WebBall.com - The Voters

Comments from the Voters

I believe the most important cue is the focus - I liked the suggestion of focusing on the pitcher's cap logo... at this young age, concentration and elimination of distractions are critical. I teach Costner's 'Focus the Machine...' from the movie For the Love of the Game (that's the quote that I remember anyway). Thanks for the thought-provoking challenge! - Gene Wahler [Editor's note: the line we recall from the movie is 'clear the mechanism', either works for us.]

I coach most like coach 3, but coach 4's words are the easiest for players to relate with.

I believe the clue to great coaching is finding the best way to relate to the kids, not the kids trying to figure out what you mean. As for my hitting clues I tell my kids (right handed batters) that when the left heal is planted into the ground it is the trigger for the start of the swing. I ask my kids if the ever shot a gun; when you pull the trigger the gun goes off. When your heal hits the ground you fire off your swing. The other clue I teach my kids is I ask them if the play games on Xbox or Play Station etc. They all say yes then I ask them to go home and play the game again but this time move their head up and down and back and forward and see how well they play. They now see that eye / hand coordination works best when the head is stationary. I then ask them to relate that knowledge to their bat swing. p.s. your website has offered me to opportunity to be a better coach then I ever thought possible. For that, thank you very much. - Steven Conger

As I read the words of Instructor # 4, they echoed much of what I currently am teaching/employing, but yet they also provided new and helpful perspectives to me. - Richard Collins

I am a combination of authors 2 and 5. Feet are very important but Vladimir Guerrero has shown us that we can lunge and hit bad pitches and be a very good hitter. Same can be said about Roberto Clemente and most of the Japansese hitters in the World Baseball Classic. Hand path to the ball is extremely important. I have yet to see a good hitter who also has a very bad sweeping action to impact/contact. I reach the Power Vee Flex position to hit. Elbows close into extension and a high hand finish. Some of my cues are for hitting which for intiating the swing is to load and walk away from your hands (separation) at heel drop we want to "roll onto the inside part of our pivot foot big toe" (weight on the inside part of the foot up a little bit on our big toe throwing rear knee towards the other knee) and then 'spin on the finish'. We want our hands to go 'forward and down' from launch to impact then take a horizontal path to and through the ball (the cue is "go down the runway and smash the building") and then we 'take off' (go into extension) and go to another airport (FINISH). We describe or make the analogy of planes doing a series of touch and go landings to give young players a visual of our hitting or the swing/hand path that needs to take place to be a good hitter. Kids seem to grasp this concept rather quickly and we use an Advanced Skill Tee to further aid in teaching this hand path technique. - Kevin Goodman

All instructors had valid points.

The key being that every swing is slightly different and success should be measured by the player's ability to 'put the ball in play' and I would add with some 'authority' and ideally 'on a timely basis'. I strongly agree that contact point is critical but also agree that good contact can be made with either a linear or rotational swing and that pitch location should dictate the type of swing - ie. no point in trying to rotate on an outside pitch. A good hitter, in my opinion will be able to cover a the whole plate and will therefore require the ability to rotate on inside pitches and go linear for the outside ones. Without a combination swing approach, the player is limiting themself to only 2/3rds of the plate. - Rob Shaver

I think that the action from the hips are the most important. When I swing slowly, I usually try to turn my hips quicker. - Sky (last name withheld)

Put the ball in play, too much coaching is bad. If a younger player is making contact leave him alone, not everyone is a home run hitter. Power and speed do have relationship with size and weight. Rotational, linear... hitters that can hit see the ball and hit the ball hard to all fields. That should be goal of all hitting instructors not their philosopy of what is correct to them and only them. With young hitters, teach them to get the bat on the ball as quick as possible. Casting and lunging is a problem with most young hitters, proper hand position and balance will correct most problems. It doesn't matter what they look like as long as they come through the zone with good bat speed and make solid contact. - Ron McGaha

I seem to take the approach of Essay #1, the reason is if you can see the ball you can hit the ball. When you teach proper bunting techniques you are essentialy teaching the hitter to see the ball longer out of the pitcher's hand forcing them to keep the head in. Once the hitter realizes this then the mashing will happen. - Mike

This is really good stuff and I'll pass it on to my other coaches. Thanks.

