Bat Speed -- Baseball Hitting Forum

Posted by: Wildcat () on Mon Jun 5 06:42:55 2006

Thank you for your time...I will let you know how it goes.

> >>> My niece is having difficulty staying back through her swing. She is going and getting every ball with her front knee collapsing. We have been working on the bag and some elementary concepts in rotational hitting, but we are having trouble fixing this problem. Do you think I should have her work on hitting to the opposite field to spell this? Any idea on how to help her understand how not to let her front knee collapse? <<<
>
> Hi Wildcat
>
> Welcome to the site. The lead-leg should be extended for most pitch locations where the hips and shoulders can fully rotate. To reach outside pitches, the hips and shoulders may not be able to rotate as far as for pitches middle-in and therefore the lead-leg may not have fully extended. – Big Mac hit some of his longest bombs on outside pitches where his lead-leg was still bent.
>
> However, I suspect what you are describing is not due to pitch location but rather your niece relying too heavily on using her back-side to bring the bat to contact. The back-side dominant hitters attempt to swing the bat by driving their back-side past their slower moving front-side. In doing so, they often cast their weight too far forward and the leg remains bent (or collapsed) at contact.
>
> To solve this problem, she needs to get her lead-side rotation more involved in the swing. To accomplish this, I teach my students to concentrate on getting their lead-shoulder to be pulling back toward the catcher at contact (105 degree position). They soon learn that extending the lead-leg aids in driving the shoulder rearward.
>
> When she is practicing the drill, move her forward in the box so that at foot-plant, her lead-knee (well flexed) is even with the bag. She will find it necessary from this position to rotate about a stationary axis rather than move the axis froward. Wildcat, it is hard to lunge forward while concentrating on driving the lead-shoulder rearward at contact. – Note (frame-by-frame) how Griffey Jr. uses his lead-leg to achieve the 105 degree position in this clip.
>
> http://www.youthbaseballcoaching.com/mpg/Griffey01.mpeg
>
> Jack Mankin

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> Thank you for your time...I will let you know how it goes.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> > >>> My niece is having difficulty staying back through her swing. She is going and getting every ball with her front knee collapsing. We have been working on the bag and some elementary concepts in rotational hitting, but we are having trouble fixing this problem. Do you think I should have her work on hitting to the opposite field to spell this? Any idea on how to help her understand how not to let her front knee collapse? <<<
> > 
> > Hi Wildcat
> > 
> > Welcome to the site.  The lead-leg should be extended for most pitch locations where the hips and shoulders can fully rotate. To reach outside pitches, the hips and shoulders may not be able to rotate as far as for pitches middle-in and therefore the lead-leg may not have fully extended. – Big Mac hit some of his longest bombs on outside pitches where his lead-leg was still bent. 
> > 
> > However, I suspect what you are describing is not due to pitch location but rather your niece relying too heavily on using her back-side to bring the bat to contact. The back-side dominant hitters attempt to swing the bat by driving their back-side past their slower moving front-side. In doing so, they often cast their weight too far forward and the leg remains bent (or collapsed) at contact.
> > 
> > To solve this problem, she needs to get her lead-side rotation more involved in the swing. To accomplish this, I teach my students to concentrate on getting their lead-shoulder to be pulling back toward the catcher at contact (105 degree position). They soon learn that extending the lead-leg aids in driving the shoulder rearward. 
> > 
> > When she is practicing the drill, move her forward in the box so that at foot-plant, her lead-knee (well flexed) is even with the bag. She will find it necessary from this position to rotate about a stationary axis rather than move the axis froward. Wildcat, it is hard to lunge forward while concentrating on driving the lead-shoulder rearward at contact. – Note (frame-by-frame) how Griffey Jr. uses his lead-leg to achieve the 105 degree position in this clip.
> > 
> >  http://www.youthbaseballcoaching.com/mpg/Griffey01.mpeg 
> > 
> > Jack Mankin

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