Posted by: John D (John@Dresslar.com) on Tue Jan 10 08:54:52 2006

With all due respect, quoting Charlie Lau on a rotational hitting site is like quoting Rush Limbaugh at the Democratic Party web site. Obviously, the continued rotation isn't the problem -- you're gonna rotate after contact anyway. It sounds like you're just swinging too soon. Learning to wait is one of the toughest things for a hitter to do, particularly if you've been jammed a lot.

Doug, you're smart to look to see if you're using too much backside if you're weight is heavily on your back toes. Optimally, your weight should stay balanced and, as Jack's video notes, your head, belly button and butt should be in a straight line all the way through the swing. If you're leaning back toward the catcher and keeping your weight on your back foot, you'll definitely have trouble getting to low outside pitches. You can check this by having someone stand straight across from you and check your head; if it moves forward or back after your initial foot plant on your stride, you're probably looking for trouble.

Most great hitters in fact come up off their back foot so, unless they're fooled, only the tips of the toes of their back foot are still touching the ground. You can check out this animated .gif file of Derek Lee to get an idea of what I'm talking about.

http://s95294420.onlinehome.us/userfiles/DLee_SView.gif

I'd be hesitant to start closing your stance too much, as it's only a bandaid on your issue. If you're not used to seeing the ball from that stance, it could open up a whole different set of issues. But, hey, everything's reversible. Try it and see if it makes you comfortable.

Anyway, that's MHO. I'll leave it to Jack et al to correct it or offer drills.