Chapter 10: Routine Hitting Movements

Let’s be completely clear and transparent before jumping into this section. There are MANY, MANY philosophies when it comes to /hitting. There are several ways to coach hitting and numerous drills that can be applied to achieve hitting techniques. We may be Charley Lau fans and subscribe to the “Art of Hitting .300”, which describes hitting with a good weight transition from a firm rigid backside to a firm rigid frontside. Possibly, we may favor hitting from stronger back side, focusing on strong leg drive and hip rotation. However, there are many similarities, commonalities or generalities that are applied within this diverse array of hitting philosophies and techniques. No matter the teaching methodology, excluding the stance and pre- swing sequence, the fundamentals are essentially the same from the load to launch positions, and through the finish. Within this chapter we will focus on the basics that support a consistent and balanced swing movement for young hitters. We will attempt to keep it as simple as possible referring to “movements or feel” vs. mechanics which can often cause “paralysis through analysis”. We will also discuss “internal” and “external” tools or factors that will help young hitters learn the basic fundamentals of hitting, while leveraging each player’s own athleticism or movements. Finally, hitting a round with a round bat is not easy, so keep it SIMPLE when coaching the fundamental baseball swing.

Before we get into the nitty-gritty details, let’s keep in mind a few things:

• First and foremost, let your ball players be athletes first, and remember to not inundate them with too many instructions or techniques all at once as the last thing we want to do is attempt to create swinging robots. • Secondly, not all ball players are created equal, remember to coach to the strength of each player, leveraging each individual’s body type, cognitive awareness and athleticism to optimize each child’s swing ability. Sorry Bobby Knight, times have changed. • Make it fun! You don’t know how many times I have been in the cage and heard an overzealous father or coach instruct, critique, or reprimand a player on every . This is an exhausting experience for me, and I am not even in the same cage, thus I can’t imagine being a child on the receiving end of this critique. During live batting practice, whether on the field, or in the cage, try to instruct as little as possible and just let them the ball. Save the instruction for controlled drills such as soft-toss or tee work. • Try not to “over coach”. During practice time, coaching is fantastic, however, throughout games, mechanical instruction needs to be kept to a minimum. • Finally, KEEP IT SIMPLE. Hitting is not rocket science and if all else fails just have your kids “see ball, hit ball”.

There are essentially five (give or take) components to a fundamentally sound baseball swing movement. These basic movements consist of the following: 1) Set-up, consisting of the grip and stance, 2) Load, 3) Launch or Stride, 4) Swing and Contact and 5) Finish. It is critical to maintain balance through the entire hitting sequence.

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The Set-up: Most youth coaches fail hitters in two ways with the set-up; 1) by having the player shift to the front or back of the batter’s box on not just an but with each pitch; and 2) by suggesting “Johhny keep your elbow high”. With both of these instructions the player has already been set up for failure. The most important aspect of the pre-pitch routine is to perform the same routine consistently EACH AND EVERYTIME you are at bat. Players will be able to get to a good launch position from multiple set ups. Pre-pitch routines and stances are unique to each player, thus as a coach just attempt to get the player into a comfortable balanced position that can be repeated consistently with every at-bat. If you compare the pre-game routines and stances of Joey Gallo, Albert Pujols, Carlos Stanton, and my favorite, Tony Batista you will notice they are all very different. For younger players we would recommend a pre-pitch routine, and stance similar to Albert Pujols, as the stance and pre-pitch routine is the simplest, with minimal movement. As players progress and become stronger they will develop their own rituals and stances. The game is hard enough without changing these set-up variables with each at bat.

Figure 1. MLB Players Variation in Hitting Stances

Image Credit: www.mlb.com

Let’s start with the grip, which is rather straightforward. Players should hold the bat with the dominant arm/hand on top (for right handed hitters this is the right arm/hand), loosely and comfortably within the base (where the fingers and palm come together) of their fingers. This allows for the strongest grip with the optimal range of motion. An easy way to achieve the proper grip is to lay the bat across the middle of the fingers on both hands, palms facing outward and then wrap the fingers around the handle of the bat.

