Crazy stuff people teach about hitting

[Ken Krause]

So tonight I was doing my last lesson of the evening. It was scheduled as a pitching lesson, but the dad asked if I would take a few minutes at the end to look at his 13U daughter Hannah's hitting. When we got to that part I asked what exactly he wanted me to look at and he said the whole thing. It seems Hannah wasn't hitting the ball very hard.

I figured the best place to start would be to ask her what she thought she should be doing -- what has she been taught in the past. She told me that she had been to a few hitting clinics at a local D1 college, one I think most people would consider a top 25 program. I couldn't believe what she then told me.

Apparently, all of the instruction had focused on the following: to start the swing raise your front elbow, and bring your back elbow down into the slot (my term, not hers). Next pull the front elbow, and then push the hands through at the ball.

That was it. No mention of the lower body, or the hips, or how to use the shoulders. Nothing. Nada. It wasn't that she didn't remember. It's that's all there was.

I then had her demonstrate what she'd been taught. After a couple of swings, where she perfectly executed exactly what she'd been told, I stopped her and said no wonder she is having trouble. We then started working off a tee.

We only had a few minutes so I couldn't get into a full bore hitting lesson. But I figured I could at least help her use her arms correctly. I put her into the "turned" position, where the hips have mostly come through while the shoulders were still in their starting position. (Some call this the "stretch" position, I believe.) I had her keep her bat angled, then hit the ball off the tee.

In just a couple of swings she was hitting the ball harder than she had with a full swing. We finished by having her take a few full swings, focusing on maintaining what we'd worked on for the end of the chain.

I don't know if it's going to help her much this weekend. I mean, I'm good but that's spelled with two "o's." If she works the drill I gave her during the week it may. But at least it's a start toward becoming a better hitter.

The reason I share this story, though, is as a cautionary tale that can't be told too often. Remember, just 'cause someone coaches at or plays at a D1 college or has some other impressive-sounding credential doesn't mean they know the first thing about hitting. Or pitching, or fielding, or any other aspect of the game.

When you're told something, don't take it as gospel. Look at what great players do and compare that to what you're being told. If the instruction doesn't match what you see, find a better instructor. (If it's a team coach, find a diplomatic way to ignore it and seek out better advice.) There's a lot of bad information and theories floating around there, and listening to it will actually make you worse than if you just tried to stumble your way through it yourself.

Fortunately, there's a lot of good advice out there as well -- advice that will match what you see being done by top players. Some of the "experts" may disagree with one another on certain points, because it's not quite an exact science. There is still room for interpretation. But what you'll see is a lot more similarities than differences among good instructors, especially in the bigger picture. Certain aspects, such as the sequence of events in hitting (hips, then shoulders, then bat) are universal.

In tonight's case, I'd bet good money that not a single even decent hitter on this college team does anything close to what was being preached in the clinics during their games. They may think they do, but they don't.

If you want to be successful, don't take anyone's word for it. Even mine. Verify what you're being told by comparing it to what great players actually do. If it's wrong you'll save yourself a lot of wasted time, and you'll experience success a whole lot sooner. And if you find it's right, you'll be able to pursue it a whole lot harder. As it should be.

More...

 

[Amy in AZ.]

One of my pitching students went to a clinic recently and was taught to hold the bat, with both elbows sticking straight out. She took away nothing that was going to help her hit the ball. Her folks said that there was a lot of standing around and they wasted their money. So, no matter who the instructor is, ask a lot of questions and realize that no one is going to help your hitting, in a single session where she works with you for 15 minutes.

 

[Atlantabell]

Ken, good message. Last year I had a young lady who went to a rather well known local hitting instructor. The girl was a hard worker, but as she started working with the instructor, we started seeing some rather strange techniques. We would attempt to address them at practice, mostly by asking questions, and the daughter and her mother would tell us that these were some things the instructor wanted her to do. As we went through the fall and summer, the girl didn't hit well. Mostly pop ups and little grounders. When we made observations or suggestions, we were told that the instructor was doing it the way she was doing it. After almost a year, we mentioned to the mother ( who was distraught because her kid wasn't hitting ) that maybe they weren't getting all they needed from the instructor and that maybe they should think about getting a different perspective. The mother got upset with us and they are now with another team. I don't think the girl is hitting.

I guess the measure of a good instructor is one who is able to get results with a variety of techniques. Most of the time, these are not strange, outlandish mechanics, but just good, sound instruction. Look at who gets results, who they get results with, etc. And remember, what might work with one student may not work with another.

As to college clinics, I always tell kids and parents that the main focus of these is NOT teaching but raising money or seeing recruits. That's not to say that all college clinics are like that, but some are. Like someone said, ask questions, understand what the focus is, and go from there.

 

[Ken Krause]

Wow, Amy. You're right that no one is going to be able to make your swing better in 15 minutes. But it's amazing how many can make it worse in that amount of time. There are no quick fixes out there.

Can't imagine why anyone would teach a hitter to stick her elbows straight out. That makes no sense at all, even as a drill. Amazing what people get away with.

 

[Ken Krause]

Atlantabell, that is such a common tale. People become enamored of being with the "right" private coach or a "name" private coach that they don't bother to look at whether what they're teaching makes sense or is producing results.

It's no secret that I don't like team coaches messing with my pitchers or hitters. Particularly before they've even had a chance to see whether what they're doing is successful. But if they're not producing results someone better be asking somebody something. Fortunately, what I teach works very well so producing results isn't an issue. But all the old myths certainly can be.

Sounds like you took the right approach -- find out what she's supposed to be doing, or what she thinks she's supposed to be doing, and then see if she's doing that. Sometimes the instruction is good but the execution is poor. But if she's doing something goofy on purpose, and struggling as a resul, it's time to re-think what she's doing.

As I always say, don't judge a private instructor by the success of one or two students. Look at his/her whole body of work. If the top one or two are great and the rest are not, it may just be that those top one or two are more athletically gifted and better able to get past the bad instruction.