Level Swing Baseball Or Softball - What Does it Really Mean?

Level Swing Baseball Or Softball - What Does it Really Mean?
By guest author: Bryan Ciconte

Alright let's talk hitting! So how many of you baseball or softball hitters out there heard the term of having a level swing. I will, in this article, review the word level in other ways in order to submit this properly. I will use words such as flat or correspond to etc. when it comes being on plane or level. Yes, having a flat swing is vital to becoming a complete hitter whether you play the game of baseball or the game of softball. The concept of achieving this is vital to consistency in your game.

As a baseball player you will have to be on plane with your swing in reference to the pitch that is delivered. What does this mean? If your trying to hit a fastball that is coming to you on a down angle your swing must be adjacent to the pitch in order to hit the ball square at impact. This will in return take out the idea of creating backspin etc... Lets get that word out of your mind. Good square contact is important, not backspin. In addition if you heard the concept of rotational hitting or linear hitting this will also play a factor in your swing plane. Keep these swings in mind when it comes to developing your swing plane. Both result in different attack angles. To further understand what these hitting styles are please do your research for further information.

Some relative factors with swing plane:
If a pitch is up in the zone you will obviously have to relate your swing to the path of the ball. So you may hear the term getting on top of a pitch. In reality this term means leveling your swing up to the plane of the pitch, which in return creates a much flatter swing plane.

If your trying to hit a breaking pitch you are obviously going to have some type of an upswing when it comes to attacking the angle of the pitch properly. If you try to attack the pitch on a downswing there is a good chance that you will either cut the ball and pop up or pound it in the ground.

I just wanted to touch on some of this idea. I have a lot more information on this concept in depth on my website. I hope this short article gave you a basic concept of what having a level swing is all about. Thanks and good luck - Bryan.

Your #1 source for online hitting information! Bryan @ Hitting Made Simple: Hitting Made Simple [http://www.hittingmadesimple.com].

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bryan_Ciconte

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How to Analyze a Baseball Swing

How to Analyze a Baseball Swing
By Jack Perconte

Many people who have a basic knowledge of baseball can look at an inexperienced hitter and figure out what they are doing wrong. Certain things like stepping out, over-striding, swinging early or late, upper cutting, pulling off the ball and taking their eye off the ball are fairly obvious flaws. The solutions to these problems are not as obvious, and certainly not as simple as just telling the hitter what they are doing wrong. Muscle memory can be very tough to change and it is important for hitters and adults to have patience with players who are trying to make changes to their muscle memory. However, I am getting ahead of myself. The swing cannot be fixed until it has been analyzed correctly. Analyzing a swing when the flaws are not as obvious takes a much more experienced coach.

Following are pointers for coaches who are not as experienced to know what to look for when analyzing a baseball swing:

1. The best angle to watch a hitter is the side angle, as from the on deck circle.

2. The main thing to watch from this angle is the path of the bat barrel.

3. The ideal is when the bat barrel settles above the hitter's rear shoulder with the knob of the bat pointing down just as the front foot lands with the stride. A slight tilt of the bat barrel where it settles anywhere between 11 and 1 o'clock is best.

4. From this settled position, the ideal is to see the hands and barrel begin on a downward path towards the ball, while never traveling too far from the hitters head on the path to the ball. This is known as a compact swing.

5. The swing is begun by a break of the back knee allowing the hips to open, and with a pull of the lead hand.

6. The bat barrel starts on a downward path but will begin to level off quite quickly, especially on the lower pitches. As the back knee rotates towards the ball, the back elbow lowers and remains very close to the body on the initial portion of the swing. This prevents the hands from casting away from the body, another common flaw of young hitters.

7. This leveling off is accomplished by the hands forming a palm-up (top hand) and palm-down (lower hand) position before and after contact. The hands will end at about the same level they began the swing, at shoulder level height.

8. After leveling off, good hitters will keep the bat mostly level for an extended period until well after contact when it will begin an upward path till finishing behind the back.

