Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Wed Feb 9 22:07:38 2005

>>> Just curious if there are any opinions about the position of the hands at contact and how to teach it to 8 year olds? Some believe the hands should be "in front of the ball" and others believe that is only true if hitting to the opposite field. <<<

Hi Mike

The ball will always be hit to the opposite field when the hands are "in front of the ball" at contact. To pull the ball, the bat-head must be ahead of the hands.

I teach my students to practice hitting the ball straight away (bat perpendicular at contact). If they are a little early, they pull the ball – a little late, the ball is hit to the opposite field.

There are occasions when we want the batter to hit to the opposite field and he/she will need to have the hands leading at contact. However, I would not recommend teaching a student to get his/her hands "in front of the ball" as their normal swing mechanics. I think it sends the wrong message.

We want the batter to keep the hands back and allow rotation to fling the hands. Concentrating on getting the hands in front of the ball could encourage the batter to use the arms to extend the hands ahead of rotation. This leads to separation, a more linear hand-path and loss of bat speed and power.

Jack Mankin