Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Fri May 19 23:52:18 2000

>>>my sons back foot(he is a right handed batter)goes almost all the way aroung when he swings causing his back leg to collapse. i was wondering what was causing him to lose power a swing with a uppercut. i found the reason was his pivot foot going almost all the way aroung till his back leg collapsed. can you suggest any drills he can do to correct this bad habit.<<<

Hi jb

If I understand your son’s problem correctly, uppercut and back leg collapsing, he relies to heavily on the back arm to swing the bat. He drops the back arm much to early and rotates around his back hip causing the back leg to collapse. He should rotate around his spine and not open up the front side just to allow the top hand to drive forward. With good mechanics, the rotation of the shoulders will cause the lead arm to pull the hands in a higher and tighter arc. With both hands applying forces to accelerate the bat, there are fewer tendencies for the back hand to drop into a driving position prematurely.

You can try having him practice these mechanics while setting in a swivel chair. This will allow him to feel rotation around the center of his body instead of the back hip. I have found it more productive to have the batter hit a bag when swinging from a chair. --- Fill a duffel (or clothes) bag with sawdust or rags.

Jack Mankin