9. As the bat barrel comes through, the hitter's hips have completely opened with the belly button facing the pitcher.

10. The area between the legs should form a capital A at contact, with the hitters head located above the rear hip.

11. The rear foot has pivoted towards the pitcher as the weight has shifted from the rear leg towards the front foot, and the hitter will finish up on his back toe.

12. All of this is ideally done with the hitters head and eyes tracking the ball all the way till contact.

Often, it takes a great deal of observation of the baseball swing to pick up on these little intricacies of the swing. These actions of the swing happen very quickly. Picturing an airplane landing is a good mind illustration that describes the bat barrel swing path. As mentioned, paying close attention to the path of the bat barrel is the key to analyzing the swing. Watching video of good hitters, especially in slow motion, can be very helpful in learning to analyze the baseball swing. Good swings involve excellent balance, even though there is an explosive opening of the hips and an aggressive "throw" of the hands. In all my years of teaching hitting, I found that if I could correct the hitter's bat path, the rest of their problems began to disappear or were much easier to correct.

After watching a hitter from the side angle, it is beneficial to analyze the swing from the angle of the pitcher or directly behind the hitter. From these angles it is easier to notice the hitter's front side, mainly the stride direction and front shoulder. It is important that the hitters stride is towards the pitcher and that their front shoulder stays pointed at the ball until the swing begins; when the front shoulder will start its rotation open.

Obviously, there is a great deal to the swing, as this just covers the basics. I guess it explains why I needed 200 pages to discuss all the aspects of hitting and "teaching hitting" in my book.

Former major league baseball player, Jack Perconte gives baseball hitting tips and batting practice advice for ballplayers of all ages. His baseball hitting lessons, books and advice can be found at http://www.baseballhittinglessons.com/baseball. Jack is the author of two books, The Making of a Hitter and Raising an Athlete - his parenting blog and books can be found at http://positiveparentinginsports.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jack_Perconte



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Understanding the Baseball Swing

Bat Action Hitting Machine - BatAction.com
By Nate Barnett

If I asked you to give a five minute lecture on hitting mechanics start to finish, could you do it? If the answer is yes, then you've undoubtedly done some research on the baseball swing. If the answer is no, then there is some work to be done, and you'll want to read on, especially if you're in a role where you provide any type of baseball instruction.

Coaches must be continual learners if they are going to stay in this game for long and attract some success. The most dangerous attitude anyone of influence can obtain is an attitude of arrival. Therefore, be a constant learner.

The baseball swing can be broken down into various parts and movements. The key for any good coach or athlete is to understand first what these parts are, and secondly, to understand the sequence of these moving parts throughout the swing. Without getting into depth on the specific parts in this article, my purpose in writing this is to introduce how energy is created within the baseball swing.

Much like other athletic activities the energy created to produce a quick swing comes from the back side of the body. The lower half of the back side of the hitter's body is responsible for generating momentum directed toward the pitch. This movement does not happen automatically, unfortunately. Most hitters begin their swing with the front side of the body or their hands which greatly reduces the speed of the baseball swing.

The two most common and incorrect swing starters are the hands and the front hip. Here are the drawbacks for using those parts to begin the energy creation process.

Hands: The baseball swing is a movement where energy is created from the ground up. The back knee turns first, back hip second, and hands third. While this sequence happens very quickly, it's important that it remain consistent. The reason is because this process creates torque. It is a core body movement that creates a whip action and propels the bat into the zone. If the hitter's hands are responsible for generating power, little power can be generated comparatively.

Front Hip: As explained above, the back side of the body creates energy. Therefore, if the front hip of the hitter begins to rotate at the same time of the back side of the body, momentum begins to move away from the play instead of being directed at hitting the baseball.

Consistent drill work should be focused on minimizing the above two movements. While Little Leaguers can get away with some of these mistakes and have relative success, athletes in high school cannot. Therefore, the best time to correct these incorrect movements is between the ages of 10 and 15.

