What if I told you that the two foremost hitting theories have it all wrong when it comes to driving the hips into the baseball? Okay, so they don't have it all wrong, but they don't have it all right. Between players wanting to maximize their power and the constant battle to have a high average, players are constantly scrutinizing their mechanics for maximum performance. Between controversial hitting theories and the variation on the part of the hitting instructors who teach it, it can be very difficult for any player or coach to have a firm understanding of what is best for their swing.
Now, if your like most coaches and players out there, you are not a guru on the different batting theories and may not be able to spot flaws or discrepancies in so called "expert's" hitting theories. Not to worry, over the next few paragraphs you are going to receive a full walk-through of the two most common theories on the market and I am going to give you why neither one of those are the best way to hit. There is a more common middle ground that players should use to build their hitting foundation and I will let you in on the secret on how to really help your player succeed.
Like many other players, when I was a young athlete my swing was built on a rotational hitting style. Rotational hitting can be explained exactly how it sounds. It is a rotation of the bat around the body. During rotation hitting, players are taught rotate the back knee in towards the groin and take their back heel to the sky with around fifty percent of their weight on the ball of their back foot. The catch phrase of, "squish the bug" is commonly used to explained this style. When using rotational hitting, players usually end with their weight balanced 50/50 or slightly back. "Bat Speed" and power is generated by the torque created by rotating the lower half of the body. The lack of weight transition creates a great sense of stability that limits unnecessary body movement. In theory, this will help players more effectively hit the ball to all fields because the hands are more naturally free to adjust post hip rotation. The down side to rotational hitting is that a players source of power is limited to his ability to rotating his lower half.
On the linear side of things, driving the backside involves more of a push off the back leg into a strong stable front side. Linear style batters often look like they are jumping into the ball and you see a considerable transition of weight move from the backside into a firm front leg. At some point during a linear swing, you will most likely see the back foot of the player come off the ground. Linear hitters will typically hit for more power because there is a large transfer of weight into the baseball. This helps them to apply greater force on contact helping the ball to have great exit force causing the ball to travel a greater distance. Linear hitters will also be more susceptible to off speed pitches. Once linear hitters decide to commit to the ball there is virtually no stopping them. As a result, it is more difficult for them to adjust to changes of speeds.
Saying all that, I believe that the ability for a player to maximize his power begins during pitch recognition. Why? Properly identifying pitches will allow a players to drive their hips in alignment with the field they want to hit the ball. Many players will mistakenly try to hit the ball to the wrong field because of poor identification skills and will never allow themselves to fully generate the maximum amount of power their body has to offer. To fully understand why a middle ground between these two theories is a better option, go back a read my piece on the baseball load. It will help bring this concept more into focus.
Getting back to the hips, I like the idea of stability in balance from rotational hitting, and I like the idea that a weight transfer can increase my bat speed and power. So here is what I want your player to do. The next time your player "pops his hips" or drives his backside, I want him to actively try to drive his knee and hip into his front foot. In reality, he will probably only drive it 2-4 inches lower then were his knee starts, but over-exaggerating this concept gives players something to shoot for. As your player gets older and his core becomes stronger, they will naturally begin to keep their upper body in sync with their lower body. However for young players, begin with the knee and the hip.
You can explain this theory to your player in a few different ways, but I always say that it begins with rotational hitting and ends with linear hitting. The next time you have a batting practice session with your player, I want him to drive his back knee and his back hip downward towards his front foot. This will cause his knee to drive down towards his front foot about 2-4 inches as well as transfer a portion of his weight forward. As players develop more strength in their core muscles, their upper body should rotate and drive in sync with their lower body, however working off the hip and knee is a great place to start.
Once a player feels contact on the bat, I want my players to "walk through" or push any weight they have left on their backside to the field they are trying to hit the ball. I call this "Post Contact Weight Transition". Now in order to get a complete understanding of how everything correlates together, you are going to have read my upcoming pieces on driving the hands and contact, however this will give you good base to start from. By giving this extra effort after contact, players will generate more "bat whip" or power through the zone and into the baseball.
As far as what this will feel like for your player, he should feel as though his weight is rolling off his back foot and transitioning to the field he wants to hit the baseball. His foot will feel heavy from the rotation and then light after he extends through and post contact. Another explanation, is he should start by "squishing a bug" and finish ending on his toe with his heel toward the sky.
Remember, maximizing your hips and power all begins with identifying the pitch correctly. For instance, if your player is a right handed batter and he identifies the baseball on the inner 1/3 of the plate, he should drive his hips and almost walk through to left field. If he identifies the ball in the center 1/3 of the plate, he should drive his hips and walk through center. The same goes for right field. By doing so, your player will focus his energy to that field maximizing all he has to offer into the baseball. Misidentifying the pitch causes a disconnect for players as they will drive their hips to one field, but try to hit the ball to another. Aligning the two makes for a very dangerous hitter and a very powerful swing.
