"Man . . . I'm hitting better!"

One of the things I really enjoy about teaching younger players is that they speak whatever is on their minds. This leads to frequent amusing interjections. This happened tonight with a player I started lessons with. Beyond the funny comment about his own performance, there are some underlying important mechanics that hitters must understand.

This was Troy B.'s second lesson with me. Troy is 10 years old and has some major balance issues resulting in his bat being pulled out of the zone early in his swing (to the pull side). This is from failing to maintain hitting posture throughout his swing. Though this is common for young hitters, it is crucial for hitters all the way up to the big leagues. As the stride foot lands, the chin must still be over the toes (Nose in front of belly button is another cue I use for this). As the swing begins, this posture must be maintained through contact, extension and the finish. Troy lost hitting posture as soon as his hands started forward. As his head drifted behind his toes (and belly button), the hands extended away from the body as a counter-balancing measure. To get back to the ball, he had to roll his hands over quickly and his bat exited the zone off his front hip. He consistently finished his swing off balance, falling to the pull side.

After explaining this to Troy, he created correct direction in his swing and began staying behind balls. After dire concentration for several swings in a row, in which he remained silent, he noticed he was rifiling balls up the middle like he'd never done before. Upon realization Troy exclaimed, "Man . . . I'm hitting better!" And he continued to do so for the rest of the lesson, due to a simple mechanical adjustment.

In my lesson progression, I start with stance corrections, stride and set-up mechanics and hitting posture. A hitter cannot go forward successfully in lessons until these three things are correct. The only way the hands can take a direct path to and through the ball is if hitting posture is maintained.

My Little League coach was on the right track when he use to say, "Justin, you have to keep your eye on the ball." Well, that is correct, but not for the reasons he thought. The ball-bat collision lasts a mere 1/1000 of a second, way too fast for the human eye to see, but keeping the eyes at contact will maintain hitting posture, which allows the hands to continue on a direct path through the ball. Look at the picture below of Albert Pujols as he maintains hitting posture at contact.