Posted by: The Hitting Guru () on Sat Dec 30 11:08:03 2006

Sandman. In observing your kid's swing, I would not say he has a mechanical flaw. It actually appears that he is cutting the ball or slicing the bottom half of the ball with a level cut. And since, theoretically the fastest way from here to there is a straight line, he has a leg up on the competition with regard to hitting the high pitch. As such his bat is in a direct line with the pitch from start to finish as observed in his clip.

And since it is for the most part easier to go down than it is to go up with the bat, the fact that your kid starts with his hands high further increases his chances to hit high pitches. Because a lot of hitters have a slight hesitation when hitting pitches up in the strike zone. By this I mean that they wait for an instant for the ball to come down into the hitting area before they make a judgment to swing at the pitch. This hesitation usually proves costly for most hitters who try to swing at pitches up and out of the strike zone.

I also noticed in the clip that he is using a version of the fence drill. By that, he is alowing his hips to clear and is bringing the knob to the ball and pulling the head of the bat through the zone in an effort to hit through the ball. Your kid has good instincts.