Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Sat Jul 2 20:42:49 2005

>>>My son will turn seven in August and was selected to the pitching machine all stars about three weeks ago. His previous two years have been in t-ball. He makes good, hard contact with the ball but I've been noticing that a majority (about 60-65%) of his balls are chopping ground balls to short or third. Th remaining are nicely hit line drives up the middle or right over the infield. I know its difficult to state the problem without actually seeing him, but does anyone have any advice on what he could be doing wrong and if any drills could help that could make him more consistent? <<<

Hi Frank and Micky

In most cases the problems you describe is caused by the bat still angling downward at contact. Since the bat-head starts above the shoulders and makes contact below the letters, the bat-head must be swung downward. However, with the best hitters, the path of the bat-head bottoms-out and is on an up-slope at contact.

Note in the clips below that their mechanics keep the hands back at the shoulder during initiation. This allows the bat to start downward behind the back-shoulder and bottom-out farther back. Also note, that at contact the back-elbow is still back in the slot at their side. The full extension of the back-arm (and the “Power V”) does not take place until well after the ball has left the bat.

http://www.youthbaseballcoaching.com/mpg/Glauss02.mpeg

http://www.youthbaseballcoaching.com/mpg/Sosa01.mpeg

http://www.youthbaseballcoaching.com/mpg/griffey_ken.mpeg

Frank, if your son initiates the swing by driving the top-hand forward, the bat may be angling downward in front of the shoulder and not bottom-out until after contact.

Jack Mankin