Nate Barnett is owner of BMI Baseball designed to improve the mental game of baseball in athletes. Learn how to help your game by improving the skill of mental baseball

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nate_Barnett

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Hitting a Baseball - Finding the Root Cause of a Mechanics Problem

Derek Jeter Baseball Trainers - HurricaneMachine.com
By Nate Barnett

There is nothing more frustrating for a hitter than having a mechanical problem with the baseball swing and not knowing what the issue is or how to find a solution. While I don't have the ability here (nor do you have the patience to sort through it) to discuss all of the root causes to the countless mechanical failures of a baseball swing, I will give you one for today. Of course, you will need to consult with your hitting instructor for more depth and practical baseball drills to help solve the problem I discuss.

Let me point out the biggest lower body problem for hitters. I say the biggest problem in the sense that it does the most damage when trying to hit a baseball effectively.

The Problem: Hips floating forward

At the beginning of the swing, the hitter must begin to transfer some weight from the (presumably balanced) stance position onto his back leg. The weight distribution will then be roughly 60% weight on back leg, and 40% on front leg. Most hitters can do this step quite easily without a lot of baseball drills to assist.

The second movement a hitter makes is to begin to take some of the weight he has loaded onto his back leg and move it forward to create energy (this is the trigger process). At this time the back knee and foot begin to rotate towards the pitcher. This is when the hips floating forward problem begins for most hitters.

The weight that was originally placed on the back leg MUST remain there as the rotation occurs. You can see if this is happening by looking at the angle of the back leg. If there is a bend in the back leg at the knee (during contact with the baseball), there is a good chance this hitter is keeping his weight back. If the back leg is relatively straight when the hitter makes contact with the pitch, then the problem of hip floating forward has occurred. The only reason this happens is that many times younger hitters think they must move towards the baseball and begin turning their body with their rear hip and moving it forward towards the pitcher. This does nothing to create energy, and in fact, destroys the ability to create a quick and powerful swing.

Nate Barnett is owner of BMI Baseball designed to improve the mental game of baseball in athletes. Learn how to help your game by improving the skill of mental baseball

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nate_Barnett

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Baseball2u.com has a one of the internet's largest selections of baseball coaching and training dvds.

How to Analyze a Baseball Swing

How to Analyze a Baseball Swing
By Jack Perconte

Many people who have a basic knowledge of baseball can look at an inexperienced hitter and figure out what they are doing wrong. Certain things like stepping out, over-striding, swinging early or late, upper cutting, pulling off the ball and taking their eye off the ball are fairly obvious flaws. The solutions to these problems are not as obvious, and certainly not as simple as just telling the hitter what they are doing wrong. Muscle memory can be very tough to change and it is important for hitters and adults to have patience with players who are trying to make changes to their muscle memory. However, I am getting ahead of myself. The swing cannot be fixed until it has been analyzed correctly. Analyzing a swing when the flaws are not as obvious takes a much more experienced coach.

Following are pointers for coaches who are not as experienced to know what to look for when analyzing a baseball swing:

1. The best angle to watch a hitter is the side angle, as from the on deck circle.

2. The main thing to watch from this angle is the path of the bat barrel.

3. The ideal is when the bat barrel settles above the hitter's rear shoulder with the knob of the bat pointing down just as the front foot lands with the stride. A slight tilt of the bat barrel where it settles anywhere between 11 and 1 o'clock is best.

4. From this settled position, the ideal is to see the hands and barrel begin on a downward path towards the ball, while never traveling too far from the hitters head on the path to the ball. This is known as a compact swing.

5. The swing is begun by a break of the back knee allowing the hips to open, and with a pull of the lead hand.

6. The bat barrel starts on a downward path but will begin to level off quite quickly, especially on the lower pitches. As the back knee rotates towards the ball, the back elbow lowers and remains very close to the body on the initial portion of the swing. This prevents the hands from casting away from the body, another common flaw of young hitters.

