Backspin Blogger

Three Universal Swing Faults Let’s define swing fault and swing thought. Something  done “wrong” in a swing or swing mechanics is a swing fault A swing thought is what you think prior and during the swing... giving your body directions. Proper Hitting Posture Question: How many times do you see Major League Hitters lose their balance, fall over in the batters box, or fall out of the box? Not very often! How many times do you see young, amateur hitters lose their balance while swinging? Way too often! Proper Hitting Posture consists of: Keeping an “athletic” position throughout the swing A slight lean or tilt of the hitter’s body over the plate  throughout  the swing o         Feet as wide as the bat (after stride) o         Knees bent o         Upper body leaned over towards the plate Proper Hitting Posture allows the hitter to: Stay in the best possible athletic p...

Driving on I-25 towards Denver in the early summer of 2004, I was on top of the world! I was to test my new found "Facts of Hitting" teaching program on one of the best American Legion Teams in the country and do some fly fishing! Heaven!!! With the 107 degree Arizona heat in my rear view mirror, so was my inferior, theory-based coaching style!  But I was nervous as a fish out of water! How was it going to work? How would the kids and coaches receive the information that was so foreign to me, a baseball lifer, just a few months earlier? Am I walking into a perpetual mine field called baseball tradition? Would they like me as a coach? Would they respect me? But most important of all... would it truly make each one of them better?!? And would there be an explosive hatch while I was their so my fish stories wouldn't be fish stories. The whole trip, I had fished thoroughly through my mind for answers to try and be prepared for any and all questions. Arriving ea...

Scott and Tagg Bullock As I Travel across the country, I have the invaluable and life-changing chances to meet people of all ages, genders, beliefs, professions, hobbies, etc... it is truly a gift of the highest quality on this earth. I have met hunting and fishing guides who are the cream of the crop in their industry. I have met a man who ran USA Gymnastics and turned our countries program into THE elite program in the world. I have met teachers and bankers and on and on.  But the people that may be as impressive as any is the small group of elite coaches I run into. It is an interesting study as to why some are extremely successful-I define successful coaches as ones that win, actually coach, teach kids on and off the field, live their lives as exceptional role models for their kids and help produce and pass on their kids to the next level - and some struggle in one area or another. The elite coaches take on the responsibility of running a...

I would venture to say that just about all parents of young athletes want the absolute best for their kids. That is not something I believe could become a legitimate debate. The debate begins when the subject of how to be a good parent gets mentioned. There are an almost infinite number of scenarios and angles to look at this topic... but just like in Hitting Mechanics, there are absolutes in being good parents of young athletes. Smiling Young Athletes 1. Remembering that it is their life, their likes, their "want to's" , their time, their dreams... not your life, your likes, your "want to's", your time or your dreams. We all want our kids to be good at what they do, enjoy what they do, learn from what they do and have and chase dreams. But here is the hard truth from 40 years deeply entrenched in youth athletics.Too many parents are living their own dreams through there kid. I'm not going to write a report on the psychology of this but by observation, i...

Spending hour upon hour in the Batting Cages with hitters, studying batting mechanics online every night, Learning, not Teaching going to coaching conventions across the country to get batting tips, new batting drills and maybe a whole new approach, talking with anyone and everyone you may think can elevate your knowledge, maybe just maybe get video of every national league player and watch 2 months worth of video...most of those are processes all good hitting coaches partake in but the most important skill may have little to do with any of those. Its 2015, long gone are the dictatorship coaching styles that truly get the most out of the players. They exist all over the country but it is rare that a young athlete maximizes his or her talent with the proverbial, " Do what I say and don't ask questions style." There are multitudes of researched, documented reasons why this is the case. In some ways it is good and some ways it is a challenging time to be a coach. Becoming a ...

B ackside Release Question:    What does the back leg & foot do during the contact phase of the swing? 90% of coaches, players, etc, the answer would be pivot, squish the bug , rotate your hips, etc This is actually a swing mechanic MYTH that has been passed down from generation to generation without teaching what does what does happen. The back foot rolls up on the inner portion before rotating upward. The back knee moves  towards  the front calf creating the "L" in the back leg. Releasing the back side The back foot becomes almost weightless as it; rolls up on toe, slides forward or back, comes off the ground forward before planting for deceleration balance, etc... The one absolute is the it  becomes  close to weightless. This allows for full weight transfer along with  several  other elite,  synchronized  softball swing mechanics. Batting Tip: An easy teaching que is to have the hitter roll up on their t...

W aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitttttttttttttttt a minute!!!! Before you jump to the "hater" conclusion, please understand that I am one of the biggest fast pitch softball fans on the planet! So much so that half of our hitting camps annually are for the young ladies! We work with thousands of fast pitch softball hitters each year. I am a season ticket holder at the PAC 12 school near my hometown. After I did my first study on fast pitch hitting and 8 years on the road teaching clinics,  there seemed to be some answers on why girls hit like girls. Another disclaimer-Sometimes telling the truth hurts some feelings. 1. The actual fast pitch softball swing is no different from an elite baseball swing. SO WHY DO WE TEACH IT DIFFERENTLY? I have dozens of stories of showing baseball and softball swings side by side on video with virtually ZERO difference and the fast pitch softball coaches will swear it is different? We can't help people ...

Most hitters and coaches think that working on hitting is taking batting practice... they are correct but only partially. Understanding, addressing and working on all the  ingredients  of being a good hitter is the only way to maximize any hitters potential. Each fast pitch softball hitter is an individual and each has their strengths and weaknesses but going through this checklist may help identify both and get them on their way to marked improvement.        The swing  ·           The actual physical swing mechanics  ·         Creating a “sound or mechanically correct” swing gives the hitter the best chance for contact and force(power)      The phase we all work on the most 2.        The mental approach ·           Ignored by a lot of fastpitch softball hitting instructors(because of the lack of concrete ideas and it ha...

Extension and  Wrist Release  When discussing the topic of extension, most hitters think of extending the arms as the extent of extension. When in reality, that is only part of what creates “maximum extension . ” The forgotten or rarely mentioned element is the extension or release of the wrists. EXTENSION: I hear analysts always talk about the "big guys want to get their arms extended" ... true, and a circle is round. We ALL want to get are arms extended as this is a huge part of good swing mechanics. Let me bust a myth... hitters do want to get extended but it is extension TOWARDS THE PITCHER, not out in front of their body over the plate. WRIST RELEASE: Just like a golfers wrists do not rollover until well after contact, a hitter need to do the same thing. We call it wrist release where the wrist joints load and unload from side to side as opposed to rolling over. It is the last hinge to unload and bat will accelerate until wrists roll. WHY DO HITTERS WANT EX...

Front Leg Position WHAT:   The front foot should end up flat after stride. The foot should be somewhat closed (pointing at base coach) until after contact. The foot is the anchor to the ground during the athletic striking phase of the swing.  The front leg lands bent and athletic and stays bent until contact or right after contact. The front leg angle is a key factor in solid hitting mechanics. The front leg angle is generally at 55 to 75 degrees at contact point. This angle (combined with a proper base width) allows backside release to occur without drifting over the front leg. This angle allows the hitter to hit AGAINST the front leg, rather than allowing the body to drift over the front leg. This also keeps the hitter back or behind the ball with limited head movement.                KEYS: ·           The base (distance between feet after the stride) is a...