Posted by: Jim (jwelborn@lexcominc.net) on Mon Jun 20 21:25:15 2005

> > Dan,
> >
> > stop the cage work.
> > with the money, hire someone (someone decent) to pitch to you.
> > not BP, but as close to real and as long as his arm and you can last.
> > have someone video, and review it.
>
> Excellent. Our MSBL guys do that among themselves. Pitchers get mid-week bullpen and the hitters see full bore pitches. Nothing better.



Keep practicing. If you are correcting bad mechanics, it will take a long time to alter your muscle memory.

Practice should include a routine of cage work as well as live B.P. with a real pitcher. The cage is where you can really concentrate on swinging correctly and thus create the proper muscle memory. Cuts with a real pitcher should be held to a minimum at first until you are sure you are swinging correctly. A coach who knows what a correct swing looks like, along with a video camera, are two essential ingredients that will help you. There is no point in taking live cuts if you are swinging incorrectly, as this would only continue to reinforce the bad swing.

We work with lots of middle school and high school fastpitch softball players each year. Many of them come to us as very good athletes with poor mechanics. It can take the better part of a season to get the mechanics straightened out. Sometimes getting good swing mechanics to transfer to game conditions takes even longer. (Our practice routine is five days per week from mid-February through the end of May except game days).

When facing a live pitcher, pitch placement, movement, and timing will always affect the way your swing looks. It is important to remember this when reviewing your swing on video. You will only achieve that perfect looking home run swing when the pitcher makes a mistake and gives you a home run pitch to swing at.