Best Hitting Tip

Swingbuster makes a good point.

A lot of times kids keep too much weight back in the stride and then either never get off the back side or shift the weight back to front/lunge.Either way coiling and rotation are suboptimal.

The commonest thing when you stay back too much is to lose the pinch in the front waist/cok of the hips by reaching out with lead leg.In this case you would get to the toe touch position and Not be ready to rebound.

Another way to describe this is that the center of gravity needs to continue somewhat forward and down until the front heel drops to trigger unloading/uncoiling.

The traditional cues include "sit to hit".Don't get out of the chair/stop sitting too early.

Tom and Swingbuster
I always read with interest any post on this subject. The problem of improper weight distibution at key points during the "hitting process" has always been of special interest to me. In order to help hitters learn to identify and then reproduce desired weight distributions between their feet at the end of the loading process, stride or other points during the "swing" I developed and started using a weight distribution platform in my instruction. For instance when helping a hitter learn to load with a short stride to a 60%-40% (back-front)weight distribution he/she takes predetermined foot positions on the platform. If at the end of loading process the 40% values is exceeded with the stride foot then the platforms tilt thus providing a very important form of feedback to the hitter. With this form of feedback hitters normally learn very quickly how to achieve the weight distribution results they desire. Another form of feedback I have incorporated in the system is a buzzer.

jimo

jimo-

I like to try to keep the weight on the inside of the back foot,although this is not absolutely necessary,it just seems to simplify things and encourage coiling as opposed to swaying.

I also like to use Epstein's torque and numbers drills/descriptions-"wind the rubber band as you stride to balance at toe touch with the weight slightly forward and the front foot open at 45 degrees"

Theoretically,here are some things to test.

Overall the major swing phases(same as throwing up to a point) are:
1-hip cok
2- hand cok
3-coil/rotate into toe touch (wind rubber band,see above)
4-stretch
5-swing

I believe that Bobby Jones description of the weight shift/body coil sequence also applies to golf(Jones describes this as a way to cure the "reverse pivot" which would be similar to teaching a hitter how to "get off the backside")

Jones found that the weight had to be shifting forward BEFORE the hips began to turn open for good coiling/uncoiling/rotation.

Q:When do the hips turn open in hitting ?

A:hips begin to turn open in phase 3 when you start winding the rubber band.

So,if you have shifted weight back,it needs to start forward (center of gravity forward on line toward pitcher) BEFORE the back elbow starts down to the slot which is synchronized with when the lead leg begins to turn open.Another sign of this phase can be seen on video as the back foot reactively turns back while the stride foot is still in the air-see side view of Glauss or Lugo at youthbaseball clips for example,Nomar shows it often too).


Q:how is weight shift used/harnessed?

A:forward weight shift is blocked during the phase4-stretch of the swing,the part Epstein describes nicely as "drop and tilt".Prior to this,the body shifts the weight forward and coils the body and touches the front toe,then at the right time,the front heel is dropped and the weight shift is blocked with the front foot.This blocking then boosts hip turn to its max velocity,transforms linear momentum into rotational momentum and creates the maximum/last quick bit of coiling(xfactor stretch) of the body which will then unload in the swing phase.

At this time,the center of gravity will need to be somewhere between about the midpoint between the feet (base-where the back foot was and where the front foot comes down) and still behind the weight bearing portion of the front foot.Further forward than this and you are stuck out front,unable to get an adequate stretch/coil.

The control of weight shift timing is via the flex of the back leg/how you "sit on the back leg" as described by Epstein.

I am not used to the 40% measurement.How does this fit with the above description in your opinion ?

See JD Drew closely

http://flippen.videos.home.comcast.net/JDDrew2004ATL_HomeRunRF01.mp4

As he loads his lower body, he never really lets the weight get to the little toe side of the rear foot( as Tom recommends correctly) but he does sway back loading the rear foot heavier.
Interestingly, as he strides forward, he lets the front leg move on its own to a forward landing position. The front foot is moving out faster than his head /trunk is moving to get to the landing to capture some stride momentum to help uncock his hips. Gwynn said " when I stride to hit, my front foot moves on it's own".
Drew seems to exhibit some of both worlds.... a linear move; front foot moving independent of the body. He converts this momentum to rotation beautifully IMO

Tom, before I answer you let me say that I have enjoyed your many post on the various baseball sites I read.

