Posted by: chris () on Tue Apr 16 14:30:07 2002

>>>I just wanted to know if anyone has any good drills or tips to help players from dropping their top hand below their bottom hand when swinging.this seems to cause endless popups or dribbling ground balls.
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> > > thanks
> > I'm not clear on any drills but I really emphasize that the bat head stays above the hands all the way until contact at which point hands and bat head should be even, parallel with the ground. With back of top hand facing down to the ground and the back of bottom hand facing up. I've seen a dramatic improvement in my son once he started to do this. Line drives, line drives, line drives.
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> Folks
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> No hitter of any consequence hits as described in the previous passage. More like outs, outs, outs.
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> Melvin <<<
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> Hi All
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> I would have to agree with Melvin. --- At contact, the hands are normally about belt high. If the bat-head is around knee high, it should be obvious the bat is angling downward (30 to 45 degrees). This means the bat-head is around 12 to 18 inches lower than the hands on low pitches. If the bat-head were up at the hands level (or parallel to the ground), the batter would miss the ball by a foot.
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> Dan, a hitter may have a problem of dropping their top hand too soon, but the top-hand must be below the bottom-hand at contact for pitches below the belt. Dropping the top-hand too soon is usually an indication of being too top-hand dominant. Have the batter practice keeping the back-forearm in a more vertical position longer (not dropping to horizontal too early), and rely more on the lead shoulder and arm (bottom-hand-torque) as he initiates the swing.
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> Jack Mankin
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> Jack,
I think you hit the key on the bat above hands. This was always my problem with it the low pitch could not be hit unless you sat down.Also if you swing down wouldn't the correct follow through be hitting the ground in front of the plate?Obviously silly but wouldn't it be correct?