Q: I have a 10 yr old son that plays tournament ball.One coach tells him wait on the outside pitch or hit the inside out front. The other says step toward the pitch (out for inside, in for outside).Who's right?
A: Step towards the pitcher with the front foot(on the ball of the foot) landing at a 45 degree angle. Getting the hands and barrel through the zone a la slot position are what's important mechanically to drive inside pitches. I have drills posted on my bsbl blog for hitting inside pitches.
Also, I covered a few points on the stride, including direction, from another post on my myspace blog below:
Final Chapter: Bio-Mechanics Software Experience
As stated in the previous blog, the experience was a blast and a real eye opener. To not put you to sleep, I'll keep it brief, and stick to the high points of what I like about the software program.
What stood out to me was the information received from analyzing the measurement of TIME that it took the hands to go from the launch position, getting into the slot position and then to contact, and also the measurement of the length of hitters' strides & landing points of the ball of the front foot on various types of pitches. Luckily for me, I also had access to the bio-mechanic information on the best hitters in the American League at the time so I had the ideal bio-mechanic hitting models to reference to as well. Stride lengths and contact time among the best hitters were consistently better than the rest.
Strides, ofcourse, are the timing device that the hitters use in making contact...i.e., timing the pitch. Everyone knows that, but what I didn't know at that time was that the great hitters had consistent stride lengths on every pitch and landed in the same spot regardless of the type of pitch. What's important about that is that other hitters(mostly.290 and below...way below) were all over the place as to where they landed and the length of their stride. The best hitters were consistently the same. That speaks volumes about their tracking (dynamic visual acuity) and ability to keep a still head which results in the optimal amount of eye muscles to use when hitting (refer back to the soft centering-fine centering blog).
From the bio-mechanic tracking of the hands from the launch position to contact, there was a distinct difference in the quality of hitting and productivity of the great hitters as compared to the others. The best hitters are consistently efficient with their hands, getting in the slot position, and putting the barrel of the bat on the ball. The others ranged from minutely inefficient to 'how in the heck did you get out of AAA?!!' One of the hitters, who had pop, had such a big swing and a huge hole from his hitch that he would have led the league in broken bats if the pitchers would've pitched him up and in. Ofcourse, pitchers are pitchers and kept pitching to his strength (low and away) instead. The next season they wised up and pitched to his flaw. It wasn't long until he was traded to the NL, and didn't fair any better there either. He was out of the game at a fairly young age. One side note with this player was that he spent a tremendous amount of time lifting heavy weights improperly in the wt. room near the clubhouse. And that only increased scar tissue in his rotator cuff which decreased his arm strength (throwing) and his bat speed as well. Not a good formula for a player that had hand problems (flaw) to begin with. Take note-you hitters that are seeking the buffed look...you could also be destroying a major tool or two in your wt. training routine. Learn the best way to help yourself in the wt. room...lift less; watch more video.
Also, I covered a few points on the stride, including direction, from another post on my myspace blog below:
Final Chapter: Bio-Mechanics Software Experience
As stated in the previous blog, the experience was a blast and a real eye opener. To not put you to sleep, I'll keep it brief, and stick to the high points of what I like about the software program.
What stood out to me was the information received from analyzing the measurement of TIME that it took the hands to go from the launch position, getting into the slot position and then to contact, and also the measurement of the length of hitters' strides & landing points of the ball of the front foot on various types of pitches. Luckily for me, I also had access to the bio-mechanic information on the best hitters in the American League at the time so I had the ideal bio-mechanic hitting models to reference to as well. Stride lengths and contact time among the best hitters were consistently better than the rest.
Strides, ofcourse, are the timing device that the hitters use in making contact...i.e., timing the pitch. Everyone knows that, but what I didn't know at that time was that the great hitters had consistent stride lengths on every pitch and landed in the same spot regardless of the type of pitch. What's important about that is that other hitters(mostly.290 and below...way below) were all over the place as to where they landed and the length of their stride. The best hitters were consistently the same. That speaks volumes about their tracking (dynamic visual acuity) and ability to keep a still head which results in the optimal amount of eye muscles to use when hitting (refer back to the soft centering-fine centering blog).
From the bio-mechanic tracking of the hands from the launch position to contact, there was a distinct difference in the quality of hitting and productivity of the great hitters as compared to the others. The best hitters are consistently efficient with their hands, getting in the slot position, and putting the barrel of the bat on the ball. The others ranged from minutely inefficient to 'how in the heck did you get out of AAA?!!' One of the hitters, who had pop, had such a big swing and a huge hole from his hitch that he would have led the league in broken bats if the pitchers would've pitched him up and in. Ofcourse, pitchers are pitchers and kept pitching to his strength (low and away) instead. The next season they wised up and pitched to his flaw. It wasn't long until he was traded to the NL, and didn't fair any better there either. He was out of the game at a fairly young age. One side note with this player was that he spent a tremendous amount of time lifting heavy weights improperly in the wt. room near the clubhouse. And that only increased scar tissue in his rotator cuff which decreased his arm strength (throwing) and his bat speed as well. Not a good formula for a player that had hand problems (flaw) to begin with. Take note-you hitters that are seeking the buffed look...you could also be destroying a major tool or two in your wt. training routine. Learn the best way to help yourself in the wt. room...lift less; watch more video.
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