Posted by: drluggo (drluggo@earhtlink.net) on Tue Jul 11 19:47:49 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!
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> 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).
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> 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?
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> 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.
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> 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).
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> 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.

Great post. I believe that coaches (and more so parents) should take the silent approach when it comes to instructions on hitting. I think that more times than not, the messsage is doing more harm. I hate when I see a 10 year old in a game swing and miss and immediately look toward his father to hear what he did wrong. When I am pitching BP, I hate when a kid is struggling and missing at the ball because that is when the advice typically comes pouring in form the outside.

I came across this site recently and find this approach to hitting quite interesting and I need to prove to myself that this rotational way of hitting is really what is happening for the majority of successful hitters. From my technical background, it does make sense that you are generating more torque and bat speed by coiling and rotating on a naxis as opposed to a linear motion, it is just that I have never heard it taught this way.

I have seen som posts where people frown upon comparisons with major leaguers when instructing kids because they are in a different class, but I disagree. If we can take what the best hitters in the world are doing and construct a foundation from which to teach kids, wouldn't they be better off for it? Of course they will not all become professional players (most probably none of them will) but it will give them more of a chance to succeed at the level at which they are playing.

When we are teaching our kid math or music or how to hammer a nail into a piece of wood, do we not teach them the right way? So why not do that with hitting, using the pros as an example of the right way. What are the very basic components of the swing that make Albert Pujols the best hitter in the game and can we boil this down to a couple of simple concepts that all children will at least understand what we are talking about. From there you can come up with a series of drills that they can work on to create muscle memory so that when they are up in a game they are only thinking about picking out a pitch and driving it.