7. This leveling off is accomplished by the hands forming a palm-up (top hand) and palm-down (lower hand) position before and after contact. The hands will end at about the same level they began the swing, at shoulder level height.

8. After leveling off, good hitters will keep the bat mostly level for an extended period until well after contact when it will begin an upward path till finishing behind the back.

9. As the bat barrel comes through, the hitter's hips have completely opened with the belly button facing the pitcher.

10. The area between the legs should form a capital A at contact, with the hitters head located above the rear hip.

11. The rear foot has pivoted towards the pitcher as the weight has shifted from the rear leg towards the front foot, and the hitter will finish up on his back toe.

12. All of this is ideally done with the hitters head and eyes tracking the ball all the way till contact.

Often, it takes a great deal of observation of the baseball swing to pick up on these little intricacies of the swing. These actions of the swing happen very quickly. Picturing an airplane landing is a good mind illustration that describes the bat barrel swing path. As mentioned, paying close attention to the path of the bat barrel is the key to analyzing the swing. Watching video of good hitters, especially in slow motion, can be very helpful in learning to analyze the baseball swing. Good swings involve excellent balance, even though there is an explosive opening of the hips and an aggressive "throw" of the hands. In all my years of teaching hitting, I found that if I could correct the hitter's bat path, the rest of their problems began to disappear or were much easier to correct.

After watching a hitter from the side angle, it is beneficial to analyze the swing from the angle of the pitcher or directly behind the hitter. From these angles it is easier to notice the hitter's front side, mainly the stride direction and front shoulder. It is important that the hitters stride is towards the pitcher and that their front shoulder stays pointed at the ball until the swing begins; when the front shoulder will start its rotation open.

Obviously, there is a great deal to the swing, as this just covers the basics. I guess it explains why I needed 200 pages to discuss all the aspects of hitting and "teaching hitting" in my book.

Former major league baseball player, Jack Perconte gives baseball hitting tips and batting practice advice for ballplayers of all ages. His baseball hitting lessons, books and advice can be found at http://www.baseballhittinglessons.com/baseball. Jack is the author of two books, The Making of a Hitter and Raising an Athlete - his parenting blog and books can be found at http://positiveparentinginsports.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jack_Perconte

Baseball Coaching Tips - Teaching Players to Have a Good Two Strike Approach at the Plate

Baseball Coaching Tips - Teaching Players to Have a Good Two Strike Approach at the Plate

Good Morning,
I hope the season is going great for you and your team! "Two Strike" hits
are a big part of every team's success. Team that score runs with 2 outs and that get hits consistently with 2 strikes on the batter are the teams that post winning records and win championships. Here are 5 points that I teach to make sure that every player on our team has the same proper "two strike approach":

1. The batter should assume a more balanced stance and take most of the weight off the back foot.
2. The batter will be prepared to swing at "anything close". My saying is that "if it is close enough for the ump to call a strike, it is close enough to hit".
3. The batter should get 3 inches closer to the plate than normal and choke up at least one inch on the bat. This is done regardless of the batter's ability or position in the batting order.
4. I would rather that the batter be late on the pitch than early. What this means is that the batter must keep the hands back and have trust in his or her hand speed.
5. Expect anything! Do not guess pitches. The even stance and "shorter bat" should allow the batter to hit or fight off any pitch location.
6. The batter should fight to saty alive. He or she should battle their butt off to get a hit or stay alive. The batter must win the battle by fouling off pitches, eveining the count, and fighting until the pitcher makes a mistake and throws a pitch that the batter can handle to get a basehit.

Good luck til next time.
Have a great day,
Coach Nick

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Level Swing Baseball Or Softball - What Does it Really Mean?

