Posted by: Jeff Atchley (jatchley@farmerstel.com) on Thu Sep 22 12:20:44 2005

The determining factor on the angle of the shoulders(difference in height between front and rear) is the pitch location. The lower the pitch, the steeper the angle should be. On a shoulder high pitch the shoulder should be relatively level, and as you go down in the strike zone, the steeper the angle. The reason for this is that a hitter should match the plane of the swing to the path of the oncoming pitch. He does the by adjusting his posture(tilting at the waist) as he recognizes location of the pitch. His posture is the main factor in setting shoulder angle at initiation of the swing. Look at clips of major league hitters and you'll see what I'm talking about.

> Hi Jack,
>
> One of the causes mentioned with regards to dropping the bat is that the right shoulder (right handed batter) is dipping or dropping too much.
>
> However, at impact, still pictures show that the right shoulder is always lower than the left shoulder. To me, this seems correct, only because the upper body is inclined forward when the initial stance is taken, and as the swing progresses, the turning of the body revolves on an axis where the right shoulder will naturally be lower than the left shoulder at impact.
>
> My question is, when (if ever) is the right shoulder too low during the swing and what would cause this? If dipping the right shoulder is not the cause of dropping the bat, then what could be the cause?
>
> Thanks,
> Jess