Posted by: nativetrout (nativetrout at earthlink dot net) on Tue Jul 11 09:49:37 2006

Scott

You are correct about not getting the whole picture by looking at a few stills or videos, though look at enough and you begin to see how a particular hitter's swing changes based on pitch type and location. In fact you can see quite alot. Regarding blanket statements, that is exactly my point!

My frustration with those statements that I hear on a daily basis is that they are tossed around as blanket hitting truths made without really seeing what is happening. For example, I hear "your foot is opening up" (this was the case with my son). However, what these coaches failed to notice was that prior to and at contact, his foot is closed (or at a roughly 45 degree angle). His foot opens only after contact. Yet they constantly harped on that. They couldn't see what was happening, only the end result. I also hear "swing with level shoulders!" Now how does one do that on a pitch lower than letter high ?!? (i was admonished by our manager for my uppercut --he told our kids this was a result of my softball playing--while taking a swing on a slider that broke knee-high down and in and that I drove to right).

And this is where I think the problem is. Coaches (don't get me wrong---they are often well meaning) frequently see 'problems' when a player has failed (swung and missed for example) and they don't when a player has success (a rope to the gap, a pitch fouled off the other way --"level out those shoulders!"). Yet their swings may be identical. For example: a kid swings and misses on a pitch down the center of the plate. He ends up with his belly button and eyes facing the pitcher (likely momentum got him to this point). What do we all hear? "you're pulling off the ball! Keep your head in there!" He does this again, hips open, head facing the pitcher but the ball is now sailing between left and center and one-hops the fence. What does the coach say now?

While I pitched bp at our all-star practice last week I heard a chorus of comments directed at a fine hitter as he whiffed. "keep your head in there!" coaches and players encouraged. The more he heard it the more he swung and missed. He had lost focus, was swinging late. Yet otherwise his swing looked fine to me.

I think we need to be careful about the tips and advice we dispense. I hear bogus hitting analysis not only from LL coaches but from HS coaches and on Baseball Tonight as well (Kruk and Reynolds were great ballplayers but do not know what they are seeing where swing mechanics are concerned).

Looking at still images (especially from a flip book) allows one to see that, yes, a hitter's foot may be 'closed' at contact but does open after. Or shows that both arms are NOT extended at contact ("get those arms extended!") but only after (ok, they may need to be on an offspeed pitch low and away). I don't know about you, but with our 10-12 year olds we're not quite ready to discuss swing adjustments the kind Arod might make on pitches in or away.