Hitting Mechanics - The Myths

[Eric F]

"Path of enlightenment." I love it! "Hey coach... How about joining me on the road of enlightenment? Or, would you like to just stay in that road you're on?"

Some like the comfort and familiarity of the long and twisted road they've been spinning their wheels on forever.

 

[HYP]

1. Don't drop your back shoulder!
2. Squish the bug!
3. Swing down through the ball!
4. Get your arms extended at contact!
5. Keep your weight back!
6. Don't let that barrel drop!
7. Swing level!
8. Roll those wrists at contact!

1. Back shoulder doesn't drop. It comes down naturally but if you force it down it will drop or collapse. The thought of keeping the back shoulder up helps you maintain load longer and not leak energy.

2. Squish the bug. Don't have much use for that.

3. Swing Down through the ball. You do throw the barrel down to the ball. You just do not allow it to continue down by keeping your hands up.

4. The thought is to extend through the flight of the ball and not cut your swing off around your body.

5. IMO, you do keep the weight back. You transfer energy into the front leg. The rear knee works under the rear hip, the rear hip works under the head but the head stay pretty stationary. So the weight is still back. You just don't want to lean back.

6. You don't want to let the barrel drop. You will leak the load of the barrel. Why load it if you are just going to let it go? The barrel is going to get below the hands. You are resisting it and then releasing the loaded barrel down to the ball.

7. Level compared to what?

8. Not a big fan of roll the wrists at contact.

I guess my point is, cues used in the proper situation and explained can be good.

 

[HYP]

I've found some usefulness in the "don't drop the rear shoulder/swing level" cue. It's all to do with the explanation and/or perception of what is meant.

For example.
If I said the rear shoulder for most Elite hitters does not begin to work under until the hands GO, you might agree... (don't drop the rear shoulder) Meaning don't dip before commitment.

If I said that the hand-path (once the hands are already in the slot) should not intentionally take the hands down further or intentionally up, but instead, they should extend level, you may agree. (swing level) Meaning the hands should not consciously be manipulated down/up through the ball. The barrel will turn up through the ball though...

.... ....

 

[Doug Romrell]

1. Back shoulder doesn't drop. It comes down naturally but if you force it down it will drop or collapse. The thought of keeping the back shoulder up helps you maintain load longer and not leak energy.

I don't think I've ever seen a batter that just pushes their shoulder down. But, the shoulder coming down "naturally" IS a drop. I think the point here is that they shouldn't be told, "Keep your shoulders level."

3. Swing Down through the ball. You do throw the barrel down to the ball. You just do not allow it to continue down by keeping your hands up.

I see a BIG problem with this. Swinging down to the ball from the shoulder is quite a different angle than what the path of the pitch is. That's quite a feat to be able to make such an abrupt change in the angle in time for contact to be through the ball in the right direction. The best hitters out there come into the path of the pitch from behind the ball with barrel turning.

6. You don't want to let the barrel drop.

Hmmmm. Kinda depends on what exactly you mean by barrel dropping. Given where the barrel starts, there's got to be a lot of barrel dropping for the barrel to come into the point of contact from behind the ball rather than the ole chopping down at the ball straight from the shoulder, which results in a lot of chipping of the ball.


I could be wrong, but it sure doesn't seem you're much of a believer in what most of the real hitting experts around here are telling us to be doing in terms of hitting mechanics.

 

[Greenmonsters]

Just because you are on the road to enlightenment doesn't mean you've reached your destination!

 

[Doug Romrell]

Just because you are on the road to enlightenment doesn't mean you've reached your destination!

That's kinda obvious, don't ya think? I don't think Eric implied that he thought he had reached his destination. I certainly know I didn't. Anyone who feels they've reached their destination wouldn't really have a need to be here on this site.

 

[Greenmonsters]

That's kinda obvious, don't ya think? I don't think Eric implied that he thought he had reached his destination. I certainly know I didn't. Anyone who feels they've reached their destination wouldn't really have a need to be here on this site.

I wasn't implying anything of the sort! The key to shortening the learning curve is to learn from the steps and mis-steps of those who have journeyed further down the road than we have so far. Along those lines, you might want to give Hyp's comments some more thought.

 

[Greenmonsters]

Flattery will get you nowhere.

 

[Eric F]

I forgot why I had you in "ignore" status. I now remember.

GM actually has a valid point - so does HYP.

Depending on how a lot of the cues are taught, they can be useful in specific situations. Equally, the cues can lead to wrecking a swing, which (I believe) was the point of the thread to start with. The key is in the lesson that goes with the cue.

There are some kids that need to be told not to drop the rear shoulder because they do it in an exaggerated way that is detrimental to their swing process. Likewise, some extreme hand-droppers might benefit from the cue of swinging down to the ball to help shorten their hand path. One of the big problems is when the teacher doesn't have a good swing model and spouts cues that don't address the real problems in the swing.

As for my own path...I'm farther down the road than some, and not as far as others. Mistakes have been made, and more will be made in the future. I try to learn a little more every day. Some days, I'm successful. Some, not so much.

 

[redhotcoach]

Welcome back Hyp!