In reality, all three theories are all very similar in approach. In order to truly feel the difference between each approach, players need to experience it first hand. Have you player take a few swings as a rotational hitter, a linear hitter, and then our theory in-between. Once your player understands what each style feels like and what he is striving for, he can begin working on his consistency. Use these methods during your next batting training session to increase your players power and consistency in driving the baseball to all fields
Now, if your like most coaches and players out there, you are not a guru on the different batting theories and may not be able to spot flaws or discrepancies in so called "expert's" hitting theories. Not to worry, over the next few paragraphs you are going to receive a full walk-through of the two most common theories on the market and I am going to give you why neither one of those are the best way to hit. There is a more common middle ground that players should use to build their hitting foundation and I will let you in on the secret on how to really help your player succeed.
Like many other players, when I was a young athlete my swing was built on a rotational hitting style. Rotational hitting can be explained exactly how it sounds. It is a rotation of the bat around the body. During rotation hitting, players are taught rotate the back knee in towards the groin and take their back heel to the sky with around fifty percent of their weight on the ball of their back foot. The catch phrase of, "squish the bug" is commonly used to explained this style. When using rotational hitting, players usually end with their weight balanced 50/50 or slightly back. "Bat Speed" and power is generated by the torque created by rotating the lower half of the body. The lack of weight transition creates a great sense of stability that limits unnecessary body movement. In theory, this will help players more effectively hit the ball to all fields because the hands are more naturally free to adjust post hip rotation. The down side to rotational hitting is that a players source of power is limited to his ability to rotating his lower half.
On the linear side of things, driving the backside involves more of a push off the back leg into a strong stable front side. Linear style batters often look like they are jumping into the ball and you see a considerable transition of weight move from the backside into a firm front leg. At some point during a linear swing, you will most likely see the back foot of the player come off the ground. Linear hitters will typically hit for more power because there is a large transfer of weight into the baseball. This helps them to apply greater force on contact helping the ball to have great exit force causing the ball to travel a greater distance. Linear hitters will also be more susceptible to off speed pitches. Once linear hitters decide to commit to the ball there is virtually no stopping them. As a result, it is more difficult for them to adjust to changes of speeds.
Saying all that, I believe that the ability for a player to maximize his power begins during pitch recognition. Why? Properly identifying pitches will allow a players to drive their hips in alignment with the field they want to hit the ball. Many players will mistakenly try to hit the ball to the wrong field because of poor identification skills and will never allow themselves to fully generate the maximum amount of power their body has to offer. To fully understand why a middle ground between these two theories is a better option, go back a read my piece on the baseball load. It will help bring this concept more into focus.
Getting back to the hips, I like the idea of stability in balance from rotational hitting, and I like the idea that a weight transfer can increase my bat speed and power. So here is what I want your player to do. The next time your player "pops his hips" or drives his backside, I want him to actively try to drive his knee and hip into his front foot. In reality, he will probably only drive it 2-4 inches lower then were his knee starts, but over-exaggerating this concept gives players something to shoot for. As your player gets older and his core becomes stronger, they will naturally begin to keep their upper body in sync with their lower body. However for young players, begin with the knee and the hip.
You can explain this theory to your player in a few different ways, but I always say that it begins with rotational hitting and ends with linear hitting. The next time you have a batting practice session with your player, I want him to drive his back knee and his back hip downward towards his front foot. This will cause his knee to drive down towards his front foot about 2-4 inches as well as transfer a portion of his weight forward. As players develop more strength in their core muscles, their upper body should rotate and drive in sync with their lower body, however working off the hip and knee is a great place to start.
Once a player feels contact on the bat, I want my players to "walk through" or push any weight they have left on their backside to the field they are trying to hit the ball. I call this "Post Contact Weight Transition". Now in order to get a complete understanding of how everything correlates together, you are going to have read my upcoming pieces on driving the hands and contact, however this will give you good base to start from. By giving this extra effort after contact, players will generate more "bat whip" or power through the zone and into the baseball.
As far as what this will feel like for your player, he should feel as though his weight is rolling off his back foot and transitioning to the field he wants to hit the baseball. His foot will feel heavy from the rotation and then light after he extends through and post contact. Another explanation, is he should start by "squishing a bug" and finish ending on his toe with his heel toward the sky.
Remember, maximizing your hips and power all begins with identifying the pitch correctly. For instance, if your player is a right handed batter and he identifies the baseball on the inner 1/3 of the plate, he should drive his hips and almost walk through to left field. If he identifies the ball in the center 1/3 of the plate, he should drive his hips and walk through center. The same goes for right field. By doing so, your player will focus his energy to that field maximizing all he has to offer into the baseball. Misidentifying the pitch causes a disconnect for players as they will drive their hips to one field, but try to hit the ball to another. Aligning the two makes for a very dangerous hitter and a very powerful swing.
In reality, all three theories are all very similar in approach. In order to truly feel the difference between each approach, players need to experience it first hand. Have you player take a few swings as a rotational hitter, a linear hitter, and then our theory in-between. Once your player understands what each style feels like and what he is striving for, he can begin working on his consistency. Use these methods during your next batting training session to increase your players power and consistency in driving the baseball to all fields
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