Level Swing Baseball Or Softball - What Does it Really Mean?
By Bryan Ciconte

Alright let's talk hitting! So how many of you baseball or softball hitters out there heard the term of having a level swing. I will, in this article, review the word level in other ways in order to submit this properly. I will use words such as flat or correspond to etc. when it comes being on plane or level. Yes, having a flat swing is vital to becoming a complete hitter whether you play the game of baseball or the game of softball. The concept of achieving this is vital to consistency in your game.

As a baseball player you will have to be on plane with your swing in reference to the pitch that is delivered. What does this mean? If your trying to hit a fastball that is coming to you on a down angle your swing must be adjacent to the pitch in order to hit the ball square at impact. This will in return take out the idea of creating backspin etc... Lets get that word out of your mind. Good square contact is important, not backspin. In addition if you heard the concept of rotational hitting or linear hitting this will also play a factor in your swing plane. Keep these swings in mind when it comes to developing your swing plane. Both result in different attack angles. To further understand what these hitting styles are please do your research for further information.

Some relative factors with swing plane:
If a pitch is up in the zone you will obviously have to relate your swing to the path of the ball. So you may hear the term getting on top of a pitch. In reality this term means leveling your swing up to the plane of the pitch, which in return creates a much flatter swing plane.

If your trying to hit a breaking pitch you are obviously going to have some type of an upswing when it comes to attacking the angle of the pitch properly. If you try to attack the pitch on a downswing there is a good chance that you will either cut the ball and pop up or pound it in the ground.

I just wanted to touch on some of this idea. I have a lot more information on this concept in depth on my website. I hope this short article gave you a basic concept of what having a level swing is all about. Thanks and good luck - Bryan.

Your #1 source for online hitting information! Bryan @ Hitting Made Simple: Hitting Made Simple.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bryan_Ciconte

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The Major League Swing and 3 Reasons You Should Be Using it

Baseball Batting Training Machine - Derek Jeter Series

Article: The Major League Baseball Swing and 3 Reasons You Should Be Using it
By Rob Bucher

The Major League swing should be the swing you copy and use with your approach to hitting. Let's forget all about rotational hitting mechanics and linear mechanics for just a minute.

If your a coach or a player and you are not either teaching or using the swing all the best hitters in baseball are using, you're making a mistake...

...And limiting your potential.

Here's three reasons why your should ingrain the swing mechanics of the pros.


A strong position at contact is one of the most important characteristics you should add to your swing. The best hitters in the game keep their hands inside the baseball and usually close to their body. When your arms become extended they become weak. Keeping them close to the body as you swing through the hitting zone will ensure you have a strong contact position.
Major League hitters all turn into the ball or if you want to call it, rotate into the ball. They maximize the bodies full potential by using the lower body to pull the upper body into the contact zone. Make sure you are not staying back and swinging with your arms first.
The best hitters in the game are not trying to hit the top half of the ball to promote backspin. Their goal is to make contact squarely with the ball. The match the barrel of the bat on the plane of the pitch. This allows them to hit the ball with more power.

If you want to become a better hitter than all you have to is start copying the swings the best players in the game.

They all transfer their weight from the back leg to the front leg and rotate over a clean axis. This axis starts at the stride foot and works it's way up the body to the top of the head.

Ready to have explosive power at the plate? Click here - Proper Hitting Mechanics. Because your current mechanics are zapping your power at the plate.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rob_Bucher

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Baseball Swing Mechanics - The Rotational Swing

Baseball Swing Mechanics - The Rotational Swing
By Todd Thomas

Rotational hitting...What is it?

My simple answer is that it is simply the big league swing. Prior to 2000, no one even knew what rotational hitting was. Now there are experts on every street corner. The facts are that Mike Epstein in his diligent study of the art of hitting isolated the core movements of the game's greatest hitters and defined their baseball swing mechanics in a term he coined Rotational Hitting.

You can call it what you want. Call it the rotational swing. Call it a hybrid swing. Call it weight shift hitting. There are many "names" now that other people have come up with, but I call it the big league swing. After all, that's what it is. Rotational hitting as Mike Epstein defined it encompasses and engulfs ALL of those other names that some are calling it. It IS the big league swing and that's what Mike Epstein Hitting teaches.

