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...

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 ...

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 Five Areas of Hitting Development 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 components of being a good hitter is the only way to maximize any hitters potential. Each 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 The mental approach Ignored by most instructors(because of the lack of concrete ideas and it has the widest variety of opinions, thoughts and ways the element is applied) This can be anything from their approach at the plate to practice habits Vision, tracking, pitch recognition and decision making ...

THE SLOT WHAT: The positioning of the back arm as it moves from the launch point to contact point. The hitter wants to keep the elbow close to the body. We use the term “staying connected . ” The hitter needs to keep the back elbow “connected” to the body. Contact is usually made here with both arms bent. This happens as the hitter rotates the torso towards contact.     FAULT : Hitters send their hands away from the body naturally (casting) which: Keep the front elbow below the front shoulder preventing "chicken winging" ·          Creates a long swing ·          Sends barrel out over the outside or past the plate, which then causes a wrist roll to bring the barrel back over the plate to contact. ·          Creates weaker contact position HOW TO FIX: ·         ...

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...

BASE Once the hitter has started the swing motion they need to establish a good base and get into a loaded position before the “launch” (the actual forward movement of the swing) takes place. A good base is having your feet about a bat s length apart, knees slightly bent and upper body slightly tilted towards home plate. FAULT: Most young hitters have too narrow of a base (distance between feet after stride).  WHY: Common teaching terminology or suggestion is to have the hitters feet slightly wider than shoulder width. This seems to be a natural position for young hitters. HOW TO FIX/KEY POINTS ·          After stride, feet should be approximately a bat s length apart. ·          Knees should be slightly bent. ·          Dynamic balance – balance throughout the swing.

None... period. #mythbusting

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.

A Proven Teaching Method As you read this, think about what we want in the end – a road map per say. 1.         You will know the  commonalities  of exceptional hitters.(Swing mechanics of the best players   on earth) 2.        You should know what the hitters do from head to toe and from the start of the swing to the end of the swing. This will be the model we use. Use the photos throughout as references for all the topics and concepts. The program is taught step by step . It is also the way it is best learned. *** One major problem I have witnessed over and over is “over-coaching”. It is very difficult to work on more than one thing at a time. Work on one thing, one technique, one commonality, one drill at a time. Then after a few workouts working on one technique, review the material, work on it a little and go to the next. Less is more sometimes. Less information at one time equa...

Finding your Number The three little bears... one was too hot, one was too cold and one was just right!  We can learn something from a fairy tale that may help us become better hitters. In very simple terms, we want hitters to hit the ball more often, harder and farther every day. There are many factors and variable such as swing mechanics, pitch recognition, timing and more... but I want to focus on something that can tie all those variables together and help the final outcome significantly.  Rhythm , tempo and pace are fairly common terms used to  summarize the overall swing as far as speed and control is concerned.  We teach a technique we call "finding your number" which is basically finding out which is the best tempo, speed and intent a hitter swings with. We teach using these ques... ·          Hitters in general, want to hit the ball often, hard, and far. All hitters are not home run hitters but the...