Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Sun Apr 3 23:34:51 2005

>>> Hi Jack & Co.,

My son, Kevin (who will be 11 in late July), has developed some nasty habits that are affecting his ability to hit the ball w/ authority.

Here's a QT video w/ 5 swings (all from pitcher perspective; sorry, that's all I could get in the cage):

http://members.cox.net/dsanda/Indoor%20cage%20-%20Kevin.mp4

Symptoms:
- Counter-rotating shoulders far too much.
- Striding towards plate. (caused by #1?)
- Initiating lower-body rotation prematurely (during stride) w/ lead knee/foot.
- Hands too far from rear armpit and too high (above shoulder top) at launch.

Results:
- Ending up too close to plate - due to stride AND early rotation (bringing right hip too close to plate) - necessitating pulling in of the hands and dropping of lead hand/wrist so that bat head can find ball.
- Disconnection of lead arm to rotating shoulders/chest, resulting in chicken-wing follow-through.

The main changes I think are necessary are:
- Keep his lead shoulder still and maintain flex in lead elbow while he pulls his rear elbow back (towards 3B dugout), thereby pulling his hands in closer to his armpit/top of shoulder. (He tends to leave his hands far from his body, but probably thinks they’re “hidden” because he’s counter-rotated his shoulders to hide them?)
- Stride w/ a closed (or nearly-closed) lead foot, straight on the line his feet are setup on; I can put him on our Balance Board for this.
- As he strides to launch position, flex his knees more (IOW, sit).

I'm thinking that if he would not over-rotate his shoulders so much, he might stride straighter and not feel the need to open his knee/foot so soon. Also, if he would relax his lead arm more (maintain elbow flex), he could arrive at launch w/ his hands nearer his armpit - a better position from which to initiate a circular hand path.

Appreciate your thoughts, <<<

Hi Sandman

I do not feel comfortable making evaluations and recommendations of clips from a single view. To feel confident with my analysis and advice, I need to see 3 or 4 swings from two different views (frontal from the pitcher’s mound and a cross view of home plate). Also, you cannot see fine details with these small frames. I will say that from what I can see in these clips, my evaluation of his swing would be similar to yours. However, the emphasis of my recommendations would be different.

Sandman, I would say that the lower-body mechanics he is exhibiting is just trying to accommodate his over reliance on the back-side to bring the bat-head to contact. As he practices more efficient upper-body mechanics, the mind will then provide a lower-body program to accommodate those mechanics.

Jack Mankin