Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Tue Mar 1 01:22:59 2005

>>> My daughter when she finishes her swing she is always out front her head is beyond her front knee i have tried everything to keep her weight back.It seems like she is always topping the ball or cutting under it any idea of how to fix it. <<<

Hi Mike

What you just described is referred to as “lunging.” Normally, when a batter cast their weight forward to that degree, they also have the bat on a downward trajectory at contact. These batters start the swing by pulling the knob toward the pitcher and then bringing the bat-head around by driving the backside forward and extending the back-arm.

Relying to heavily on the backside to swing the bat is what is causing most of your daughter’s problems. She must learn to get the lead-side more involved in the swing. Mike, there is a lot of information on the “Swing Mechanics” page that explains BHT, the 105 degree position, and the efficient use of the lead-side.

Once she starts learning to accelerate the bat-head by rotating the lead-shoulder back to the 105 position, her problems should start to disappear. It is hard to lung forward when your concentrating on rotating the lead-shoulder rearward at contact. – Below is another post from the archives on BHT and the 105 position.

Jack Mankin
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Hi Major Dan:

I find that most of the batters I have worked with are already back-side dominant and few use the lead-side effectively. One of the key reasons great hitters like Bonds are so far ahead of the field is because of the BHT (and "hook" effect) they apply from the lead-shoulder pulling back to accelerate the bat-head to contact. For Bonds to get his strong 105 degree lead-shoulder rotation requires the aid from the straightening of his lead leg.

Therefore, I do not think it helpful to think the lead-leg straightens because the hips rotate – Rather, the extension of the lead-leg is a major factor in what drives rotation. --- I want the student to understand that the sole reason they rotate their body (hips and shoulders) is to cause the bat-head to rotate -- that’s what it’s all about. So I teach the student that as they initiate their swing by rotating the lead-heel back, they should also think “rotate the bat-head.” ---Think, “rotate the heel – rotate the bat-head.” From initiation, the muscle groups in the batter’s legs, torso and arms should be working together (in unison) to maximize the angular acceleration of the bat-head.

Jack Mankin