Bat Speed -- Baseball Hitting Forum

Posted by: THG () on Tue Jun 17 21:27:17 2008

> >>> I'm getting ready to start playing high school baseball. I'm a left-handed pitcher/center-fielder with a lot of speed, but lately my batting stinks. It seems I pull (turn) my head towards right field every time I swing the bat. Please tell me how to correct this problem. Thanks! <<<
>
> Hi Jake
>
> First let me say that without seeing your swing I can only speculate on the root cause of your problem. Normally, as the post from the Archives below discusses, the pulling off of the head occurs well after contact and therefore is not a problem. If your head is being pulled away before contact, that would be a problem. That is usually caused from allowing your center of gravity to wade away from the plate as you rotate. Batters whose lead-foot strides away from the plate (“Stepping in the bucket”) often exhibit this problem.
>
> I would suggest you read the post below before deciding to alter your mechanics. Just because someone says you are “pulling your head off the ball” does not always mean you need to change your swing.
>
> <a href="http://www.batspeed.com/tf10.html">”You’re pulling your head off the ball”</a --
>
>
> Jack Mankin

Jake. Regardless of what is going on with your swing, try to make a greater effort to focus on watching the baseball longer. This means locking both eyes on the ball to as close as contact as you can. In addition keep your head down when you swing and do not be in a rush to (look up and) see where the ball travels. If you get a chance view some clips of Manny Ramirez on ESPN or MLB.com.

(Even if you pull off the ball with your head or your front foot, you will at least have a better opportunity to hit the ball solid if see the ball longer.) Even the great Ted Williams pulled off the ball on ocassion, but he made up for it by watching the ball longer and had good plate coverage.

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> > >>> I'm getting ready to start playing high school baseball. I'm a left-handed pitcher/center-fielder with a lot of speed, but lately my batting stinks. It seems I pull (turn) my head towards right field every time I swing the bat. Please tell me how to correct this problem. Thanks! <<<
> > 
> > Hi Jake
> > 
> > First let me say that without seeing your swing I can only speculate on the root cause of your problem. Normally, as the post from the Archives below discusses, the pulling off of the head occurs well after contact and therefore is not a problem. If your head is being pulled away before contact, that would be a problem. That is usually caused from allowing your center of gravity to wade away from the plate as you rotate. Batters whose lead-foot strides away from the plate (“Stepping in the bucket”) often exhibit this problem.
> > 
> > I would suggest you read the post below before deciding to alter your mechanics. Just because someone says you are “pulling your head off the ball” does not always mean you need to change your swing.
> > 
> > <a href="http://www.batspeed.com/tf10.html">”You’re pulling your head off the ball”</a --
> > 
> > 
> > Jack Mankin
> 
> 
> 
> Jake.  Regardless of what is going on with your swing, try to make a greater effort to focus on watching the baseball longer.  This means locking both eyes on the ball to as close as contact as you can.  In addition keep your head down when you swing and do not be in a rush to (look up and) see where the ball travels.  If you get a chance view some clips of Manny Ramirez on ESPN or MLB.com. 
> 
> (Even if you pull off the ball with your head or your front foot, you will at least have a better opportunity to hit the ball solid if see the ball longer.)  Even the great Ted Williams pulled off the ball on ocassion, but he made up for it by watching the ball longer and had good plate coverage.

Anti-Spambot Question:

This is known as hitting for the cycle in a game?
   Single, double, triple, homerun
   Four singles
   Three homeruns
   Three stikeouts