Posted by: boomerpooner () on Wed Oct 20 11:22:33 2004

what is the best way to teach an 11 year old to keep the barrel of the bat above his hands (and prevent dragging the barrel thriough the zone) in the early stages of the swing? how does he transition to an slight upward trajectory at contact after the "shoulder to hips" path of the early swing?
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> I read this terminology but cannot find an image of the barrel above the ball through any contact point. If you do he sure hit a high pitch. However ...dragging does seem to occur in certain hitters. IMO , arm and hand action should work to facilitate and enhance the loading of the shoulders and hips leading hands. Improper arm and hand motion interfers with the shoulder load and the result can be the " all arm swing" vs. launching the bat by unloading the shoulders as a unit.

Donny, Thx. You are right it would have to be a high pitch for the hands to be above the barrel at contact. I meant that shortly after initiation of hand movement the barrel would fall below the hands and drag through the zone.