Posted by: Teacherman () on Thu Oct 31 08:11:42 2002

Hi folks,
> >
> > I've posted many times on eTeamz about my 8-yr old son's swing. Specifically, he seems to hit a brick wall at impact.
> >
> > I've received lots of good feedback, albeit sometimes confusing (often due to rotational vs. linear neverending debate).
> >
> > However, the latest advice I'm receiving is that my son is starting his swing w/ his shoulders instead of his hips. If this is true, what drills can I have him do to overcome this?
> >
> > He makes decent contact for his age/size and has very good hand/eye coordination. But if he can't drive through the ball, he'll miss a lot of opportunity, IMO.
> >
> > So... open-ended request for your critique of what he should change? (call me an information glutton) :)
> >
> > I'm already planning to keep working on:
> > - lower his hands in his stance (they're lower than they used to be, but still working on it)
> > - take a more pronounced inward turn (feel like he's gathering power, i.e. like he's readying a punch)
> > - keep his stride short (he drifts as he tires). On this particular day (Sunday), he had hit about 50 balls.
> > - follow-through all the way, w/o falling back (notice his back foot fall back towards heel and the bat lose its path after impact)
> >
> > Thanks in advance,
> > Sandman
> >
> > Here's the link to a 2.5mb QuickTime video:
> > http://members.cox.net/ksanda/Kevin%20-%207%20swings%20(reduced%20size).mov
> >
> > P.S.
> > We had our machine set at 42mph, as we're not working on timing, but mechanics. Besides, most kids in his Minor league division only pitch in the mid-40s. Next spring, we'll work him up to timing 50mph or so. Remember, he just turned 8 in July. ;-)
> Hey Sandman
> looking at your sons swing frame by frame it looks like he is using his arms to swing the bat which is causing a straight hand path and a casting swing. Make sure his lead arm stays tucked to his chest throughout the swing, and use your shoulders to swing the bat instead of your arms, so that he will get all of his body's rotational energy into the swing. It will take a while to get used to it, but it is a must.
> The Hitman

Sandman

Hitman is absolutely right. Swing is all arms and disconnected from the bodies rotation. Why? Because the path his hand have to go to get to the ball is different than the path his shoulder rotation will take. The plane of his shoulder rotation is different than the plane necessary to get to the ball. Therefore he has to disconnect to get to the ball. If you have any clips of good mlb players you'll notice that their rear shoulders lower as they swing. They have established an axis to rotate around and usually it is tilted either toward the opposing batters box or back toward the catcher or a little of both. When they swing they maintain their axis and they keep the axis as narrow as possible for maximum speed. Since this axis has a tilt you'll see the rear shoulder dipping. One of the things this does is it keeps the hand path in the hit zone much longer. Your sons shoulders are almost always level throughout the swing. Think about it. If you are upright with level shoulders and your shoulders rotate around the spine, where do the hands go? They immediately leave the hit zone and go toward the third baseman (right handed batter). Where is the ball? It is over the plate. You can't hit it while connected. You have to disconnect the arms from the rotating torso and cast the hands to the ball. What's left? Arms only. Maybe a lot of contact but no power. And, the timing is difficult, so often times it looks as if they are slowing their bat down (hitting a brick wall, in your words) in order to hit the ball. If you add tilt to his posture and teach him to rotate around his spine you'll find he can drive the ball because he doesn't have to disconnect and slow down to keep the hands on the proper plane of the pitch. He can cut loose and the hands will still be in the hit zone. This may sound like an upper cut swing but we need to swing up to hit a pitch that is coming down and all pitches come down. Level swings and downward swings are formulas for failure. If we swing slightly up at a pitch that is coming down, we have a built in timing error mechanism. The bat will stay on the plane of the pitch for up to 2 feet of distance. If we are swinging level or down at a pitch that is coming down there is a one ball width spot where they intersect meaning your timing must be perfect.

Teacherman