Posted by: Coach C () on Sat Jun 22 22:58:20 2002

Softball creates all kinds of timing problems for baseball players. Based on your past history in baseball I suspect you are reaching for the ball with your hands and likely hitting the ball to far out front. Leverage/Rotation is most diffucult when the hands get ahead of the body before contact. You need to reprogram your swing to hit the ball deeper in the strike-zone. I don't think this can be taught with live hitting. You need to work with a tee or heavy bag and line the contact point with the center of the body. Do this repeatedly and you'll begin to understand the leverage the body must have to create power. Golf teaches you to hit the ball in the middle of your stance.......the leverage/rotational principles in baseball are the same, so tee the baseball up in the middle of your stance. When you work off a tee, try to always drive the ball to the opposite field, this will help you to keep the arc of your bat tighter to the body. The last thing you want is to cast your hands and come around the ball. Coming around the ball means you were fooled. I think the slow-pitch softball has got you anxious and repeatedly fooled into thinking you have to hit the ball much sooner than you really need to. I hope this helps. If you need some more drills on this very subject let me know. Good Luck