Hit It Here

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I’ve heard some coaches say some pretty dumb things, but one that was related to me recently has to be at or near the top of the list. A player that I have worked with for quite some time and has made tremendous strides in his hitting ablility and technique over that time was recently chastised by a coach for what the coach considered to be a major problem with his technique.

What did this coach say? First off, let me say that the player’s name shall remain unmentioned to protect the innocent and the coach will also remain annonymous to protect the ignorant.

After watching this player hit, the coach said in a way as to criticize the player, “You swing like Derek Jeter!”
…………………………………………….. I’m pausing to let that sink in for a minute ………………………
“You swing like Derek Jeter!, the coach said indignantyly. ??? Let me say that again. ??? And this is a bad thing?? God forbid that any player tries to emulate his technique to mirror that of one of the great players in the game for the last 15 years(whether knowingly or not). Why would you ever want to emulate a future Hall of Famer?

Are you kidding me? “You swing like Derek Jeter”? Isn’t that the point? To do what the best players in the game do? Why wouldn’t you?

I don’t know if this is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard a coach say, but again, it’s up there. I couldn’t help but imagine what else one might over hear at a practice of good and aspiring young hitters.

Perhaps the following… Your swing looks like Ted Williams! Stop doing that!… or maybe, You swing like Hank Aaron! Change that now if you want to excel in this game!…

or maybe… Quit swinging like Albert Pujols or so help me I’m cutting you from this team!!!

 Take a look at some of the game’s greatest hitters in softball and baseball below. Do you notice anything similar amongst all of them? Do they all seem to be doing the same thing?

Are you being taught to…?

> Keep your front elbow down

> Keep the barrel above your hands

>Don’t dip your back shoulder

> Hit the top half of the ball

> Swing down for backspin

>Be linear toward the ball

>Don’t establish an axis with your front leg and rotate…???

If this is such good hitting advice, then why are the “big leaguers” in softball and baseball all doing the exact OPPOSITE of the above “hitting instructions”? Is your coach teaching you to do the opposite of what the
game’s greatest hitters do?? Why would they do that??? I am going to be nice here and not answer that question myself. If you are being taught the opposite of what you see the game’s greatest hitters actually doing, you draw you own conclusion about what you are being taught and why they would do that.

Swing down for back spin has to be one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard.  Do you really want back spin on ground balls too?  If you swing on plane(or attempt to) with the ball, you will get back spin on fly balls(which is what you want) and top spin on ground balls(which is what you want). 

Mike Epstein, after having spent many years teaching how to get on plane and swing level(to the ball) along with what Ted Williams(Mike’s mentor) always said to be true of the game’s greatest players swings, is starting to get “science” to prove what he’s been saying all this time.  

Watch this video and see what science shows is true about the swing of the best players in the world. 

It is NOT a directly downward path to the ball, rather it is a “leveling” of the bat and a direct path to the ball on a path very close to the incoming path of the ball.  Deny it if you want, but science and the camera doesn’t lie.

I was just watching Quick Pitch this morning on the MLB network.  One of the show hosts, Harold Reynolds, was talking hitting with two current big league hitters from the Arizona Diamondbacks.  They were Chris Young and Mark Reynolds.  Harold’s discussion on hitting with these two players playing at the game’s highest level was a revealing example of the fact that MOST currently and former big league players have no idea of  what they actually do(did) in their swing that took them to the highest level of the game.  It is this example that is the very reason I am never impressed by an instructor that either is a current or former big league player.  Most don’t have a clue of what good hitting mechanics actually are and even more than that don’t know how to teach.

In Chris Young’s example, he was hitting some balls thrown by Harold Reynolds.  His swing looked great.  Just like you see him execute in game situations.  Then Chris proceeded to demonstrate in slow motion what he tries to do in his swing and when he is practicing.  It looked absolutely NOTHING like the swing he just got through demonstating at full speed only seconds earlier.  In his slow motion demonstration, Chris had his hands about waist high while the barrel of the bat was about chest high.  His demonstration was the exact OPPOSITE of what he actually does when hitting live. My 10 year old son, who was watching too, piped up and said, “that’s not what he was just doing…???”   This is a common demonstation you see amongst many coaches, who like Chris Young , don’t have a clue or don’t know any better either.

Mark Reynold’s discussion on his hitting technique was equally as confusing and really comical.  Mark Reynolds says he tries to stay on his back side when he hits.  Someone needs to show Mark a video of himself and every other hitter in the big leagues so he can see that there is virtually no weight if ANY AT ALL on a hitter’s back foot when at contact.  Another example of the cluelessness of many current and former players on their true and the best hitting technique.  They simply just don’t know.  They just do it.

