Posted by: BHL (Knight1285@aol.com) on Thu Apr 19 02:46:18 2007

> >>> My son Sam has too much of an uppercut (between 30 and 50 degrees upward in games). His back shoulder drops while his front shoulder rises, and his bat head falls way out of line with his front arm. I've tried to get him to swing more downward but he has a hard time maintaing good rotational mechanics while swinging downward. Any drills or suggestions? <<<
>
> Hi Bob
>
> Having an uppercut that takes the bat-head below the plane of the lead-arm at the lag position produces inconsistent contact. However, promoting swing mechanics that causes the batter to “swing down at the ball” (like the two-tee drill) produces similar results. I suggest working on mechanics that produce the most productive swing plane (10 to 15 degrees up-slope in the contact zone).
>
> Below is a post from the Archives that addresses this topic.
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> Jack Mankin
> ##
>
> Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Fri Jan 18 00:32:08 2002
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> >>> My son has developed a nice rotational swing, but I'm noticing a bit too much of an uppercut in his swing, and its a bit loopy. His hands seem to be going a bit low, and his back shoulder is dropping fairly far. He tends to hit the bottom of the ball too often, and looks like a few pop flies are in his future if we don't make some changes. Any advice on what the problem might be and how to work it out of his swing? <<<
>
> Hi Dan
>
> Without actually seeing your son's swing the mechanical problems I describe and the remedy is problematic at best. But, I have performed a number of swing reviews where the batter has problems very similar to what you have described. --- A looping swing is usually accompanied with a collapsing backside - back-shoulder and hands lowering too much and too early in the swing. You might also notice the lead-leg straightens too soon causing too much weight on the back-leg. It is also common to see the back-elbow slide inward toward the bellybutton (especially on inside pitches).
>
> These problems can occur with a batter who relies too heavily on the back-arm. In order to get the top-hand into a strong driving position, the batter lowers the forearm (and hand) to horizontal much too early. This results in the backside breaking down. He would look similar to a boxer who has lowered his shoulder and arm and is ready to deliver a blow to an opponent's mid-section. His thoughts are mainly centered on using the back-side and one hand.
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> If we can encourage the batter to make better use of the lead-side as he initiates the swing - the spine will stay straighter - the shoulders will rotate in a more correct plane - he will also make better use of the lead-leg and have better weight distribution. --- The drill I would suggest works best when using a heavy bag. The batter can then concentrate solely on the mechanics of the drill - not the ball.
>
> In the launch position, have your son start with his back-elbow down at his side - the back-forearm is vertical with the hand at the shoulder. The lead-arm is across the chest without any looseness (good linkage from shoulder to bat) As the swing (loose, smooth and easy, ever accelerating) is initiated and shoulder rotation starts, the back-arm should remain vertical with the hand staying at the shoulder. The rotation of the lead-shoulder (through the lead-arm and hand) will apply a pulling force on the knob end of the bat. The pulling on the knob, as the top-hand remains fixed at the shoulder, will accelerate the bat-head around toward the catcher. As the swing proceeds, the back-forearm will start lowering toward horizontal, but the batter should still be thinking "have my lead-shoulder pulling back toward the catcher at contact."
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> PS: Once he is performing good bottom-hand-torque, he can start raising the back-elbow for top-hand-torque (if he feels he needs to at this age).
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> Dan, I hope I described the drill well enough to be of help. But as I said earlier, without actually seeing your son's swing, it is just my best guess.
>
> Jack Mankin

Hi Bob and Jack,

You are correct in identifying that Bob's son has too much of an uppercut; however, I do not believe Bob's suggestion of swinging down or your advice or discouraging back elbow slide will do any appreciable good for this youthful fellow. Bob, swinging up too much might create too many pop flies and situations where your son swings late on the ball, but swinging down will predispose your son's weight to move forward, thereby creating lunging, weakly tapped ground balls, and a plethora of strikeouts. Have your son practice putting more weight on the front foot before the front heel drops, and you should see this problem begin to vanish.

Jack, your proposal of a sweeping swing will also create problems sine, although this sort of stroke creates maximum batspeed, this type of stroke allows the ball to be hit too far from the sweetspot most of the time, which negates the advantages of using this approach. Yes, the elbow slide creates a curvilinear swing, but, since the bat is turning with the body, you will not get "the goat on the rope effect. In fact, leading with the rear elbow will cause the hands to gyrate around a point, and then fire the moment the hips discontinue rotating. The power loss will only be slight, but the advantage of this situation is that it affords one consistent power, rather than occassional power.

These thoughts, though, are just my view on the controversial topic of hitting. Feel free to implement them, disregard them, or use them piecemeal.

Good luck to both of you,
BHL