Posted by: Major Dan (markj89@charter.net) on Mon May 14 13:33:05 2001

well, rql, i have yet another idea that might help my son (remember, he throws right/bats left)....he's made some progress in pulling inside pitch to right field instead of inside-outing the ball,,,,we did a lot of work on improving strength/coordination of the weaker, top, left arm....however, he now has developed a tendency for his body to want to try pulling the outside pitch ( he had always naturally hit the inside part of the ball on the outside pitch)...........anyway, without getting into tht, bht, etc, what do you think of this idea as a mental cue: inside pitch, think swinging with the top arm (even though obviously both arms will still be on the bat)....and for outside pitches, think "bottom arm" (because the bottom arm leading the swing is always what had meade him so sucessful with the middle and outside pitch).......i tried this my self and it seems like if i think bottom arm on the inside pitch i will have an inside-out swing, whereas if i think top arm, i will pull....and with the outside pitch, thinking bottom arm will result in leading with bottom arm, but thinking top arm i will end up incorrectly hitting the outside part of the outside pitch........i don't know if this makes sense or not, but at least for me, as i swing, visualizing top arm or bottom arm sort of automatically makes the swing happen the way i described.......but it might be happening only because i want it to happen that way...that's why i seek your unbiased opinion as to how viable this mental imaging option could be.....also for any one else ( i think major dan, for example) who has first hand knowledge of the problems right throwers/left hitters have, i would also appreciate your input....respectfully, grc.....

grc -
I was thinking hard while reading your post, even before you mentioned me. We must be on a parallel course.
AAU season has started. Matt is 13, still not grown very much, but playing and hitting well. His first weekend (4 games) he was 6 for 10, with 4 walks. Two outs were line drives at people. He even pulled a double over the right fielder's head. He must have hit it 250' or more - most likely the longest ball he's hit in a game. He really turned on it. It was a good affirmation of what we worked on this winter.
However, his two bad at-bats were popups to third base trying to go the opposite way. He did also smoke a liner over the shortstop's head so he hasn't lost his opposite field ability. But the popups were of the butt-out-and-reach variety. He seems to get under the ball now going back side on outside pitches, at least sometimes.
Thanks to rql, we've done all the things I've talked about to balance front and back side. His body and swing are more integrated. If anything Charley Lau Jr. would love to say he is too rotational and pulling off the outside pitches. I see him as casting the bat to reach the ball. The cast is pushing the bat under the ball to force the popping up. In a way, it is improper rotation to some extent based on pitch location.
Does that make sense? Any other observations on this type problem?

grc - I don't know about thinking one arm or the other based on pitch location - not a lot of time to do that, but if it works, keep me posted. Jack suggests Top Hand Torque is the key to hitting the outside pitch. I agree. It allows the timing and movement of the hips and shoulder rotation to adjust and sets the bat plane going opposite field without losing batspeed or casting - if done right. [ in fact, ti works kind of like what you are trying, if you think about it]
I find myself telling Matt to stay on top of the ball. What I want him to avoid is looping under the ball to come back up to hit it. With the ball deeper in the zone, you hit it more in the back part of the swing than on the front upswing. Does that make sense? Any other cues that might work?
rql - did you ever go through this?