The simpler the better guys, any talk about rotational and linear swing dynamics to a 9 & 10 y.o. and their eyes glaze over. How about bring the barrel with the back knee? Whatcha got?
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The simpler the better guys, any talk about rotational and linear swing dynamics to a 9 & 10 y.o. and their eyes glaze over. How about bring the barrel with the back knee? Whatcha got?
Don't think there's any single ONE magic cue that can flip the lightswitch for a youngster who is fighting all the "normal" inclinations to swing the bat with the hands (inducing bat drag, etc.)
I think the "foundational" cues that work best with my 10 yo at the moment are:
1) Tilted posture (reinforced with the idea that pitch elevation is matched by varying tilt, not raising or lowering hands to the ball)
2) Hands up high (trying to start things close to the plane of the shoulders)
3) Start the swing with the hips/legs
4) Turn to the pitch
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If you go with rotational hitting, you are not really transferring any weight. The cues that Mike Epstein uses are geared towards rotating along an imaginary axis that starts with your lead foot and extends up thru the entire body. I think weight transfer is more associated with the linear approach to hitting.
I started teaching my son using linear techniques and only switched to rotational last year when he was 11. I wish I had started him on rotational when he was much younger.
The three cues:
1. Hips lead the hands
2. Match swing plane of the bat to the plane of the pitch
3. Hands stay inside the ball
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What Bama said. Imagine a spring uncoiling on the swing.
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If you're teaching a rotational approach with no weight/momentum transfer, the kids gonna have problems. The #1 common mechanical fault I see among young hitters is not getting momentum off their back side. Without weight/momentum transfer, the batter "spins" off his back foot. It's rotational yes, but it's only rotational. High level hitters don't spin on their backside. Their first move is linear. Weight moves off the back side as he loads with a slight coil of the shoulders. At stride plant, that momentum he built up is transfered to the swing phase. The moment the heel drops, all linear move halts off a firm plant leg and it's all rotational from there.Originally Posted by Bamadad
It's a mistake to take "rotational hitting" too literally. I do agree with rotating off an imaginary axis of the lead leg, but that's after the foot plants, which is after a linear momentum shift.
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This is pretty accurate. People misinterpret rotational and then you got a no-stride, weight never gets off the back foot, no timing, spinning, batting cage hitter.
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Sorry not to offer a drill or a cue. At that age fear of the ball leads to problems with the lower half. If the legs don't want to move into the line of the pitch then the swing is finished-nothing can be done. So I suggest addressing the fear. Also, at that age a lot of kids don't have the requisite leg strength and balance to get things done with the lower half exactly. So patience is required. But mainly it's due to fear. Might have been coached into problems as well. I'll take a hitter who does the lower half naturally, if he's not afraid of the ball, and compare their lower half to any coached by the numbers lower half hitter.
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The OP was talking about 9-10 yr old hitters.
If it's rec baseball, then I'd be very satisfied if I could get them to have some semblance of a connected swing, regardless of what was going on with the lower half.
Spin, squish bugs, no-stride, stride--anything as long as it isn't step in the bucket.
Skip
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Definitely. And even stepping in the bucket has merit with some. See video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-ngmqC_ftQ
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Lol - Domingo's the best. Glad to see he's still making new videos.
I agree that expectations should be commensurate to the level that these kids are at, but imo it's still important to instruct with the goal of achieving a high-level swing. Even at the rec level, as a coach you still have to fix things like spinning off the back foot and squishing the bug. 9-10 is old enough to have higher expectations if they're motivated to get there.
A couple of my favorite ques during the stride/load - Move the back pocket of the rear leg to the ball during stride. Hitter should feel a "whole body movement" initiated by the back pocket. I use this que to hopefully avoid the hitter who reaches with his stride foot toe (or steps out with that foot) and keeps his weight on his backside. Another one during the stride is track the ball with the front shoulder. Encourage the hitter to put the shoulder right on the ball. Intention of this que is to generate a proper coiling of the shoulders while striding.
