Posted by: rql (RLOWERY13@tampabay.rr.com) on Tue Jun 12 15:36:01 2007

> > What common mechanical flaws cause a hitter to foul balls straight back? My son is slumping a bit and fouling balls straight back, some a long distance.
>
> Sounds obvious, but he's swinging underneath the ball. Make sure he's not golfing it 1st. If his swing looks ok, make sure he's not pulling his head during the swing. Having him practice hitting a golf ball sized wiffle ball until he hits it squarely consistently may cure the problem and will force him to keep his head down throughout the swing.
.If the ball is making contact with the sweet spot on the balland it is going straight back then he is timed well for a ball up the middle and the fat part of the bat,his problem is hand eye coordination to center the ball which is really a flaw of all hitters at all levels.Lots of good mechanics but balls hit 380 in the gap flyballs get caught on the warning track but have enough batspeed for a homerun.The reason is this is the hardest thing in hitting to do with batspeed.When I found myself fouling them straight back I used a que to help me raise my bat level on a given pitch.I found that saying to myself cover the ball worked better than hit the top of the ball.Since hitting it straight back against the scren means you are hardly touching the bottom of the ball there is a need to shift the tilt of body a little more upright to make that big of an adjustment.These adjustments are usually done from pitch to pitch as you evaluate the last swing,but getting more on top of the ball is the goal you need to help you find center.