The stance should be comfortable with the feet somewhere around shoulder width apart, parallel and in line with the , knees slightly bent, weight on the balls of the feet, toes slightly pointed inward or “toed in”. The arms should be relaxed with the elbows pointing toward the ground somewhere around a 45° angle with the hands in line or slightly behind the arm pit. The arms will form a rectangle or “box”, with the chest and bottom arm ulna/radius (forearm) forming the longer sides of the rectangle. The head should be square on the shoulders, turned towards the pitcher, eyes parallel and with a soft focus on the pitcher’s release point. An effective way to achieve a fundamental stance is to have the player sit on a bucket, bat on the shoulder and feet comfortably apart. Then have the player stand and hit a ball off a tee or via soft

SIMI YOUTH BASEBALL – COACH’S HANDBOOK 2 toss. The body will naturally assume a comfortable and optimally powerful position. If the legs are too close together or are too far apart, it will be awkward to stand, and if the legs are not bent it will be difficult to swing. Additionally, standing from a bucket creates a natural load which we will discuss next.

Note: Be careful of having young guys too wide in the stance as they do not have the necessary strength to use their lower half of their body, if too wide. They might be balanced in a wider stance, but it will be tough for them to drive their hips through the swing. At a young age, I would be willing to give up a little in the way of balance, in order to allow them to use their bodies properly.

The Load: A natural load is key and provides the hitter with a cadence or rhythm, optimizing the force that will be applied to the baseball. Once in a solid and comfortable stance, the pitcher will begin his wind up and at this point it is time to gather as much energy or momentum as possible to our backside in preparation to apply an explosive swing to the baseball. Think of it as a snake coiling to strike, or creating tension in the string of a bow and arrow. Most often coaches talk about “loading the hands” or pushing them back behind the arm-pit a few inches towards the catcher, which is correct, but only a small part of the load. The load is really a full body action where the feet ground themselves firmly distributing weight from the balls of the feet to the entire foot, weight is transitioned from a balanced position back into the legs and core, a slight inward rotation of the hip. This is not a coiling of the hip and shoulder, as turning your back on the ball will make the swing too rotational causing the hitter’s bat to move in and of the strike-zone too quickly, limiting the opportunity to contact the baseball. Simply put, the load is like stretching a rubber band, where the front leg acts as the stationary point of the band while the rest of the body moves slightly back stretching against the front side leg in an effort to build up energy that can be transitioned onto the baseball. The more the rubber band is stretched, the more energy it stores, the more powerful it will snap forward.

Launch or Stride: Every pitch gets a stride, not just the ones we are going to swing at. We make this point to make it clear that the stride occurs prior to the actual swing and should be timed for an inside . The stride is a very small step forward while keeping the weight on the backside. The ability to stride and hold this position in conjunction with a solid load without having weight travel forward is key to being able to adjust to different pitches, and pitches in different locations.

The stride can vary depending on the type of player and the player’s stance. The lead foot will take a small step towards the pitcher with the weight in the ball of the big toe, placing the toe as close to perpendicular to the batter’s box (slightly open is fine) and the front heal slightly off the ground. It is important to make sure the front shoulder, hip and toe stay as closed as possible. This is also termed, “keeping the front side closed”. Stride length is dependent on width of the feet in the starting stance. The narrower the stance, likely the longer the stride, the wider the stand the shorter the stride. Please note that a wider stance will tend to lend more balance to the swing and prevent over-striding which can impact balance and timing. Once loaded, and in a balanced stride, we are ready to deliver a controlled, balanced and powerful swing.

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Swing and Contact: Now that we are in an excellent launch position the swing movement can naturally occur transitioning the energy stored within the stance, load and stride into both a linear and rotational force that will be powerfully delivered to the baseball. Many will talk about the “perfect” swing, which is like the mystical purple unicorn that none of us has found. There are essentially seven (give or take) components that make up the swing, and with each swing we do the best we can to align as many components as possible. The best hitters simultaneously align most of these aspects, most of the time, creating swing consistency that enables them to, more often than not, make solid contact. Most importantly, good hitters use their athleticism to get into a good swing position and don’t think themselves through the swing techniques to hit the baseball.

