What is the most common hitting flaw?

Missing the Ball

The most common flaws that I see are players dropping their hands too low before the swing -- creating a hitch -- and not rotating their hips -- going too much with their arms alone.

How about pitch selection?

Most common flaw:
Fear. Fear of failure. Fear of getting hit by a fast moving sphere.

After that I'll go with hitting the outside of the ball.

I'll bite, and throw some chum.

Hands to the ball.

For me the most common flaw is having too many people telling you what to do---select one instructor and stick with him

I would agree with TR regarding sticking with an instructor. Constantly learning new styles prohibits a hitter from eventually developing his own.

IF you are going to utilize an instructor, spend the time to find the best one around. Some instructors look for individual quirks to fix or adjust, others take a more wholistic approach and develop a hitter as opposed to "fix" him.

gonna tie in with TR and Florida...

too much over-coaching/advise....

As soon as the player gets int he box, all I hear is :

head down, back elbow up, front elbow in, chin down, squash the bug,rotate, etc........

before you know it the batter is more interested in making sure they dont screw up the form than hitting the ball....

Getting the front foot down in time?

quote:

Originally posted by piaa_ump:
gonna tie in with TR and Florida...

too much over-coaching/advise....

As soon as the player gets int he box, all I hear is :

head down, back elbow up, front elbow in, chin down, squash the bug,rotate, etc........

before you know it the batter is more interested in making sure they dont screw up the form than hitting the ball....

No wonder it is tough to get the zone consistent, you are doing too much behind the plate...

Any way, I like to seeing the hitters getting their hands through the zone and not rolling over too soon.

But getting coaches that have the same technique may well be the key.

Pia; I guarantee you if a kid did everything that gets hollered his way he'd be an incredible performer for one of those Cirque de Solei shows!

I think the biggest challenge to a hitter is keeping is the plane of the eye still while the ball is traveling from the mound to the plate.

The greatest hitters do not have the same swing mechanics; what they do right is keep their head on the same plane and their eyes on the ball through contact.

Really seeing the ball is a big leg up!

quote:

After that I'll go with hitting the outside of the ball.

Trojan Skipper could you explain this a little bit more? I'm pretty sure I know what you're talking about but want to make sure - thanks.

Great stuff here and I'm not sure there is just one common hitting flaw.

1. Dropping the hands (not getting them back up quick enough)

2. Dead backside - when the back foot doesn't turn / open in order for the hips to open for power

3. Slow front foot - not getting it down quick enough to start the swing before the pitch is on you

4. Long swing / casting the bat

5. Not separating the stride and swing - to me if you do this right then it looks like there really isn't a separation but when someone is too slow / too quick with some aspect it looks bad. I probably did a very bad job explaining this.

As for the private hitting instructor I think it's important to find someone who will work with good high school coaches. They know which coaches have a clue and which don't but they don't want to teach something that is entirely opposite of what the high school coach wants. Now if the coach is clueless then the private instructor can teach whatever because it probably won't matter. I know I get into it with the private guys in the hitting forum but I have nothing against these guys if they are teaching something that will help the players. A good coach won't micromanage a swing and this is what allows the private instructor to be helpful but the instructor and coach need to be in the same ballpark in terms of philosophy.

I can't tell you how many times my guys go to a private guy and come back telling me how we both do the same thing, teach same thing, use same hitting drills and all that. That is what seals the deal in having the light come on in terms of understanding what is being taught.

As for the opening post maybe if you back off some (not that I'm saying you are on him because I don't know) and let him figure this out on his own. Coming back from an ACL injury is as tough mentally as it is physically. He's probably a little scared that he will hurt himself again and that's why his mechanics are out of whack. Once he gets that confidence back then the mechanics hopefully will follow. I had a knee injury back in the day and I was horrible when I came back because I truly was scared to get hurt again. Everyone was coming to me with advice for what I needed to do but all I needed to do was get some confidence back in my knee. When that happened my mechanics got better and my swing came back.

A lot of things can go haywire in a six month lay-off. TIMING will likely be his biggest challenge. It will certainly take time and reps to get all the desired parts working "IN-SYNC."

For the lesser experienced hitters, and even very seasoned hitters falter here, "staying on and thru the ball." It seems many just go thru periods where they "pull-off" with the head and front side or as others have said, "go around the ball."

Good hitters need one Coach that they trust to help keep their swing working it's best.

Alec I`ll take rolling his hands for 100 dollars please.