I do try to teach rotational hitting to young players. Author 1 makes a good lesson plan for youngsters in particular. Author 4 does make a good argument for the combination approach and I've learned from both him and Author 5. - John Mackenzie

Using a good wood bat is best for evaluating good hitting mechanics. It shows the hitting flaws and action of the ball off the bat. - Dean Holbrook

I think all 5 papers include aspects of what I believe provides good hitting instruction and specifically proper hitting cues.

I pull from this the vision key and how bunting contributes to good vision-seeing the ball.
All new stuff to me. I hadn't heard of mid-turn and second stance, but after reading the essay, it makes very good sense.
I take the easy effort cue to be the most valuable. I see kids trying to swing too hard all the time, getting themselves off-balance, head pulled, and ball in the catchers mitt when they're done.
I like this the most. The combination swing is most aligned with how I teach and how I understand proper hitting technique. The cues are all familiar.
Had some text that was hard to understand/visualize for me, but in general I understand the concept and it is similar to the combination swing I prefer.

What I like to teach is to load by moving backward (both weight and hands), while doing some form of front foot lift (either full knee lift to a simple toe tap), keep eyes (both) focused on pitchers release point, start stride with pitchers forward movement, keep hands back as long as possible, move them forward last, plant front foot 45 degrees to pitchers release point, foot plant ends the forward movement (linear) and begins the rotation movement (think of pivoting around a pole that goes through the top of your head-down your torso behind the belly button-down between your legs to the ground), which is started by bending the rear knee in, turning the rear leg/foot (squish the bug), turning your front hip out, followed by the front shoulder, and the hands last. I preach hands above the bat's contact point, hitting ball at front edge of plate, either inside the ball, outside the ball or square depending on the pitch (inside, outside, or down the middle). I prefer the top hand off the bat at completed follow-thru. - Doug Lyons

The hitting cue 'hips before hands' seems to convey the overall concept that I like the best. I find that most kids tend to bar the front arm and lunge at the pitch rather than staying coiled and cracking the hip while the shoulders hold back creating the tourque needed to hit a ball hard. - Kevin Brummitt

My cues are:

At my stance:
- Back foot perpendicualar even slightly closed.
- Weight on inside of both feet.
- Knees slightly pinched.
- Hands close to body.
- Weight about 60% on back foot.
Through the swing:
- Locked front knee.
- Back elbow tucked into back ribcage.
- Show knob to the ball first.
- Keep hands inside the ball.
- Keep front shoulder in.
- Back hip snaps forcing back foot to go up on the tip toe while not getting out on front foot.
- Make contact at or behind front knee.
- Smooth follow through.

- Bobby

I believe that the hitter should be relaxed and have his mind focused on what his job is in a particular situation, i.e. count, baserunners, bunt/hit & run. I tend to believe the philosphy of number 1. Put the ball in play and good things happen. - Corbit Cockrum

The way I approach instructing a player is to start with the hands. Line up the knock knuckles and proper grip of the bat. Then work from the bottom up. A good base or foundation is essential. Start with:

feet shoulder width apart
toes pointing forward
a 60-40 tilt back
as they stride keep front foot closed
front leg straight
back foot pivot
belly button to pitcher (back shoulder full turn to pitcher)
bat barrel above hands
eyes on contact
on finish bat head high (bat barrel finishes pointed at sky at 45 degree angle)

- Rich Glowacki

As a youth coach of 13 y/o players, some of the instructions seem too complicated for me to relate to the players. KISS principle applies. I mostly look at head position, and I try to see the feet in a swing. During an at-bat I try to get the players to stay in the hitting zone dictated by the count. - Richard Jones

One topic not fully covered in the lectures is the importance of swing/stride separation.

Although terminology can be different, I don't think I read anyone talking about how a lot of young hitters struggle with getting their front foot down in a good hitting position before starting the rest of the swing. Overall, I enjoyed reading all 5 articles and got some interesting stuff out of each of them. - Tom Berrisford