About the 40% figure - One approach to loading that I teach has the hitter starting at a 50-50 weight distribution between the feet and loading(including steps 1-4 that you describe)while taking a short stide in reaching a 60-40(b-f) weight distribution at the end of the loading phase. Ideally, in order to more efficiently used stored energy, the time between reaching stride foot plant and initiation of hip rotation is minimal. This loading sequence is really a timing mechanism that ideally flows into the hip-upper boby rotation sequence. The rotation of the hips-inward rotation of back leg is initiated with a slight lateral drift in the hips. This slight lateral hip movementnt, back to a 50-50 weight distribution is into a firm front side. I likewise stress keeping body weight focused on the inside of the back foot. With the weight focused on the inside of the back foot the slight lateral hip shift assist the inward movement of the back knee by shifting weight away from its initial point of focus. I am aware that many ML hitters are at a 50-50 point in weight distribution at the end of the stride but I also see a number of ML hitters that use a slight lateral hip movement after stride foot plant in order to reach the 50-50 distribution. Apart from other considerations I have found that most kids can reproduce this timing sequence and even if they arive a bit early with foot plant relative to ball location can still execute a properly timed swing - most likely with less bat speed.

jimo

Best hitting tip: It's hard to beat "swing at strikes".

It's a tip that gets more important as the level of competition increases.

See the ball. Hit it.

Sit on the fastball.

Throw the bat.

Scout..not bad..

maybe even sit on the fastball one ball outside of center and down because the perfect pitch may be a season away.

Sit on the fastball, because there are not any pitchers who can throw a good breaking ball for three called strikes.Not even in the big leagues.If you start waving at first pitch breaking balls, your time in baseball will be limited.

If you don't learn to swing at strikes your career will be done even sooner.

We were having a little scrimmage with our LL all-star team and one of my coaches was calling the pitches and doing everything he could to get my son out. Nobody else saw more than a curve per at bat.

1st at bat took a curve for a strike, got hit by a curve.

2nd at bat 2 curves for strikes and two fastballs out of the zone, then grounded weakly to first moving runner from second to third off a curve.

3rd at bat mix of curves and fastballs out of the zone and then a high fastball on 2-2. Yard.

4th at bat - all curves struck out on curve sweeping out of zone, he was looking to hit a fastball to right and said he just got beat by too good of a pitch.

Pretty obvious he was sitting on the fastball. How many people wouldn't take those results for a day?

Aaron said that he would pick the pitch he thought he was most likely to get and just wait until he got it. I'm guessing the pitch he picked was a fastball more often than not.

quote:

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Sit on the fastball

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Once again our man bbscout cuts to the chase with the definitive answer.
I tell every High School player I talk to that they can raise their BA 100 points by simply spitting on offspeed pitches with less than 2 strikes.
With younger kids, the effect is even more pronounced.

I'll add a couple of things....

At 9u start learning the strike zone. This is frustrating since at this age so many umpires call strikes on balls way above the zone. It forces kids to swing their bats and keep the game moving but it also stops them learning the strike zone.

At 12U start learning pitch recognition!!! Lots of drills for this. How to lay of the curve ball, when to expect it, then how to hit it.

Learn to work the count. High batting averages abolutely follw those kids (like stink on doo doo) who swing on 3-1 and 2-0 counts.

Learn to hit the knee high pitch on the outside corner. Almost all pitchers are trying to throw fast balls there. This is the best "dead red" that you can train into a kid.

By the time your kid is a freshman he will have, to varying degrees, developed the skills of a decent number 3 hitter.

Wheelhouse writes:
Learn to hit the knee high pitch on the outside corner. Almost all pitchers are trying to throw fast balls there. This is the best "dead red" that you can train into a kid.

Wheelhouse...thats what I,m saying too. What is the pitch that pitchers try to throw? If your laying off CB than sit on that pitch. It works and it is simple.

"I also see a number of ML hitters that use a slight lateral hip movement after stride foot plant"

Always after? Or does the lateral hip movement that happens after foot plant happen at that moment because he reached out with the foot and he needs to get back to a good position?http://www.youthbaseballcoaching.com/mpg/bonds600.mpeg

"in order to reach the 50-50 distribution."

If it's about getting to a static measurable weight distribution, why do we see hitters come up or even off their back toe? How would you do this from a static weight distribution?

"Gwynn said " when I stride to hit, my front foot moves on it's own"."

Is he trying to say it moves independent of everything else including his hips/center or is he saying the hips/center/middle carries the front foot out independent of the upper torso?

http://www.youthbaseballcoaching.com/mpg/thomas_frank.mpeg

Hi Mark H.

It’s interesting that you reference T. Gwynn and F. Thomas. While their credentials speak for themselves, they exhibit swing mechanics that very few other mlb hitters use.

Compared to most other mlb hitters, they have more weight out front. Gwynn used way more hands and wrist than most. Frank Thomas has so much weigh over his front foot that he needs to release his backside to maintain some balance.

Many hitters come up or off their back foot because of the momentum of the bat while they are completing their swing. Some times it is a way to adjust timing when they need to slow down their approach to an off speed offering.

Speaking of Frank. I always wondered how many home runs he would have hit if his swing mechanics were more similar to a McGuire, Sosa, Griffey or Bonds.

