quote:Originally posted by infielddad:
I continue to have trouble visualizing a hitter dropping his back shoulder, hitting the ball with the bat on a slight incline, and being able to apply backspin, which is so critical in ball flight.
From the sources of hitting I consider pretty reliable, my understanding is that keeping the back shoulder higher, starting with the hands high, staying inside the ball and throwing your hands directly to the ball were/are critical to driving the ball, creating back spin, and avoiding top spin.
Wow..
How do you keep the back shoulder "higher"? Higher than what? The front shoulder? You'd be swinging straight down.
"throwing the hands" ?
"creating back spin" ?
It's not hard really...at least to visualize it.
Look / watch the best hitters in the MLB. Try to do what they do, how they do it.
Swing level to the shoulders. Keep the back elbow close to the body on the swing. Use the core muscles to initiate and drive the swing.
Watch the ground balls stop and the line drives start.