Too long of a stride, hands too far back, too short of a stride, hands not far enough back, hands too low, casting, hands too high, not staying inside of the ball, keep your eye on the ball, not taking hands to the ball, weight too far forward, weight too far back, squish the bug, wait we don’t squish the bug no mo, loopy swing, not enough bat tilt, too much bat tilt, too quiet, too much pre launch motion, too much bat wrap, get down sooner, no load, leaking front side, dipping, double dipping, too tall, over striding, upper cutting, turning head out, stepping in the bucket, chin too low, no separation, not picking up the ball soon enough, not rotating, no hips, too much hands, too closed, too open, slow toe tap, hit down on the ball too much, poor bat plane, back heal rolls, front foot not at 45 degrees, hitting on your toes. I think I missed something Blue Dog help me!

after not playing for a few months............not watching the ball hit the bat. can't hit what ya can't see.

Well when my son is not hitting, he ususally says it's because " he is pulling his head out". agree can't hit what you don't see.

My money is on 20dad, the eyes have got to tell the hands where to go. Some really good hitters have non-text book swings but they all "see" the ball.

quote:

Trojan Skipper could you explain this a little bit more

hitting the outside of the ball; I'm talking about loopy swings where the bat does not contact the back or inside of the baseball, but the far side... probably referred to as not keeping your hands inside the baseball... it's not the most common but it's just what's bugging me because of the current group of hitters I'm working with.

Another #1 hitting flaw is just being too slow. If you watch good high speed video on most pitches a hitter misses, if the pitch is middle of the plate or in it is because he was just a little too slow getting the head of the bat thru.

1. Late front foot/stepping into the swing

2. Letting hands drift outside

3. Rolling the wrists and (therefore) the bat barrel before contact.

All of these flaws are VERY difficult to cure and are (were) masked by metal and hollow composite bats. If you're gonna swing wood, these are the key elements to get a handle on.

Thanks trojan-skipper - that is what I thought you meant but hadn't really heard it put that way. Very good point about that and the being late.

Not getting the fat part of the bat on the ball.

Thanks for everyones comments and posts. What I see my son doing is beginning his swing while still striding. The hands are coming forward before his foot hits the ground. It seems to disrupt his timing and takes away any chance of getting extension through the swing before the hips rotate. It is especially bad and pronounced against off speed pitches... I have heard this referred to as a "Dead Stop Hitter"...been trying to break him of this by having him hit off of a "high tee" and a couple of other drills like beginning with an "inward turn" during his stride but he doesn't like to listen to dad too much anymore. It's like pulling teeth to get him to try work through it...all I hear is "Dad- just pitch" when he's hitting BP!!!

johnj314, I feel your frustation. Kids know it all, don't you know that.

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"Not getting the fat part of the bat on the ball."

Well said! So very simple, yet so very true!




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If your son is still striding while the pitch is on the way means he's trying to hit a moving target (the ball) while still traveling toward it. His eyes will be lowering as his feet separate. Tough to hit like that. Get the front foot down at pitcher's release. Good luck.

quote:

Originally posted by Baseballdad1228:
Get the front foot down at pitcher's release. Good luck.

I haven't noticed any MLB players doing this.

My son started do this once so his batting coach had him do a drill where either he had 1 foot or both feet on a cinder block while swinging, I do not remember exactly how the drill worked but he stopped do it rather quickly.

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Originally posted by SultanofSwat:

quote:

Originally posted by Baseballdad1228:
Get the front foot down at pitcher's release. Good luck.

I haven't noticed any MLB players doing this.

When was the last time you noticed a 16-year-old MLB player?

quote:

Originally posted by SultanofSwat:

quote:

Originally posted by Baseballdad1228:
Get the front foot down at pitcher's release. Good luck.

I haven't noticed any MLB players doing this.

This is pretty well explained in Ted Williams' book on hitting. Essentially it comes down to having the front foot set and planted prior to making the decision of whether to swing at a pitch.

quote:

Originally posted by brute66:
Essentially it comes down to having the front foot set and planted prior to making the decision of whether to swing at a pitch.

This is at the 0.200 mark (halfway), not at pitcher release.

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That's splitting hairs. I think you'll find it varies quite a bit within that .2 sec range player to player. Watch David Wright some time.

With young players, there is a great tendency to wait to stride until after they've decided to swing.

I agree it really doesn't vary ...when the ball is just a little more than halfway to the plate is when the heel drops ...That is a fact for big league hitters. You'll screw yourself up by trying to get it down early...never understood that logic.

I agree that the front heel will drop before the hitter decides to finish the swing...but the heel drop is part of the beginning of the swing that everyone does whether they end up acutally swinging or not. It's part of the "yes, yes" phase in the "yes yes no" hitting mentality if you know what I'm talking about. I've seen a great video of posada taking a pitch on here before that illustrates this perfectly...i'd post it if i knew how to.