Posted by: Frank Jessup () on Wed Sep 4 05:52:25 2002

f j
> >
> > you could be right.any ides on fixing this?a buddy told me he thought my hips were flying open,or so he thought how can i retrain myself to get 2 indepent motions going.sometimes when i try to slow myself down i do it properly,but when i get too quick i do as you say. any ideas
>

To Whom,
>
> Again, without seeing your swing I can only guess, but I will throw some ideas out based on what I have seen other hitters do..
>
> 1. If you are picking the ball up late you may be making a late lunge at it. This will be a wild and jerky swing with a ton of stuff going wrong. It will have no tempo. Only you can decide if this is happening. Check it.
>
> 2. You may be casting. This happens because the back upper arm is not against the side when the swing starts moving forward, hips first. This is difficult to see with the naked eye. You will need a tape in slow motion.
>
> 3. There are many hitters who THINK they start their swing with their hips first but they are really doing the whole torso at one time. Try some practice swings and force yourself to turn your hips first. Remember at the start of the swing the plane of your hips must be more toward the field then the plane of your shoulders. Later the shoulders catch up and pass the hips but in the beginning its hips more the shoulders. Hopefully you will be able to "feel" if this is your normal swing.

4. Tempo is the key to power and control. It keeps the parts of the body in sync during the swing. Work on tempo. Try swinging to the beat of a song in your head or play a song with a smooth beat. Not to slow not too fast. Swing to this beat. Once you internalize the beat you will find that if you swing hard, controlled by the hips, the rest of the body will follow with the same rhythm.

Hope this helps. Let me know

F. J.