Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatSpeed@aol.com) on Tue Sep 21 20:45:00 2004

>>> What are the probable causes of the bat-head not violently coming around. My son and I have been studding rotational mechanics for two years now. (We do put in the time) This may be a timing issue or possibly,the braking down of his lead arm, (not sure) but I would think, although he has improved, he should be crushing the ball more further and more frequently than he is. It just appears that the bat-head is not where it should be. (It it Hips? Front shoulder back? Is a,"On plane" issue?) <<<

Hi Tony

I have seen this problem with other hitters. For the most part, their mechanics appear ok, but the bat-head seems to drag through the zone. I sometimes wonder if they are not concentrating so much on their mechanics that they forget to swing the bat-head.

Try having your son take his normal stance and stride and just rotate and throw the bat (hard) toward second base. If he is adequately accelerating the bat-head back behind his shoulders before rotating and directing his energy around toward second base, his back-elbow should still be at his side as he releases the bat (rotational principles).

Impress on him not to tense up or jerk into action. He should remain loose, smooth with ever accelerating movements during the throw. This may help him become less deliberate (concentrating too much on his mechanics) and develop more whip in his swing. Once he is throwing the bat for good distance with good form, have him use the swing at a heavy bag and then soft-toss and so on.

Jack Mankin