Posted by: Jerry 22o hitter () on Sun Jan 2 18:32:09 2011

>> I'm back on an amateur wood bat team after years of soft toss homerun contests with my friends and I have seemed to pick up some bad habits along the way. Although I am hitting well and I dont seem to have a problem catching up to anyone's fastballs (some guys throwing mid-upper 80s). But after looking at some video of myself I have noticed the following things:

My stride is somewhat of a 6 inch leg kick. I have always been under the assumption that the stride was a mechanism to shift your weight to your back foot. So I think subconsciously I have a bigger "leg kick" to generate that power. But the more I read about the mechanics of a swing, it seems the stride is just a timing mechanism and at "toe touch" is when you coil.

I have also noticed that my hands are starting high, and they are inching down below my shoulders, which I guess is considered a "hitch." I noticed the 1st game, I was popping alot up, but since then I have been hitting solid. But I still notice my hands are dropping.

I would really like to know certain drills that will help to reduce my stride and still generate power and help from dropping my hands.

Like I said I seem to making contact, but I feel like I have lost my power over the years and I believe it stems from the bad habits I have picked

Im really trying to grasp the concept of the Rotational mechanics. I feel like my swing is flawed and I was not taught properly. As much as I read and watch, I cannot seem to pinpoint certain flaws that a hitter may be showing or flaws that i am displaying on my own. I just dont feel as fluid and smooth as some of these swings i have seen.<<

Hi flipin mad
When I played I also dropped my hands .it was one of the many problems I had hitting. What I did was just before the stride. I would shift the weight back to the rear foot. bring the hands, slightly back and inward just behind the rear shoulder. cock the hips, and front shoulder inward as I took a stride.this I think is pretty correct .what I some times did wrong, was collapse the back kneee. when
I would load back, just before the stride.
Collasping the back knee in the load can shift the weight back beyond the rear leg. causing the rear shoulder and the hands to drop.so that might be some thing to look into. To learn rotational hitting I found the archives and the swing mechanics on this web site very helpful. good luck