Drills to correct uppercutting

[dl1340]

Need some drills to correct upper cutting. Several kids on my sons team have a habit of dropping their back shoulder and swinging up. Are there any drills to help correct this.

[Chris O'Leary]

Need some drills to correct upper cutting. Several kids on my sons team have a habit of dropping their back shoulder and swinging up. Are there any drills to help correct this.

There's nothing necessarily wrong with uppercutting.

Uppercutting is part of how you match the plane of the swing to the plane of the pitch. You uppercut some to hit a fastball and more to hit a curveball.

[Baseball gLove]

There's nothing necessarily wrong with uppercutting.

Uppercutting is part of how you match the plane of the swing to the plane of the pitch. You uppercut some to hit a fastball and more to hit a curveball.

You obviously haven't seen a couple of the kids I'm working with. Their swings would be great if the ball was being dropped from a building. Not so great for those thrown from the mound.

[azmatsfan]

Granted a little uppercut is OK, but I assume you're talking about severe uppercuts where the kids drop their hands and swing at a 60 degree angle to the ground. If you have the use of two batting tees you can set the front tee (closer to the pitcher) about 6" higher than the tee behind, each with a ball on it. In order to hit the ball off the front tee without hitting the ball off the backs tee the batter will have to avoid dropping his hands.

[randy]

Put a tee on a bucket or something so the ball is chest high. If they uppercut, bang! You need to sit on a chair and hold it steady with your foot, or you will be picking it up every swing.

[Chris O'Leary]

You obviously haven't seen a couple of the kids I'm working with. Their swings would be great if the ball was being dropped from a building. Not so great for those thrown from the mound.

I have seen these swings and know they can be a problem, which is why I said "necessarily".

However, many people advocate a flat, level swing which you don't see at the highest levels of baseball.

[Chris O'Leary]

Put a tee on a bucket or something so the ball is chest high. If they uppercut, bang! You need to sit on a chair and hold it steady with your foot, or you will be picking it up every swing.

I wouldn't use this drill because I don't want people to swing at this pitch.

[Chris O'Leary]

Granted a little uppercut is OK, but I assume you're talking about severe uppercuts where the kids drop their hands and swing at a 60 degree angle to the ground. If you have the use of two batting tees you can set the front tee (closer to the pitcher) about 6" higher than the tee behind, each with a ball on it. In order to hit the ball off the front tee without hitting the ball off the backs tee the batter will have to avoid dropping his hands.

First, you have to swing with a major uppercut to hit a curveball, which is the ball that will fly the farthest.

Second, I'm not thrilled with this drill because I think it could reinforce the idea of the level swing.

I think drills like these could easily do more harm than good.

[straightleg]

Use Tee Stackers follow the directions

Straightleg

[Chris O'Leary]

Use Tee Stackers follow the directions

Yet more level swing garbage.

[randy]

Typical...if it isn't yours, it's garbage. gLove and dl-try the drill I mentioned. Maybe you will like it. I think it will get rid of that big upperdut as well as looping the bathead.

[Chris O'Leary]

Typical...if it isn't yours, it's garbage. gLove and dl-try the drill I mentioned. Maybe you will like it. I think it will get rid of that big upperdut as well as looping the bathead.

Please show me a video clip of a good pro swing where the hitter doesn't uppercut.

[randy]

not level with the ground-level with the shoulder plane and the plane of the ball, I believe is the idea.
doesn't matter-it works for us, but you won't try it. Maybe they will-to each their own. If it works for you, use it. If not, don't. Open-mindedness is the key.
The definition of prejudice-contempt before investigation.

[FiveFrameSwing]

Need some drills to correct upper cutting. Several kids on my sons team have a habit of dropping their back shoulder and swinging up. Are there any drills to help correct this.

"Stay on top of the ball. A slight downward swing allows this and is a good way to keep from upper-cutting."

http://www.baseballcorner.com/battingtips.asp

http://www.beabetterhitter.com/blog/2005/09/professional-hitting-tips.html

"Now for the upper half, meaning the hands. The path swing should be down, emulating a "chopping" action. The hands need to stay above and inside the baseball at all times. If the hands drop below the baseball, the swing will be loopy. The "knob to the ball" saying will help young hitters realize this mechanic of staying on top of the ball."

http://www.bigleagueedge.com/tips_hitting.php

[Chris O'Leary]

not level with the ground-level with the shoulder plane and the plane of the ball, I believe is the idea.
doesn't matter-it works for us, but you won't try it. Maybe they will-to each their own. If it works for you, use it. If not, don't. Open-mindedness is the key.
The definition of prejudice-contempt before investigation.

A level swing is understood/interpreted by most people as level to the ground, not level to the pitch. The idea that level swing means level to the plane of the pitch is a newer and much less common interpretation.

At a minimum it's a bad cue because it is so often misinterpreted, if in fact it is being misinterpreted.