Posted by: Joe A. () on Mon May 6 05:16:02 2002

Thanks guys for the info. I am popping up pitches down the middle of the plate so it's really not a bad pitch selection. However, yesterday when i was doing tee drills i noticed i hit off my back foot with a mojority of the weight among impact which may be taking my shoulder up? Are there any suggestions on how i should keep my weight balanced? I went through clinics over the winter, usually playing year round and the main idea was to stay wide and keep a quick swing which is generally a good thing. But until recently I am having major "loop swing" problems =(
>
> Joe A
>
> Have you ever seen Barry Bonds swing? Tell me dropping the shoulder is always wrong. I guess we could be talking to what degree to you lower the shoulder but the vast majority of hitters in the bigs do not have level shoulders when they swing. Many start level, very few are level at contact. Of course no one knows hitting like you.


It is obvious to people who know hitting that there is about a 5 or 10 degree angle of the shoulders during the swing. So I dont get a clarifying comment from another "expert" I will say that this means the back shoulder drops so it is lower then the front shoulder. This is not a problem so we don't discuss it nor did I think it had to be pointed out.

The problem is when the batter is droping to a greater angle. I have seen 35, 40 and in some cases 45 degree angle. While it is hard to be exact from live action or tapes, the still pictures of people who drop their shoulders can be measured and are around that 40 degree angle.

So, when talking to knowledgable people, its understood that this 5 to 10 degree angle is not the problem. I assumed a cerntain level of understanding by those who try to give assistance and, in the interest of brevity, wouldn't have to review and discuss what should be obvious to knowledgabe people. I guess I was wrong.

Joe A.