During the swing phase after foot plant, I like back shoulder to the ball. Intention is to get the back shoulder on plane quickly with good spine angle. So basically track the ball with the front shoulder then trigger the swing with the back shoulder, taking it straight to the ball.
Last edited by CoolHandLuke; 02-14-2013 at 06:03 PM.
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I might try the "back pocket" one. Yes, I have trouble (14 yr olds, not the hs guys) with getting off the back foot. Not sure if it is a strength/balance/fear thing. Might vary depending on the hitter. I have some guys with the requisite strength/courage/balance who don't do it correctly. Maybe they were coached in to it. I have them take some rounds (whether, tee, toss, or live) with just lifting the back foot off the ground as they make contact. Not sure if it will help them but it at least conveys the concept. But I'm convinced in some cases it's merely a lack of strength, aggressiveness, combined with some fear ( a little stepping out.) Don't see the problem much with older kids. Like I heard Billy Ripken say once, and I think Yeager buys it too, being aggressive with the hands, getting after the ball, the intent to hit the ball hard, can help with the proper legwork.
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@ 2:15 Yeager talks about back leg control of the stride. i.e. make sure its the initial unloading of the back leg (via ABduction) that begins to put the front leg foot down. This ensures proper "weight shift" and mimics the same exchange between the feet that we want in throwing.
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How about a way to show them, and allow them to have a feel for what you're shooting for before you even start in with the terminology? You can do it with something that every home in America has at least 3 or 4 of. A spatula. Grab one out of the kitchen and grip it...............What does it take to bring the face of it flush a foot or so perpendicular to your belly button?
The hardest thing you face is that kids that age have had success with the "lottery" swing. They've been able to get their back elbow away from their body, roll their wrists prematurely, and tomahawk balls up around their eyes or hit the ball way out ahead of the plate. So, they, along with Dad reject the advice and write you off as being off the reservation when you suggest something so simple to get them started.
There are two kinds of losers.....Those that don't do what they are told, and those that do only what they are told.
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As you stated, the rotational hitting approach as Epstein (and Ted Williams) teach it does not kick in until the front heel hits the ground. The linear movement involved with a stride, load, etc is not a part of what differentiates rotational approach compared to the linear approach.
The OP specifically asked about some cue to give young hitters involving weight transfer. When I see the term "weight transfer" used with hitting, I think of a hitter who is balanced 40-60 on his back foot and during the course of his swing, pushes off with his back foot (likely squishing the bug) and transfers the weight from 40-60 to 60-40 with the front leg bearing the weight. The rotational approach calls for a balanced 50 50 stance with the torquing of the hips used to pull the backside around. The back foot of a lot of the more powerful MLB hitters comes completely off the ground when they swing. To avoid teaching the bad habits of a linear swing, the best cue I can think of to get young hitters started off on the right track is to go with Epstein's "Hips lead the hands". That helps to create the torgue necessary for a good rotational swing and the younger they learn how to do that that the better IMO.
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I really like Yeager a lot. I'm sure what he is saying is true. But he wouldn't need the device advertised if he had been frequently successful with cues and real descriptions to describe the action with hitters. So it's a difficult thing to teach and execute.
There is a distinction in hitting instruction between what should be taught in hitting and what is "true" about hitting. So it's a lateral press from the back leg we are talking about. Maybe saying that would help some hitters but it probably wouldn't do much with most. That's why he has the device (and to make some dough).
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I like those, like I said the simpler the better.
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A little off subject of my own thread, but why do you see so many kids getting carried away with wrist action at contact, any fixes?
Baseball Voodoo
Usually, their back elbow is not at their hip.
eFastball.com hitting and pitching fact checker
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How can hands stay outside of ball?
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Why not use the diagonal rubber behind the Body instead of in front? I think that would promote coiling better.
I think walks are overrated unless you can run. If you get a walk and put the pitcher in a stretch, that helps, but the guy who walks and can’t run, most of the time he’s clogging up the bases for somebody who can run. – Dusty Baker.
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Its a cue to remind batters to not cast/extend their arms out when they swing. The closer your hands are to your torso, the faster you can rotate your hips and generate bat speed.
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