Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Thu Mar 24 00:39:20 2005

>>> it seems my kid is struggling with the low inside heat. somebody who was watching him felt his hips were opening up too slow. I am trying to convey to him to hit the ball out in front of the plate more. any tips cues or suggestions on better handling that pitch? <<<

Hi Mark

Timing and getting the swing plane in-line with the flight of the incoming ball are the two most important elements to making consistent contact. Since the low inside pitch is in tight and angling downward, it can present a real problem to a batter with the tendency to swing down at the ball.

There is certainly nothing wrong with pulling inside pitches which means the bat-head will be ahead of the hands at contact. However, telling some batters to hit the ball farther out in front of the plate, can cause them to extend the hands too early. In producing a swing plane that matches the flight of a low inside pitch, the hands must stay back and allow the downward arc of the bat-head to take place behind the back-shoulder. (Read: http://www.batspeed.com/messageboard/12618.html )

Mark, getting good body rotation is very important. In fact, getting the lead-shoulder to rotate back toward the catcher at contact is a key to hitting low inside pitches. But when some one tells you, “his hips are opening up too slow,” keep in mind that the arms, hands and bat are not connected to the hips – they are connected to the shoulders. It is shoulder rotation that transfers the body’s rotational momentum to the arms, hands and bat. The importance of hip rotation is its contribution to the generation of shoulder rotation.

Jack Mankin