Posted by: GEORGE STANLEY (MMELFISR@HOTMAIL.COM) on Thu Mar 30 21:05:47 2006

> I have a major problem of swinging too early. I am hitting everything off the end of the bat and hitting it to third base. A lot of weak ground balls mostly. What can I do to make myslef stay back more?
> you have so many problems i don't know where to start. first of all, sounds like you are swinging at pitches out of the strike zone.no matter how good a stance and swing you have, IT IS EVERY BIT AS IMPORTANT TO SWING AT A STRIKE. YOU WILL NEVE BE A SUCCESS UNTIL YOU RECOGNIZE A GOOD PITCH TO HIT. QUIT HACKIN AT SLOP! 2nd: sounds like you might also be standing too far away from the plate. you must set up in the box so you are in a position to reach about 2" outside of the black WITHOUT EXTENDING YOUR ARMS & SLOWING DOWN YOUR BAT SPEED! in this manner you will be able get a good piece of a pitch just off the plate, & hit it more solidly rather than getting over the top. many hitters sabotage themselves by standing too far from the plate. the pitcher sees this & says to himself that he can get you with a pitch just off the plate because you are set up to get only a pitch on the black; you ARE NEVER IN A POSITION TO GET THE BAT ON A PITCH JUST OFF THE PLATE (which could be called a strike). many pro hitters are in that boat. ray durham immediately comes to mind. if you feel you are too close to the plate & are afraid you will get jammed on an inside strike, you need a longer bat. lastly whatever you are using as a green light to start rippin is too early. i don't think this is the problem though. god love you if you are set up correctly & are swinging at good pitches all the time only to get there too soon and dub the ball into the ground. 99% of all hitters are invariably LATE, so consider yourself lucky to be in the 99th percentile! if that is the situation. relax!! lighten up a little. which is usually good advice for most everything