be. A good example was Mel Ott. At the time, he had the most unorthodox swing of his time. His owner insisted that no one was to change his approach. And he used it to produce 511 homeruns. Some of them were roof shots. Though most great hitters use a form of the rotational method, a lot of them get too the rotation using different methods. Have him keep lifting that knee (see. Kirby Puckett- Hall of Fame).