The bottom line is that there are really only TWO methods of hitting. A hitter is either Linear or he/she is Rotational with their swing mechanics. Now both techniques have elements of the other in them. Linear has some rotational and Rotational has some linear. The fact that each has elements of the other makes all of the other "techniques" or really names that people are calling baseball swing mechanics simply irrelevant and fictitious.

So let's define the Rotational Swing and the Linear Swing.

A rotational hitter establishes a stationary axis with the dropping of the front heal and with the front leg and they rotate around that stationary axis. This hitters "stays back" with their upper body. The head and chest do NOT come forward. They a very steady and do not lunge forward in the direction of the pitcher. You will occasionally see this happen when a hitter is completely fooled by a pitch and they break through their axis lunging forward in an awkward attempt to make contact. So the rotational hitter rotates around a stationary axis and stays back.

The linear hitter does not establish a stationary axis and they do not stay back. The linear hitter continues moving forward throughout their swing in a straight forward(linear) movement finishing their swing out over the top of their front foot or even slightly forward of it. The linear hitter typically swings in a downhill plane while the rotational hitter is typically taught to swing on the plane of the pitch because those swing planes match each technique. A linear hitter trying to swing on the pitch plane is very awkward and doesn't work well with all of the moving parts of this technique. Likewise, the rotational hitter swinging on a downhill plane is also an awkward unproductive swing. Staying back and swinging down do not match.

So to summarize the two basic baseball swing mechanics...The rotational hitter stays back and the linear hitter comes forward. See it's not as complicated as many desire to make it out to be. And remember, Rotational Swing Mechanics are simply the Big League Swing.

Todd Thomas is a Baseball Coach and Professional Hitting Instructor for Mike Epstein Hitting. Coach Todd's personal hitting website is http://www.HitItHere.net. Coach Todd also enthusiastically endorses http://PlayMyBestBaseball.com as a place where baseball and softball hitters can master the Confidence, Composure, Focus and Consistency of their game so they can reach their full potential.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Todd_Thomas

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How to Hit in the Clutch - Baseball Batting Advice From a Former Major League Player

HurricaneMachine.com

By Jack Perconte

There are not too many feelings better than getting hits for baseball players. Actually, there is? Getting a hit in the clutch is an even better feeling. Of all the great memories I have of playing baseball, the ones that are most memorable are those of clutch hits that I had. Many people think of clutch hits as those that drive in runs or win games, but just as important sometimes are hits that players get to start a rally, break up a no hitter or knock a good pitcher out of the game. One of my great memories of a clutch at-bat did not involve a hit but a sacrifice fly that I hit in the 17th inning that drove in the winning run against the New York Yankees. This was as memorable as a hit because, being a player with little power, hitting a ball deep enough in the outfield was not an easy chore for me.

Developing young players to be good clutch hitters is one of my goals as a hitting coach. Of course, the best clutch hitters are generally the hitters who are the most fundamentally sound with their hitting mechanics. Having good fundamentals always give players the best chance at success. However, just having good fundamentals does not guarantee a great clutch hitter and all hitters can be taught to become better in the clutch. I have known many players who have the knack of going 1 for 4 in games for a.250 batting average, but that one hit always seemed to be a big hit for the team. Some players just have a sense of the moment and an inner confidence that they are the right person for the situation. Good clutch hitters are able to focus on the moment. They do this by focusing on the things they can control, which is simply taking a good swing at a good pitch. These clutch hitters do not over-swing, try to hard or get too "up-tight" to perform.