What’s ashame is that there are many people(players, coaches, & parents) that might watch that and take what these players said about hitting as gospel.  Then try to do or teach what they were “told” rather than what they actually “saw” the players doing when they were hitting live.  Although, Chris Young and Mark Reynolds were not able to sneak their misinformation past my 10 year old, so maybe people will be smart and do what they see and not what they hear.

I’ve recently added some new stuff to the main HitItHere.net website.  There are now two options for video lessons.  First, you can submit a video for evaluation and analysis.  I will analyze the player’s swing and will email you back a summary of the good things and the things to work on.  Along with this I will offer suggestions and give instructions on how to improve the swing.  This offer is for the incredibly low price of $9.95.  Yep, that’s it.  That may go up in the future so take advantage of it while it’s this low.

Secondly, you can send me video of your son’s/daughter’s swing and I will analyze it and then produce a personal video lesson for that player and send the video back to you.  This also is extremely affordableas well  at only $29.95 for a personal video lesson.

Finally, there’s Ask Coach Todd.  Look for the link at HitItHere.net  and send me your question about hitting or on the mental game.  I’ll send you my response and will post it here on the blog.

Question from Ron:

My 12 year old son was taught the swing down to the ball method and when he was not progressing as I thought he should, I began to do some research on hitting styles. I came across a site on youtube that has many mlb players on video tape. After watching Matthew’s swing on video tape vs theirs, I decided the swing mechanics he was being taught needed to be changed. That is when I learned about Mike’s approach and rotational hitting.

I’m looking for help in two areas

1 – I’m struggling how to explain and get him to feel how the bat barrel goes from the load position to being on plane quickly, connected and on time. He will often flatten out the bat behind his shoulder and I’m pretty sure that is not right.

2 – The down to the ball swing path has his left arm going down or leveling off at impact. He is having trouble getting the feel of his left elbow/bicep rising in the swing.

Answer from Coach Todd:

Ron, good to hear from you. You are right on with your observations of what your son was being taught compared to what the best hitters in the world actually do. Any coach who tells a player to swing down onto the ball is obviously ignorant of what the best hitters in the world do. I don’t care what level of coaching he/she is at. Even some big league hitting coaches are ignorant on this point. This is bad and in error advice. Kudos to you for your research, noticing the difference, and desire to do what’s right for your son.

If he is flattening the bat out behind his shoulder, that tells me he is probably letting his back elbow swing out and point towards the pitcher(or his back elbow gets ahead of his hands). This usually has the bat lay back and almost “wrap around” the back. This makes for a long swing and is often called “dragging the bat”.

The best way I can think to explain this to you here is that the bat should get on plane with the ball when it is parallel to the path of the ball, not before. The hands should stay ahead of the back elbow from the start. The bat gets on plane by the front elbow turning up quickly. Less on higher pitches and more on lower pitches.

To help him get a feel for how the front arm should work, have him put his (fielding) glove on. Have him stand in his batting stance with his lead arm at a 90 degree angle pointed back at the catcher and holding his glove in such a way that he would be showing the inside of it to the umpire. Stand out in front of him with some balls and have him to turn catch them “back handed” with his front elbow pointing up and the tip of his glove pointing toward the ground. Then toss him the ball and have him catch it. Then reset and do it again. And again. And again. Repitition is the mother of skill. Stress to him to “feel” how his front arm is working in this drill and that is how it should work in the swing to get the bat on plane. Then have him switch to holding a bat from his batters stance and go to that same position as he was when he was positioning to catch the ball and to feel how it works with the bat in his hands. Finally, with the bat soft toss him from the front and have him just turn to that position and “catch” the ball on the fat part of the bat.

Good luck!

Question from Keith:

Jake is picking back up on his drills (fence drill, etc.), and looks like he is doing pretty well in soft toss, but when I pitch to him, he is reverting back to separating his back arm when he starts his swing, and his bat and swing plane are flat and his hand path is more linear and close to belt high. Last time we were with you, we worked on getting him to lay the barrel below his hands, and take his front elbow up to get an on-plane. He is not doing that now when I pitch to him. My idea was to do lots of soft toss from directly in front to get him to hone in the right mechanics, and then begin to move me back in the cage to short pitching and then ultimately to normal pitching distance. Do you think that will help?

Answer from Coach Todd:

Sure. I think so. Is he aware of what he is doing wrong or does he only know because you tell him? Try to help him become aware of what he is doing himself. Tell him to draw his attention to where his hands are when he swings and make him show you what they did after each swing. Then tell him to work on changing that(or whatever it is) and to tell you whether he thinks he is improving with each swing and each hit. Are the hits good, solid, and in the direction desired? Then his responses should be positive.

