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 ...

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...

The LAUNCH, or what I call POWER-LOAD position, is the point in the swing in which the hitter’s hand and body movements switch from going away from the pitch to towards the pitch. COMMON FAULT: If you do not get in proper “launch position”, your chance of maximizing each swing is very poor. Most young hitters land with too much weight on back leg, and hands  aren't  in proper launch position. WHY get into proper launch position? ·          Getting the hitter to the most powerful and efficient striking position possible. ·          Getting the hitter’s head and eyes in the best tracking position possible. ·          Loading is created by moving away from the pitcher (linearly) and turning the body slightly inward toward the plate (rotationally) .  LAUNCH SEPARATION  is making sure the hands stay back and the torso stays squ...

TIMING STRIDE This baseball swing mechanic, or softball swing mechanic,  is the movement of the front foot towards the pitcher or just a “lift” of the front foot depending on what you do individually. 1.     Length of the stride is directly related to how your base is in the pre-pitch position. (see base) 2.    Front foot must be down early or at the latest, on time … never late. 3.    The front foot should be down around the time the pitch is about ½ way s to plate. 4.   One major fault with many hitters is that they don’t get their whole foot down        early enough or not at all. Coach speak calls getting the whole foot down, “heel plant”, because some           just land on their toe. Make sure the whole foot gets down early. TIP: There are several different “triggers” … Chipper Jones uses a toe tap, A-Rod picks his knee up almost to his waist,...

TRIGGER 1. This is any movement that starts the swing. It serves as: 1.    A timing device 2.    A start to your loading process 2. It can be done many ways: 1.    Pushing your hands back 2.    Rocking your weight to the back foot 3.    Rotating slightly inward or taking front shoulder towards home plate. 4.    Front leg movement; leg kick, toe tap, knee to knee, etc. What is important is that each hitter has a trigger that sets the swing in motion, at the right time.

The Fast-Pitch Softball Study …why we teach, what we teach    As I was introducing myself to the Fast Pitch Softball world in 2005, I observed as much as I could. Living in Arizona , I was lucky to have some of the best programs in the country. High level recreational teams, high school teams, University of Arizona and Arizona State University -- all just minutes from my home. I was intrigued by several observations I made. Then, I just started asking questions, and more questions (examples below)and more questions to anybody who would listen I then started asking the “experts” some questions. The ”Experts” I am referring to were the coaches and private instructors who I had been told were the leaders in the sport. I was trying to get a picture painted as to how this sport paralleled the other diamond sport in as many aspects as possible. ·          What are the similarities? ·      ...