Posted by: James () on Wed Apr 26 15:28:25 2000

My nine year old seems to be hitting the ball with
> backsping. He is excellent at making contact, but I was wondering if this is a bad thing which
> needs to be corrected. If this needs to be corrected, what are the steps I take to do so?

Frank.....backspin is the ideal spin for the ball.....it helps the ball to carry...and it is a sighn of good extension and extending with flat hands. Which is intern a sighn of a good Kinetic hitting chain (a good swing) If the ball is top spinning (spinnig away from the hitter) to your sons pull side, or he is having trouble hitting the ball the opposite way with backspin he may be cutting his swing off too soon, he may be overrotating and forcing the bat head out too soon with his body, and then having to roll over his wrists to make contact. These are sighns that he has not let the energy transfer through his body and into his bat....instead he has forced the bat into the hitting zone without the energy needed to properly accelerate it. A proper kinetic chain will ensure that the bat stays inside the path of the incoming ball until the energy reaches the hands and then the bat hits the ball. That usually results in good extension and backspin. good luck