Once the front foot is planted on the stride and the pitch type and location recognized the swing is initiated by the hips. This enables us to keep our hands back for the off-speed pitches, while engaging the lower half of the body to optimize power. Once the hips begin to rotate and the body weight transitions forward, the hands stay back further stretching the “rubber band” creating additional energy. The hands will then fire straight to the projected contact point from the launch position. The lead arm is key and should not drive down to the ball, but rather, should launch forward and in the same plane as the pitch. At this point there is no technique to be coached as the eyes have told the hands where the ball will likely be and getting to contact becomes a reflex action. One critical coaching point, at this point make sure that the player’s hands do not drop towards waste level and watch for a drop in the back shoulder which will create a weak swing plane where the barrel can only be “drug” through the hitting zone. Now let’s get back to that purple unicorn and the “perfect swing”.

In an optimal swing at contact the following will occur:

1. We will hit against a stiff front side creating optimal lever arms maximizing torque forces. This doesn’t mean the front leg will be locked and stiff on every swing, as a slight bend is just fine. The purpose of a stiff front side is to keep the hands and body behind the baseball. This leg stops linear forward momentum allowing forces to move from linear to rotational torque forces. These are the forces that occur due to having an axis of rotation like the closing of a gate or door. A loss of a stiff front side will result in a loss in bat speed and we are more prone to unwanted head movements. 2. The back foot will rotate and drive forward onto the toe. Many coaches will use the term “squish” the bug, which is perfectly acceptable for the early ages, in order to teach them to rotate their hips. However, just note that this action, while creating rotational forces, it will not optimize linear force. We try to avoid using this term as it can lead to the heal simply rotating behind the toe, in which case, the hitter will not generate as much energy or power from the lower half of the body. In addition to squishing that bug, have the player also “crush” or “drive” that bug into the ground by pushing up and forward onto the toe. This will optimize both rotational and linear forces. In

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3. 4. Figure 2, the hitter’s heel is behind his toe, which is not ideal. This essentially equates to squishing the bug without utilizing the lower half to the fullest. Ideally, the heel should be even with front toe at contact, driving forward, and even off of the ground through finish. 5. The top arm is bent at about 90°, and firmly pressed against the side of the body, where we are able to generate the most powerful force. The closer your elbow is to your body the more torque you will be able to generate. The further the arm (elbow) gets away from the body, the weaker our swing position. The bottom arm is close to straight providing a linear force to counter the force of the oncoming baseball. If this arm is bent the pitched ball’s momentum against you will be greater. 6. The hands should be inside the baseball (between the player’s hip and location of the ball at contact), palm up and palm down with a right-handed hitter’s open right palm facing the sky while the left faces directly towards the ground. This is the most powerful hand position at contact and prevents players from getting out and around rolling over the baseball. 7. You should be able to draw a straight line through the head, back hip and back knee. This is the axis point or “stake” that the body will rotate around creating rotational force or torque. This ensures that a hitter is not too far forward, or relying too heavily on linear force sacrificing rotational force. A contact point behind this point will often result in an upward swing, dragging rather than snapping the bat through the hitting zone. In addition, the hitter will often be “jammed” or “tied-up” in this position. 8. The head should start in the stance and finish in the swing right in the middle of the hitter’s feet. The most stable shape is a triangle. Have you ever tried to push an object in the shape of a triangle over? And though within the swing there are many triangle forces at play (i.e. legs to hips), the most important is the triangle made by the head positioning in between and slightly forward of the legs. This creates the strongest possible position for the body to rotate on an axis with minimal head movement. 9. This may be fairly obvious, but we can’t tell you how many times we have to remind players to keep their head and eyes on the baseball at contact. Players should really focus on tracking the ball from the pitcher’s release point to contact on the barrel of the bat. A very simple drill we do is to have the player announce where on the bat the baseball hit the bat, for example the “E” on Easton.

