Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Sat Aug 26 10:12:23 2006

>>> My 11-year-old son got Jack's video and has made alot of progress.
On "good" days he looks really good. But he still has bad days where his timing is way off.

On those bad days he gets frustrated and keeps modifying his mechanics trying to get a better result. But from my point of view it looks like he is simply not seeing the ball. Swinging early or late...

Jack: Do you have any suggestions about what he can do when after say 10-pitches into a batting cage session he realizes he is not hitting well? <<<

Hi Rick

To make solid contact, the meat of the bat must not only be in the contact zone when the ball arrives, its plane must also be in the plane of the incoming ball. Video analysis of young hitters shows there are two main reasons for inconsistent contact.

(1) “Inconsistent swing plane”- If the batter's mechanics are sound, he will produce a flat swing plane as can see seen at this address - http://baseball-fever.com/showthread.php?t=41554 – (scroll down the page). Note that the bat is always in the plane of the lead-arm. When the bat is accelerated out of the plane of the lead-arm it produces a plane that is more like a sin wave which produces inconsistent contact.
(2) “Bat-head lagging” – If the batter’s mechanics are sound, the back-forearm will be pointing toward the pitcher as the meat of the bat will arrives at the contact zone. If the bat-head is dragging behind the hands (inefficient mechanics), the hands (and knob) will be arcing away from the zone (forearm pointing toward the shortstop) by the time the meat of the bat inters the zone. – This is a key reason many balls are missed completely or hit off the end of the bat.

Rick, it may not just be a matter of his timing of when he initiates his swing. It may also involve the efficiency of his mechanics to keep the acceleration of the bat-head in a flat plane in sync with shoulder rotation. I would have to study a video of his swing to determine cause and remedy.

Jack Mankin