Posted by: friendly instructor () on Sat Mar 3 21:25:20 2007

> How can I prevent my arms from pulling through the swing too early? Ive compared my swing to pujols' just for the sake of comparing it to an elite hitter. I know some of the main problems in my swing...
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4MHdg5JyBE
>
> 1 I am counter rotating too much at the begginning of the swing
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> 2 I believe im keeping too much weight on my back leg until I begin to rotate
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> 3 I dont think Im initiating my swing the correct way. I dont know if should start from the middle then the shoulders or what. I just seem to pull my hands to the ball then rotate.
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> 4 Im rolling over with my wrists
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> 5 I hitting the ball waaaay too far out in front!
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> Thats one I really need to work on....hitting the ball closer to my body like pujols does in the video...which in the video he is hitting a fastball to center for a hr.
>
> Anything info would be GREATLY appreciated.
> I have very good bat speed I just want to be more efficient



first of all your counter rotation may not be to big. The reason for the pendulum "counter rotation" is timing which is the part of the swing which very few coaches teach. The same goes for your second point. Both point one and two are timing questions not swing questions so dont worry about them. You are dead on with point 3. You should always think of your swing from the bottom up. feet, hips, and then hands. You are breaking what is called the stretch position. If you are in this position you will not be able to spin your hips without spinning your upper body. You should be in this position as soon as you land when you take the step with your front foot. You should feel stretched in your upper left thigh and the left side of your back becaue your hips are starting to rotate while your shoulders are turned in. It is an awkward move in any sport but every hitter who hit 500 or more homeruns got to this position.
The reason you are rolling over is because you are cutting off your hip rotation. If your dont rotate enough your hands can not get to the correct position to hit the ball and still be in the "unbroken" or unrolled position. It would also be better if as you start to rotate your upper body will lean back more and your head should end up more over your back knee.
I do not believe you are hitting the ball to far in front. Pujols' video has a slight deception to it. The width of his stance is so wide that it looks like he is hitting the ball closer to his body. I think your stide length is actually much better than alberts. As scary as it his I believe alberts could be a better hitter than what he is with a few minor adjustments. As a reference point no ball should purposely hit a ball any deeper than your left heel (which is a low and outside pitch). The higher the pitch and more inside it is the further out in front your contact point should be

Now I now this is alot of information and it may overwhelm you but I could prove all of these moves to you if I had time. I usually do not go on this site but if you want to talk about it more you can instant message me on AOL at sportsman0913