Doing the drills is a great idea. Getting back to some basics when things aren’t going as well as desired is always a good thing. Here is something else to try. Put him in the basic set up postion with the bat touching his back shoulder and his back elbow tucked against his body. You can do this work from either the torque position or batter’s box position or some of both. Take a small hand towel or dish rag and have him hold it against his body with his elbow. Then he should hit while holding it there. Now, it SHOULD drop to the ground BUT, NOT behind him, towards the others batter’s box, or towards or on the plate. Rather, it should drop to the ground out in front of him towards the pitcher when he extends his arms through the ball out in front of him. Call me if you have any questions. Keep me posted.

I believe that how you practice is as important as the act of practicing itself. Good and productive practice is about more than just getting in your reps. If you’re just practicing to mindlessly get your reps in, then you are missing out on how valuable practice can be.

Hank Aaron told Dr. Tom Hanson that practice was the single number one secret to success. Imagine that. Practice. But again, making your practice productive is equally important.

What important in making your practice productive is to have a goal for what you want to improve. If you are having an issue with something in your swing, my first question is do you KNOW what that issue is? How can you really improve or fix it if you don’t know what it is? Have a knowledgable coach or instructor help you break it down to isolate what you want to work on. It’s even better if you are able to identify the issue on your own through your own self awareness.

Once you begin the practice process of striving to improve or fix a fault in your swing, it’s important to stay level headed if it’s taking time or if you keep doing the same thing or if you are just struggling to get your swing where you want it to be. It does no good to get upset, frustrated, and angry and then give up. Stay level headed and as best you can, be “aware” of what is causing the problem. Be aware of whether what you are doing to improve is actually making you better.

Know where you are now. Know what your goal is and be aware of your progress. If you see improvement, then you know what you are doing is productive for you. If not, you might want to try something else rather than staying with something that is not helping you to improve.

Every time you are going to practice, ask yourself what you goal is for that practice session. If you don’t and you just are “getting in your reps”, then you’re not giving yourself the best opportunity to reach you ultimate potential.

If you started off your season 0 for 18, what would you be thinking? What would you do? I know a lot of players, parents, and coaches would start panicking and no doubt start over analyzing a players mechanics.

Carlos Pena of the Tampa Bay Rays started off this spring 0 for 18. They are not making any major changes. He’s just riding it out knowing things will turn. He remains confident and positive. If you react the way Carlos has reacted, you will last a long time in this game and have a high degree of success.

This taken from http://tampabay.rays.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100314&content_id=8787240&vkey=news_tb&fext=.jsp&c_id=tb

..here is what Carlos said about his horribly slow start:

“It’s not about whether I hit .400 or .000,” Pena said.

And my only question after the day is over is, ‘Were you there today, were you present? Were you there 100 percent — heart, soul and body? Were you there? Yes? Good job.’ That’s it.”

Are you giving 100% effort in every at-bat? Are you focused only on the results only or how good an at-bat you had mentally and physically? Stay focused and stay confident. Play the game one at-bat at a time. One pitch at a time. Nothing before the next pitch matters anymore.

How you start your swing either has you in a good position to adjust to pitches in all four corners of the strike OR limits you ability to the adjustments you might need to make on a particular pitch.

So what is the best way to start you swing? I tell players I work with to remember U-U-I. That stands for Up, Up, and In.

The first U or Up is for the positioning of your body with the “Up” really meaning “Upright”. You want to be upright on your axis with the shoulders pretty level at the very beginning of your rotation to the ball. This combined with the other “U” which mean to keep your HANDS Up close to your back shoulder or right at the top of the strike zone.

Why do you want to to be Upright with your hands Up around the top of the strike zone at the beginning of your swing? Let me answer that question with some other questions. Which adjustment is easier to make? Adjusting from high to low or low to high? In other words, is it easier to be in a position to hit the high pitch and adjust for a lower pitch OR to immediately drop your back shoulder and hands to be in a position to hit the low pitch and then adjust back up for something high in the zone? Sure, it’s obvious the easier adjustment is high to low.

We’ve all heard the expression don’t dip your back shoulder. In fact, I recently posted a video on this blog about that very thing. At the start of your swing is where an immediate drop of the back should is bad. Be Upright and Up with your hands to be in a position to adjust from high to low. Read more on the good dipping and bad dipping of the back should HERE.

The “I” in U-U-I is for In. In, meaning to keep your hands in close to your body and staying inside the ball. Why is this good? Again, a few questions to answer that. Which adjustment is easier to make? Adjusting from inside to out or from outside to in? In other words, is it easier keep your hands in and be able to hit the inside pitch and then adjust from inside to out for a pitch on the outside part of the plate OR to immediately let your hands get away from your body to be in position to hit an outside pitch and then adjust back in for something inside? Again, the answer is obvious and that is it’s easier to adjust from inside to out.

So what’s a good position for the start of your swing(rotation to the ball)? U-U-I. Up(right), Up, and In. Doing so puts you in the best position to hit in all four corners of the strike zone.