Posted by: Mike M (moatm@sharpsec.com) on Mon Aug 27 14:04:23 2001

>>> I recently purchased your video and after repetitive daily drills, my 11 year old daughter has drastically increased her bat speed and improved her mechanics compared to her old "armsy" swing. Yesterday, I video taped her hitting pitches from a batting machine with her new rotational swing and she was driving the ball very well, with authority. When I video tape her swing during her daily drills, she keeps her weight back and has a "perfect swing" However, after watching her slow-motion swing yesterday vs. "live" pitching, I noticed that she still lunges slightly, especially on fast pitching. She is lunging less than she did with her old swing but I'm wondering if there's anything I can do to prevent her slight lunging problem.
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> Just a note, my daughter had the highest average and best power numbers during her 11-12 yr old season. I incorporated these changes in her swing to bring her to the next level. After seeing the results of her new swing during batting practices, it looks like it will. Just help me with this lunging thing.
> Thanks >>>
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> Hi Mike M,
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> First, I wish to apologize for any insult you received to your integrity for posting on the board. Steps have been taken to see that this person is removed from this board.
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> I have had good success overcoming a lunging problem with the heavy bag drills as shown in the video. Having the batter practice obtaining a good power position at contact will usually solve the problem. At contact, the lead leg should have fully rotated and extended with axis of the body leaning slightly away from the pitcher. To accomplish this, I have the batter focus their attention on rotating the shoulders till the lead-shoulder is pulling back toward the catcher as the bat makes contact with bag. Concentrating on lead-shoulder pull causes the batter to focus on rotation rather than forward body movement during the swing.
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> Once you get the desired results on the bag, have her practice these mechanics with soft-toss. The tosses should come from the front (from the pitcher’s mound) and not tossed to her from the side. From the side angle, the balls are normally tossed to far out in front of the batter and can cause early arm extension and encourage the body to lean forward. --- If she starts leaning forward again, go back to bag. With a few sessions she should be able to work her way to live pitching without lunging.
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> Jack Mankin

Thanks Jack,

I was contemplating having her overexagerate the bending of her back knee to keep her weight back, but I'll hold off on that. Even though she is lunging slightly she still hits the ball very hard but I'm thinking long-term when she starts seeing off-speed stuff.

Mike
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