Frank is just so strong that he dont need perfect hitting mechanics. Other players need to get everything they can outta there swing to hit the ball outta the park, not big Frank. Balls he hits bad go out.

I just wanted to throw this in knowing that it will be torn to pieces. I was talking to Jim Edmonds a couple of years back (long story on how I got to talk to him.) I asked him what was the difference when he began to hit the ball in St. Louis as opposed to his last year with the Angels. He said, "Hands first! Hands last!" This really caught me off guard. I had never heard anyone say "hands first!" He was hitting at the time off of a Tee. He said that while everyone preaches hands last, he needed a way to get his hands in position to "be last." This also caught me off guard. Then he told me that he rotates his upper body as a unit including the hands by about an inch max. Kind of a coil movement but only slight. Then he said his hands were then ready to "be last." We have taught this to our kids ever since. Our school has a great reputation for hitting and so, it must work. I hope I did a good enough job of explaining this. (Soooo, you realize that while he was saying hands first, it was really the whole upper body.)

Not sure this is always the best tip at all age levels, but I think it is for H.S. age: learn to drive the ball the opposite way.
In H.S. the majority of pitchers throw everything away - either because they are scared to hit someone or because they can't throw the good 2seam or backdoor deuce. Learning to DRIVE and not SLAP the ball to the opposite field is a key to hitting consistently.

Mr Dave Garcia Sr. (5 decades in the Major Leagues) has a very simple philosophy "never let a fastball strike go by". Pretty simple and affective I might add.

Plainly put? "Sit on the fastball"

He is a smart guy.

Since posting my last post on this subject, we (my staff) have sat around and watched hours of our hitters and of the Cardinals. It appears to us that that "upper body rotation" that Edmonds was describing was really keyed by a "knee tuck" prior to the swing. This "knee tuck" is his timing device.

Back to the subject. The best hitting tip depends upon the hitter. We believe in having a plan for each at bat but we practice just about ever scenerio that they can encounter to enable them to be successful. So, I would like to add, "Have a Plan."

Coach
Do you have any video of your guys that you could post on here or somewhere else to get a look at? I would like to compare the knee tuck of Edmonds to the swing of JD Drew, The youngest Drew had a great swing at the age of 15 it is unbelivable, we could not get that kid out for anything, I personally like the wider stance, minimal stride for the kids with the quicker hands I feel that this keeps them better balanced and ready to attack. How much video work do you do with your hitters?

When in a swing do the hands get flat (palm up palm down)?

Coach B25...Not doubting what your seeing about Edmonds but "hands first;hands last" isn't bad. I think the hands cocking starts the process or the sequence of events that culminates in the hands releasing for many people.

While we know we do much in between I do not think scap load, knee tuck, hip **** or many other cues work as well as the hand feedback neurologically.

Cocking the hands can prime the swing for many players. Teaching hitting is so hard because mentioning the hands can be the worst thing you can say to some players and the correct hand feel and cues can help some players.

A friend of Don Mattingly once said that Mattingly said "its in the hands". I think they mean the feel, rhythm, or tempo but we all know the power is elsewhere.

Swingbuster, we agree on a lot of things including everything you've mentioned about the hands. We also agree that when coaching hands, you have to be careful. Video is great for this. Otherwise, you just might create as many problems as problems you've corrected. Knight's Baseball, I wish I could share the video of our hitters. I really like what they do and they work so hard. However, as you probably know, you can't do that without expressed written permission form the kid's parents. Other than posting pictures for our website, I don't have that permission. This is our school's policy due to liability.

BTW, we do coach hands but most can recall several different threads where ... & ... questioned all of this and I just won't argue that with anyone anymore. BTW, your device is perfect for this conversation. Simply one of the best purchases I've/we've ever made. One other suggestion since we're on the subject of hands and since Teacherman posed the question of fingertips up, to best see this, in my opinion, take a Tee (We prefer the Schutt Tee for this.) and set it up in your cage. Have a target, say a tall cone with a baseball on it, down at the other end of the cage. Have the hitters work on their swing with the concept of driving the ball while also knocking that ball off of that Tee. I think you might just like this drill and what it shows. Teacherman, do you agree that this is a great way to see the answer to your question? Oh, also, the type of Tee is important. Some Tees, in my opinion are terrible for hitting fundamentals. JMHO!

But be ready for the deuce!

One can sit on the fastball and still be ready for the deuce

At the HS level always look fatsball because most HS curves are weak

At the College Level the hitter has to take it up a notch--he will see the slider, curve and change up-- the kids who hit for high average adjust the others don't

Happy New Year

Tip from D-1 Hitting Presentation.....intertesting comment You have to get your feet out of the way and clear your hip before you can hit.....a cue to get started early and get your foot down and hips working,