Baseball Hitting Instruction – Common Youth Swing Flaws Batspeedcom

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One of the most common flaws I find in young hitters is allowing their swing to become disconnected from body rotation. This video discusses the disconnection from rotation that occurs when a hitter's boxed lead-elbow is allow to straighten out during the swing. • *************************** • Batspeed Inc Domains • Batspeed.com • http://batspeed.com • MrBatspeed Youtube Channel • / mrbatspeed • MrBatspeed Facebook Page • / mrbatspeed • ********************** • In an earlier video ( • Baseball Softball Hitting Mechanics... ) , I showed featured the role of the lead-arm in a high level swing. The main point of the video was to show the importance of keeping the bend in the lead-elbow constant during rotation. I can’t over stress how critical this is to stay connected to the power source of the swing. • This video explains why allowing the lead-arm to straighten during the swing is a killer to the generation of bat speed. – In the meantime, it might be helpful to review the “Role of the Lead-Arm” video. • ********************** • Hitting Mechanics - Role of the lead-arm in a high level swing. • One of the key differences between batters that generate great bat speed and those that do not is - how they use their lead-arm. • In order to apply the torque needed to attain maximum acceleration of the bat, the bottom-hand must apply a rearward force on the handle as the top-hand applies a forward force. However, far too many batters start their swing with a boxed (or bent) lead-elbow and then straighten out the arm approaching contact – This is a major killer of bat speed generation. • To better illustrate this, I will use the analogy of turning a nut on a tire lying flat on the ground with a 4-prong tire wrench. -- In order to rotate the nut (or the bat), you would push forward with your right-hand while ‘equally’ pulling back with your left-hand. Pushing forward with both hands would apply no torque and no rotation would occur. The forces applied must be from opposing directions to induce rotation. • Let us use that analogy in your swing. -- Starting your swing with a bent lead-elbow and then extending your lead-hand forward as you drive forward with your back-hand would have both hands pushing forward – no rotation of the bat is induced. However, if you maintain the bend in your elbow (not extending the arm), the rotation of your lead-shoulder back toward the catcher will provide a powerful rearward pull on the knob-end of the bat. This will provide the necessary rearward force to really accelerate the bat to contact. • ********************* • Problem with the “Keep your hands inside the ball” hitting cue. • Stressing the point to keep the hands inside the ball can be a helpful cue to a batter with linear mechanics. Linear principles would have a batter extending the hands away from the back shoulder while keeping the shoulders closed for as long as possible. Under these conditions, keeping the lead-elbow at a constant angle would cause the hands to cast out too wide. So reminding the batter to keep the hands in close to the body as he extends may be helpful. • However, for a batter with rotational mechanics, the keep the hands inside the ball cue is of little value and may cause the batter to develop a linear (straight) hand-path. The rotational hitter does not need to bend the lead-elbow in order to have a tight hand-path as with extension mechanics. By keeping his hands back and allowing shoulder rotation to accelerate the hands, the rotational batter can maintain a tight path while keeping the lead-arm at a constant angle. So, for the rotational hitter the amount of shoulder rotation determines how wide the hands are cast. -- Full shoulder rotation at contact equals a tight hand-path -- Less shoulder rotation and allowing the lead-arm to cast away from the chest further equals a wider path. • ********************** • Baseball hitting instruction, youth baseball hitting, common hitting flaws, baseball hitting tips, baseball hitting technique, baseball swing flaws (#9), baseball swing mechanics, baseball hitting mechanics, baseball batting instruction, youth baseball hitting mechanics, how to hit a baseball, baseball swing analysis, youth hitting instruction, hitting instruction, baseball hitting trainer

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