HOW do you stop the hands from "disconnecting"?? (clip)

beastball,

First it looks like you're very athletic and have the tools it takes to be a real good hitter.

Problem is you are doing some things that will get in the way. The most obvious is that the swing your using with the Tee, can't possibly allow you to see the ball well against a pitcher, especially a RHP. You're basically showing youe entire upper back to the pitcher. You would need to have eyes in the back of your head to see the release well.

In short... Your swing is too big and too complicated. IMO Maybe it's not the same swing you use against live pitching.

I think if you loaded differently, with less moving parts, you would see immediate results. Best of luck.

You are loading as you are going back.

You must load as you're moving forward.

quote:

Originally posted by beastball4:
I have tried over and over but I cant break the habit of disconnecting the hands (pulling them through the swing early) how can I fix this? ive tried numerous approaches. I also feel my lower body isnt as efficient as it once was....

What problems are you having?

Your swing actually looks decent.

Your lower body action doesn't seem bad.

I do thnk your posture isn't quite right near the point of contact. You're a little too erect. I think that is due in part to your exaggerated load (e.g. taking front heel WAY off the ground).

I may see signs of marginal bat drag, but it's hard to say for sure.

It also looks like you are swinging a little too top down; that your shoulders get going a tad early when they should be more pulled around by your hips and your core (e.g. belly button).

Are you trying to swing down on the ball?

Do you have your door knocker knuckles lined up?

quote:

Originally posted by PGStaff:
The most obvious is that the swing your using with the Tee, can't possibly allow you to see the ball well against a pitcher, especially a RHP. You're basically showing youe entire upper back to the pitcher. You would need to have eyes in the back of your head to see the release well. In short your swing is too big and too complicated...I think if you loaded differently, with less moving parts, you would see immediate results.

I agree.

As I said in my comments, you need to simplify things. You've got too much going on.

One thing you may want to try is to have your back foot just forward of parallel (toe pointed toward pitcher rather than catcher) this may help you cut down on your "backswing". Shortening up will improve your timing and may keep you "connected".

quote:

Originally posted by thepainguy

Your swing actually looks decent.

Simply unbelievable.......yet not.

You are absolutely dangerous, Chris.

quote:

You are loading as you are going back.

Chameleon, I certainly respect your opinion on hitting. I agree with your comments.

Do you think he may be doing that because the way he sets up. It looks like he starts slighty pre-loaded, then loads more by rocking the whole body back. By that I mean he starts with his core section already stretched, so to to generate power, he has a big load on the way back so that he can load, then unload/stretch it out again before rotating. If the upper body weren't so "pre-loaded" and then adding more load to it, the lower body would not need to load as much as it does to try and catch up to the upper body.

Would he not be better with less stretch in his stance (in other words more balanced between front and back), which would allow a more efficent load/unload? Also, a little more flex/bend in the waist to allow an effecient load.

The upper body load should be a more "quiet" load with the front shoulder tucking in, and the rear arm rising lightly to allow the barrel some forward tilt. Someone in another thread used the term "rocking a baby" in describing the shoulder rotation around the center, which I thought provided a decent visual.

Your thoughts?

As for the hands. it looks to me like the big load also creates a lot of scap load.

Chameleon or BlueDog or Infopimp (where's he been), or Linear (him too), what do any of you guys think of the rear arm? Does it start too high, and then load excessively high/rearward from that point? Does that create any problems for the forward rotation?

In this case, is there such thing as too much scap load? Or, does he require a more efficient rotation of the hands during the rotation of the shoulders, and less of pull the knob action?

quote:

Originally posted by Chameleon:

quote:

Originally posted by thepainguy

Your swing actually looks decent.

Simply unbelievable.......yet not.

You are absolutely dangerous, Chris.

He certainly has some problems, and his swing is too complicated, but his lower body rotation isn't bad and he doesn't get too disconnected.

I've seen better swings, but I've also seen worse.

He's got load issues which should be addressed with an instructor.

wow nice to see ive gotten so many replies so soon....

yea i know i rotate back way too much, and im probably starting my shoulders too early and not rotating around the hips right, when i try to focus on hips...i get the whole hip slide thing where i dont rotate at first...my hips shift waaay forward

its just that is the ONLY way i "feel" like i can hit the ball hard, when i just stand there and stride and swing i feel like i got nothing on my swing and i feel soo uncomfortable, and very difficult to just break theses habits after years (cuz theres a lot of bad ones) and try to think about applying a new swing during a game...

I found a clip where i was working on not loading so big but still...i am disconnecting my hands from my swing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIaBVHdk1y8

Try not focusing on your hips but overall posture. It is a lot easier to get good results by giving yourself a solid starting point. You may even try a form of negative stride (like Bagwell) while doing t work to help with these issues. Start as wide as you can, draw back and fire, might help give you a feel for proper swing duraton. As for posture try getting back to basics, slight flex in knees, slight tilt at waist, bat at back shoulder approx 45 degree angle, etc... Or you could always get mom and/or dad to pony up for those lessons

I noticed that your head moved a lot in that clip. It will be easier to get solid contact if your head doesn't move throughout your load.

yet another thing i need to fix....i feel so overwhelmed, i dont even know where to start

beastball,

The second clip looks much better to me. In fact, at a glance it looks pretty darn good.

Good luck

beastball4

Don't be overwhelmed--you came here asking for advice and you are getting it from some very knowledgable people---take the advice and make it work for you

Beast, the intent is there as you seem to have the right idea so don't get down on yourself...Some high-level instruction with the proper load/unload process and you'll be mashing in no time.

Where are you located (within the USA of course ), perhaps someone can recommend a quality hitting instructor in your area.

i know...i appreciate everything you guys are saying seriously, its just hard cuz baseball has never been this tough for me haha...and im located in redstick louisiana...baton rouge...ryan theriot from the cubs who played at lsu just opened a really good baseball facility...im gonna call and see about some hitting lessons