With this in mind, following are coaching tips to help ballplayers become good clutch hitters:

1. Explain to players what was alluded to above, that "clutch hitting" involves more than just an RBI hit or a game winning hit. For example, just getting on base with a walk or single can be very "clutch."
2. Put players in known clutch situations in practice as much as possible. "Two outs, bases loaded, game on the line and here is the pitch," is a good batting practice idea. When players are put in clutch situations often enough, they will develop the sense of having "been there before," which may enhance their confidence and give them reassuring feelings.
3. Explain to players that no one will remember for very long if they make an out but everyone will remember, for a long time, if they come through with a big hit. In this manner, players will begin to feel like they do not have much to lose, which should ease the pressure. This also serves to have players look forward to the opportunity.
4. Good coaches do not over-coach by making more of a situation than it is. This can be done by staying calm and just telling hitters to "get a good pitch to hit." Coaches should be careful not to change their demeanor or overload players with distracting instructional tips, especially during intense game situations.
5. Ask players in practice who wants to be up to bat with the game on the line. Most if not all will say they want to be, even if they are not sure. This "mental preparation" will help players prepare for the situation before they are in the actual situation.
6. Occasionally saying to different players that you want them to be the player up to bat with the game on the line shows your confidence in the player, which should help the player's confidence.
7. Coaches should not show disappointment in front of players when they do not come through in the clutch, so that players will not shy away from wanting to be up in that same clutch situation the next time. Parents of players should be sure and follow this point also, because kids definitely do not want to disappoint their parents.

Finally, one thing that I did as a player was to begin preparing myself for game ending situations. When a game was close in score, I would begin about the sixth or seventh inning to visualize being up in the last inning with the game on the line. This was great preparation for the eventual situation where I came to bat with the game in the balance.

Former major league baseball player, Jack Perconte gives baseball hitting tips and batting practice advice for ballplayers of all ages. His baseball playing lessons, books and advice can be found at http://www.baseballhittinglessons.com/baseball Jack is the author of two books, The Making of a Hitter and Raising an Athlete - his positive parenting advice and books can be found at http://positiveparentinginsports.com

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Baseball Tips on Hitting - Bat Speed Often Determines Your Success!

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By Larry Cicchiello

Let's keep this very basic and simple. Forget all other baseball tips on hitting. Very simply, the faster the head of the bat is going when it hits the ball, the harder a baseball hitter will hit the baseball. There are hundreds of baseball tips on hitting but when it's all said and done don't the hitters with the quickest bat speed hit the baseball the hardest? You can talk about many things that are required to be a successful hitter and right near the top of your list should be bat speed. I thoroughly enjoy watching a very big, strong hitter clobber the baseball. It's also very enjoyable watching a smaller hitter who is not exceptionally strong clobber the baseball. The only way for the smaller player to be competitive with the bigger and stronger baseball hitters is with his very quick bat speed.

Several Things To Improve Your Bat Speed:


Practice your swing every day. Some professionals will take as many as 500 swings a day in the off season. That's very possibly one of the reasons why they are now professional hitters. I'm not saying it's feasible to take that many swings every day but practice your swing as often as possible. Remember to take your practice swings exactly like you are swinging the bat in a game. You're cheating yourself if you do otherwise. If you are willing to spend the time practicing your swing, you deserve to benefit from the time you are putting in. Is there a better exercise than practicing the swing itself to improve your strength and quickness as a baseball hitter? I don't think so.
Avoid gripping the bat too tightly, which is a common baseball hitting problem, especially with younger players. They often have the mind set that "I'm going to grip this bat real tight and really clobber this ball." Nothing could be further from the truth. It actually will slow down the speed of your bat. It's identical to a pitcher who holds the ball tighter to slow down a pitch and a baseball hitter gripping the bat tightly will slow down his bat speed also.
Make sure you swing directly to the ball. The very beginning of the swing is not level at all. It is a downward movement and only levels out at the point of contact! You absolutely must be "quick to the ball." Short and quick to the ball is far better than long and strong.

