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The Five Principals of Hitting
Rangers Hitting Coach Rudy Jaramillo
and his Five Principals of Successful Hitting
1 - See the ball. Pick-up the ball from the pitcher's release point. This gives the hitter more time to recognize the pitch.
2 - Rhythm. Every swing is based on timing. Different hitters have different timing mechanisms, including a foot tap or leg kick etc. Rudy doesn't care what the mechanism is, so long as a hitter is comfortable with one, trusts it and sticks with it.
3 - Separation. Get in a good hitting position by separating the front foot from the hands. They go in opposite directions during the loading phase of the swing.
4 - Stay square. Staying closed, at contact, keeps the front shoulder and hips in so a hitter can see the ball a fraction of a second longer. It "backs the ball up." this allows the batter to use the entire field.
5 - Weight Shift. Rudy stresses that the bottom half of the body is a huge factor in a consistent swing. As hitters separate and stay square, they must not be lunging toward the ball. Shifting weight at the proper time allows them to drive the ball.
"Really, the swing is just a transfer of energy from the feet to the hands using rhythm - Rudy"
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Charley Lau's - "The Ten Laws of Absolute Hitting"
1. Achieve a balanced stance
2. Launch the bat from a 45 degree position off the back shoulder
3. Develop a rhythm to alleviate tension
4. Stride with front foot closed (45 degree angle)
5. Take a direct path to the ball; pull the knob to the ball
6. Develop good weight transfer -- from a firm rigid back-side to a firm rigid front-side
7. Keep head still and down at contact
8. Hit through the ball with lead arm extension and flat hands (palm-up/palm-down)
9. Finish the swing high (this doesn't mean to upper-cut the swing)
10. Hit to all fields
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Different articles on hitting
Elbow Up Myth, Why its Bad
DO YOUR FEET STINK! Article on how to properly set your feet in a hitting and fielding stance.
LET THE BALL IN! Hitting advise on letting the ball come more inside on the batter before the batter attacks the ball.
Tracking the ball into the strike zone" Article on visual tracking the path of the ball from the release point to the plate.
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Set Up your Hitting Practice Like the Pros
Set up your Hitting Practice like the Pros
Al Herback and Al Price - better known in Little League Baseball as Little Al and Big Al - are the originators of the "Know Your Baseball" training program, now the Little League Official Education Program for Managers and Coaches.
www.alandalbaseball.com
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The aggressive mentality brings a hitter to the plate expecting to swing at a pitch in the hitting zone.
But the eyes must control that mentality, when the pitch is not in that zone.
If the ball is in the zone - muscles, do your stuff!!
Clevand's Indians former
Manager and Hitting Coach
Charlie Manuel
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A Level Swing
A Level Swing Isn't Swinging the Bat Level with the Ground
There is a lot of controversy concerning the angle of the bat when hitting a pitched ball. Based on watching film of great hitters and what has proved successful for the kids I work with (and in line with Ted Williams' approach to hitting), a level swing is not swinging the bat level with the ground. A level swing also only refers to the path of the bat head through the hitting zone, not the initial part of the swing involving the hands coming down to the ball or the follow through after contact.
A level swing involves swinging the bat level with the path of the pitch. This is a slightly upward swing (the degree to which depends on the pitcher). This increases the likelihood of hitting the ball squarely, even if contact is a little too late or too early. When hitting down on the ball (which is popular among many coaches), the hardest hit balls will be grounders. Lines drives will flutter and only occur when slightly undercutting the ball. Weak line drives are also produced by big uppercuts and the only hard hit balls will be high fly balls (which are easier to catch than low fly balls).
Correcting for uppercuts and undercuts begins with the position of the hands when the stride foot is planted (launch position). Aside from the hands being over the rear foot at this point, their height is also important. Uppercutting (more than what is required by the path of the pitch) often occurs because the hands start too low and often by the ribs. Under-cutters generally start their hands too high, somewhere above their shoulder. Ideally, the hands should be close to shoulder height. From the rear shoulder, the hands should bring the bat head down into the hitting zone and then up at the ball. When the bat head flies forward, it should go through the contact area level with the path of the ball.
