I know I sound like a broken record, but I see the hitter at the top not maintaining posture.. having to push forward because he is not making room for his hands hands to come through.. leading to a steeper path. Do you have the full swing?If you recall, years ago I started using "behind and through" vs "down and to" as explaining to hitters the barrel path that I wanted them to find. This was simply getting the barrel coming from its starting spot above and behind the hitter, to travel not directly "down" from point A at the top, "to" B out in front at contact....
barrel/hand pivot point, a.k.a TTB
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- Apr 11, 2015
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No disagreement that with an incorrect forward move to the ball ("not maintaining posture"), it will be difficult to attain the proper barrel path. But it's also difficult to have the proper move out to the ball if you're taught the improper barrel path....they go hand in hand.
This young man was one of the many who came to me having previously been taught "knob to the ball" in his words....
No disagreement that with an incorrect forward move to the ball ("not maintaining posture"), it will be difficult to attain the proper barrel path. But it's also difficult to have the proper move out to the ball if you're taught the improper barrel path....they go hand in hand.
This young man was one of the many who came to me having previously been taught "knob to the ball" in his words....
....here's another.....(my apologies in advance to those who've seen these before, and it's becoming repetitive, and tiresome).
Personally one of my favorite parts of these discussions is the interaction between coaches and players. You mentioned that a discussion with a player led to you using a certain phrase. Honestly, I learn a lot from the discussion I have with players. And I think (hopefully) that it makes me a better coach as a result. My goal is to improve while I help them improve.
- Jun 8, 2016
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Nice..mine is usually not to get into an argument
- Apr 11, 2015
- 877
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Oh most definitely....I've learned more about hitting and how to coach it....from all of my different students/players, more so than I have from any "hitting coach" I've ever talked to or worked with.
Nice..mine is usually not to get into an argument
This is the difference between working with your DD and players who aren't.
- Jun 8, 2016
- 16,118
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lol..I've noticed.
Hey DR, thanks for asking...
Yes, the barrel for the most part, but sometimes it's can be just the label - if you will - momentarily, depending on how the bat is moved when and where in the swing. But it's more of just a mental cue more so than any real checkpoint per se.
Yeah, I know, and I'm sorry...that is a pretty flakey, all-over-the-place, crappy answer, let me try to explain better.
If you recall, years ago I started using "behind and through" vs "down and to" as explaining to hitters the barrel path that I wanted them to find. This was simply getting the barrel coming from its starting spot above and behind the hitter, to not travel directly "down" from point A at the top, "to" point B out in front at contact....
....but instead, get the barrel moving from point A at the top, into a path that would get it started towards or into the hitting zone from "behind" the plate....
...and thusly "behind" the ball and "through" it at and after contact.
This worked well for a quite a number of my students, but with teaching anything, not everyone hears, comprehends, and/or applies everything the same, so I kept working on coming up with something that would get the idea across of the barrel path I was looking for, to those who the "behind and through" just wasn't cutting it.
One day I was showing a hitter how to take just his top hand (no bat) into the proper path to the ball, and he said..."Oh, so you mean take it back and 'under' my shoulder, instead of straight down from here to here 'over' it" (as he showed moving his hand from point A to point B)...and "under" vs "over" was born.
Hope that helps, and you can see it in the above clips, and in the Pujols/Arod demo clips when they show a bat/barrel path "over" the rear shoulder, compared to their actual game clips when their barrels come from behind, and "under" it.
It does and thank you for the clarification. I like the 'behind" much better than the under, which you probably already mentioned and I just missed it. It is just even more proof people interpret certain things differently. So basically it is just empathizing barrel depth?
Nice..mine is usually not to get into an argument
If at all possible, I try to avoid arguments with anyone holding a bat