Larry Cicchiello is the author of "Excellent Baseball Coaching: 30 Seconds Away." His very user friendly eBooks cover 320 topics on playing or coaching excellent baseball. ANY players, coaches or parents who want to help their child improve will be fully equipped! Some FREE tips are available at http://www.LarryBaseball.com/product/all

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How to Analyze a Baseball Swing

By Jack Perconte

Many people who have a basic knowledge of baseball can look at an inexperienced hitter and figure out what they are doing wrong. Certain things like stepping out, over-striding, swinging early or late, upper cutting, pulling off the ball and taking their eye off the ball are fairly obvious flaws. The solutions to these problems are not as obvious, and certainly not as simple as just telling the hitter what they are doing wrong. Muscle memory can be very tough to change and it is important for hitters and adults to have patience with players who are trying to make changes to their muscle memory. However, I am getting ahead of myself. The swing cannot be fixed until it has been analyzed correctly. Analyzing a swing when the flaws are not as obvious takes a much more experienced coach.

Following are pointers for coaches who are not as experienced to know what to look for when analyzing a baseball swing:

1. The best angle to watch a hitter is the side angle, as from the on deck circle.

2. The main thing to watch from this angle is the path of the bat barrel.

3. The ideal is when the bat barrel settles above the hitter's rear shoulder with the knob of the bat pointing down just as the front foot lands with the stride. A slight tilt of the bat barrel where it settles anywhere between 11 and 1 o'clock is best.

4. From this settled position, the ideal is to see the hands and barrel begin on a downward path towards the ball, while never traveling too far from the hitters head on the path to the ball. This is known as a compact swing.

5. The swing is begun by a break of the back knee allowing the hips to open, and with a pull of the lead hand.

6. The bat barrel starts on a downward path but will begin to level off quite quickly, especially on the lower pitches. As the back knee rotates towards the ball, the back elbow lowers and remains very close to the body on the initial portion of the swing. This prevents the hands from casting away from the body, another common flaw of young hitters.

7. This leveling off is accomplished by the hands forming a palm-up (top hand) and palm-down (lower hand) position before and after contact. The hands will end at about the same level they began the swing, at shoulder level height.

8. After leveling off, good hitters will keep the bat mostly level for an extended period until well after contact when it will begin an upward path till finishing behind the back.

9. As the bat barrel comes through, the hitter's hips have completely opened with the belly button facing the pitcher.

10. The area between the legs should form a capital A at contact, with the hitters head located above the rear hip.

11. The rear foot has pivoted towards the pitcher as the weight has shifted from the rear leg towards the front foot, and the hitter will finish up on his back toe.

12. All of this is ideally done with the hitters head and eyes tracking the ball all the way till contact.

Often, it takes a great deal of observation of the baseball swing to pick up on these little intricacies of the swing. These actions of the swing happen very quickly. Picturing an airplane landing is a good mind illustration that describes the bat barrel swing path. As mentioned, paying close attention to the path of the bat barrel is the key to analyzing the swing. Watching video of good hitters, especially in slow motion, can be very helpful in learning to analyze the baseball swing. Good swings involve excellent balance, even though there is an explosive opening of the hips and an aggressive "throw" of the hands. In all my years of teaching hitting, I found that if I could correct the hitter's bat path, the rest of their problems began to disappear or were much easier to correct.

After watching a hitter from the side angle, it is beneficial to analyze the swing from the angle of the pitcher or directly behind the hitter. From these angles it is easier to notice the hitter's front side, mainly the stride direction and front shoulder. It is important that the hitters stride is towards the pitcher and that their front shoulder stays pointed at the ball until the swing begins; when the front shoulder will start its rotation open.

Obviously, there is a great deal to the swing, as this just covers the basics. I guess it explains why I needed 200 pages to discuss all the aspects of hitting and "teaching hitting" in my book.

Former major league baseball player, Jack Perconte gives baseball hitting tips and batting practice advice for ballplayers of all ages. His baseball hitting lessons, books and advice can be found at http://www.baseballhittinglessons.com/baseball. Jack is the author of two books, The Making of a Hitter and Raising an Athlete - his parenting blog and books can be found at http://positiveparentinginsports.com.

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