Posted by: bob (bob@bobburnett.com) on Mon Aug 7 04:54:50 2006

> This whole baseball season i have been swinging underneath the ball. Before i started reading on this site i had a 700. batting average and now its dropped down to 140. My coach says my swing is to long and that its a golf type swing because i swing so much underneath the ball. He also tells me that i should shorten up my swing and not to get my hands so far back. Is there anything i can do to correct my swinging underneath the ball very quickly? The playoffs are coming up in a week and I need desperate help. JACK OR SOMEONE ELSE PLEASE HELP!!!

For the past two seasons, my daughter has started off the season with a high batting average, goes into a slump and then finishes strong. This is might be happening to you too. I believe her slump is due to an otherwise inperceptable decrease in concentration- she's intense in the beginning, gets more comfortable and then with the season drawing to a close and the playoffs, gets more intense again. Mind you, this year during her slump she kept hitting the ball hard, but unfortunately it either went right to a fielder or a few times she "assisted" them in making great catches.

Your Coach may be right that your swing is too long as you may be "casting". Make sure you're keeping your rear/tophand elbow in close to your body at the point of contact and don't let that elbow get ahead of that hand during the swing. See this Pujols clip http://home.comcast.net/~karla.mcnurlin/2b1b.gif

If you're getting too much under the ball, get a tee and a bucket of balls (whiffle balls, tennis balls or baseballs) and hit them into a backstop. (If you don't have a tee and don't want to buy one, you could try a traffic cone from Home Depot for less than 10 bucks). Concentrate on hitting line drives and get used to hitting the ball squarely. Keep doing this between games, just keep hitting and don't give up.

Good luck!