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Hitting the Ouside Pitch
By Jim Morris, Head Coach University of Miami
The most important zone to learn to hit is the outside zone. Three quarters of pitches that a hitter sees are on the outside part of the plate or off the plate away. Most breaking balls and change ups are away from the hitter. Every hitter should concentrate on the outside pitch!
The contact point for the hitter on an outside pitch is much closer to the catcher, or deeper over the plate, than the other pitches. Contact for the low-and-away pitch is opposite the back knee. The middle-away pitch is contacted opposite the mid-line of our body. The up-and-away zone is met even with our front shoulder. The lower the pitch, the deeper you let it get. The more the pitch is away, the deeper you let it get; more so than based on the pitch’s height. If the hitter gets too far out front, the angle of the bat causes the outside pitch to be pulled. Unless the hitter is very strong physically, he ends up pulling many weak ground balls and fly balls to the left side.
Hitting the outside pitch out front means the hitter has expended most of his power by the time contact is made. Hitting the ball deeper in the zone enables the hitter to drive the ball toward the opposite field. The bat is angled toward the opposite field when contact is made at the proper point. When contact is made the hands are ahead of the barrel. The low-and-away pitch has the bat angle of approximately a 45-degree angle to the ground. The middle-away pitch has the bat horizontal to the ground. The up and away zone is contacted with the barrel about 15 degrees above the hands.
Most hitters stride at about the point of release from the pitcher. They do this because they have no idea what type or speed the pitch is at that point. When the hitter strides, the weight is transferred to the back foot. To compensate for slower pitches (curve ball, change up) there is a pause or separation between the stride and swing. Otherwise, the hitter has completed his swing and here comes the change up! There is a longer pause or separation on pitches that are outside or low, because they are hit deeper in the zone and have to travel farther.
To keep from pulling off the outside pitch, the hitter has to stay closed in the front side. When the front hip, shoulder, and then the head pulls off the ball, chances of hitting it solidly are remote. The hitter either pulls the outside pitch, hits it off the end, or swings and misses.
A good coaching point when teaching hitters is to get them to stride toward the opposite middle infielder with a closed front toe. The right-handed hitter strides toward the second baseman. If the hitter strides with an open front toe, toward the pitcher, or in the bucket, the front side of the body opens up too early. This toe-to-instep stride not only helps on pitches away, but also keeps the head on the ball longer. The low pitch and outside pitch are the leastwatched zones because they are farther from the eyes.
The back hip is the important hip when hitting the outside pitch. The front hip stays closed. Then the hitter really pops the back hip into the outside pitch. Driving the back hip into the ball provides the power to drive the ball hard to the opposite field.
Every swing starts inside out. This means the arms do not extend too early behind the hitter. Getting outside or around the ball makes the hitter pull the outside pitch. Staying inside the ball allows the hitter to drive the ball to the opposite field. At the point of contact on the outside pitch the arms are extended.
Mentally every hitter looks for the outside pitch first. If you start to look for the inside pitch initially, you open up too early in the front side. Look away first, where you stay closed in the front hip, shoulder and the head/eyes stay on the ball. Then if the ball stays inside you can adjust to the pitch and turn on it if you are quick. Look ouside-in but swing inside-out!
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Hitting Web sites that you should Visit
1 - Video clips of some of the best Hitters in baseball. Excellent site for seeing what a good swing should look like.
Youth Baseball Coaching
2 - Free Hitting Instruction Articles: Baseball Tips.com
3 - Jack Mankin's BatSpeed Hitting web site. Excellent site with discussion boards and articles on hitting, http://www.batspeed.com/
4 - Another good site to visit on hitting is Baseball Fever, http://www.baseball-fever.com/
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