Note: Encourage players to engage the lower half in the swing and attempt to swing on plane to the ball which will typically mean a slightly upward plane at contact.

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Figure 2. Fundamental Swing Positioning

Image Credit: www.probaseballinsider.com

Finish: Following contact, the hitter’s goal is to achieve as much rotation and extension as possible. Like a sprinter running through, and past the finish line, we want our hitters to drive through and beyond the baseball. From a rotational perspective we are looking for a 180° turn where the hips and shoulders fully rotate and players from the first base (assuming a right-handed hitter) are able to read the number on the back of the hitter’s jersey. The belly button should be pointed, not at the pitcher, but at the third base dugout so the players in that dug-out can read the front of the jersey. Additionally, the arms should fully extend exploding through the baseball with the hands finishing somewhere near the front of the front shoulder.

Note: So as of late a great deal of literature and discussion has occurred relative to swing plane. Should we make contact on a downward, even or upward plane. The most optimal contact point is on a slight upward plane as demonstrated by one of the best, if not the best hitter of all time, Ted Williams. However, in our opinion coaching this technique is an advanced skill that can be honed by the older and more talented players but can hinder the development of a sound baseball swing for younger players. For the younger ages, it should be a coach’s objective to have players hit on an even plane, making contact with a level swing, increasing the chances of success by keeping the barrel of the bat in the hitting zone and in line with the ball for the longest possible time.

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Acknowledgements: Chris Denove, Former

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Table 1. Hitting Techniques and Drills Time Drill Principle Level(s) (Min) 1 Dry Swing Sequence 1. Fundamental mechanics of S, Pi, M, B, P 1. Set-up fundamentally sound swing 2. Load 2. Loose and relaxed hands 3. Launch/Stride 3. Balanced and stable posture 4. Swing/Contact 4. Hand and body load 5 5. Finish 5. Stride to ball of big toe with lead foot as close to square as possible 6. Lead hand creates swing plane 7. Drive off the backfoot while rotating torso 8. Finish with fluid extension 2 Balance Drill on 1. Balanced and stable posture through Pi, M, B, P Board swing 2. Push off back toe, don’t simply rotate 5 around heal 3. Chin shoulder to shoulder 3 Tire or Big Ball Drill 1. Swig plane S, Pi, M, B, P 2. Drive through ball 5 3. Assess swing at impact 4 Tee Work 1. Hit on the “diagonal” S, Pi, M, B, P - Single tee 2. Inside/outside - Training bat with 3. Eye/Hand coordination 5-10 small ball 4. Extension with two tee drill - Two tee drill 5. Good follow through/finish 5 Bucket Drill w/ Tee 1. Creates natural and stable stance Pi, M, B, P 5 or Soft Toss 2. Facilitates natural load 6 Soft Toss 1. Culmination of prior drills with the S, Pi, M, B, P - With variety of addition of tracking the ball balls, multiple 5-10 purposest with Note: Soft toss should be done from the front of ball in motion the hitter and the ball should not go above the arm pit, preferably below the waste. 7 Frisbee or Bucket lid 1. Extension through contact Pi, M, B, P 5 toss 8 One handed toss 1. Front side closed M, B, P 5 and tee drill 2. Backside extension 9 Ball between thighs 1. Stiff front side M, B, P 5 w/ Tee or Soft Toss 2. Leg drive from backside 10 Fence Drill Dry or w/ 1. Hands inside M, B, P Tee 2. Short to ball 5 3. Ball hit down fence line 11 Tennis Ball Bounce 1. Stride and balance M, B, P 5 Drill 2. Off-speed 12 Live Batting Practice 1. Execution round (bunts, slash, hit n’ ) M, B, P 2. Three to four rounds of 5 to 7 swings 3. Bad habits are formed when kids are 25 - 40 tired, too many swings at one time will lead to flawed mechanics

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