Hit It Here

I am constantly amazed at the lack of real hitting knowledge amongst coaches and even some so-called instructors as it relates to hitting mechanics.  I’m talking about ignorance at the highest levels of baseball, from high school(ignorance is rampant at this level), to the collegiate level(yes, it’s fairly prominent here too), and even at the professional level(yes, here too).

Let me relate this story to you to prove my point.  I had a player that I worked with that recently attended a camp at a top notch Division 1 baseball program.  I’m not going to name the school so these coaches can remain safely anonymous.  Let’s just say this school is frequently a top baseball program known more for their pitching than being a school that produces great hitters.  From this story, we’ll know why.   This player and his father related to me what they heard these “Division 1″ coaches telling hitters at their camp.

Are you ready for this?…

Let me first give you a quick lesson on the A to B(sometimes called the A to C) swing.  The A to B(or C) swing as you will sometime hear coaches or instructors teaching, says that a  hitter’s hands start at position “A”(usually high over the back shoulder, higher than the ear) and then travel in a straight line down to the “B” position which is where contact is being made at which point the hands are about waist high.  The hands travel from position A to position B hence the A to B swing.  The swing then continues down through the ball and then the player “finishes high”.

Now consider for a moment the straight line downward path of the hands being pulled by muscles and gravity.  Once they get to position B, what direction can they possibly go from there??  Only in a continued downward path until the arms are fully extended.  Then having “run out of rope”(think of a tetherball), the bat at it’s lowest point circles back up. But nevermind the finish, think about the continued path down from A to B and to the lowest point.

Ok..now are you ready?…

These Division 1 baseball coaches were telling players to swing A to B and then in the next breath they were telling them to… “swing on the plane of the pitch”.  What???  Talk about a complete contradiction in physics and physical ability.  Please tell me how a player can swing A to B and then make an immediate right(or left) hand turn and swing on the plane of the pitch?  IT CAN’T BE DONE.  In fact, it really isn’t even a right hand turn.  It’s more than that because I teach players how to swing on the plane of the pitch and a plane of the pitch swing has a slightly upward path.  So they were coaching  players to swing straight down(from A to B) and then make a turn where the bat is on plane with the pitch???

Whenever you hear hitting cues that seem to be contradictory like what was being coached at this Division 1 College program or anywhere else for that matter,  that is when you should ask yourself  what Mike Epstein calls the important question…”Does this make sense??”

Also ask yourself, is this what I really see the game’s top hitters doing? Forget about what your being told, what do you really see when watching the game’s top hitters?

I know it may seem amazing but contradictions like this and others are being “taught” out there, yes even at the higher levels of baseball.  The sad part is that most players, parents, and other coaches(often youth coaches) hear these things and take them as gospel.  Then they try to do them or coach them to their players.

It’s no wonder so many players are confused as to what they really should be doing.  And it runs down to the very young ages where youth players are painfully confused.  They are coached to “Stay Back and Swing Down”.  Have you ever tried that??  It’s hard.  It’s against the laws of physics and it just doesn’t work.  Why would a coach tell his players this?  Usually because he heard it somewhere and thought that must be right so I’ll coach it.  Are you giving your player’s contradicting messages?  How about telling a player to “swing level” at every pitch?  How do you swing level on a pitch at your knees?  Subconsciously, players have to be asking themselves that question but here’s a better one…

…Does this make sense??