Foundation of Hitting

Hello Playball Minnesota,

Recently we were asked if we had any interest in writing about the fundamentals of hitting for Playball Minnesota and judging by the number of questions that we have received about hitting, I feel that we can help or solidify many of you or your players hitting concerns.  Especially now that your summer seasons are well underway.

How can my son or daughter become a consistent hitter?  What are some drills that we can do?  What do teach the Minnesota Twins players about balance that I can easily relate to my 10 year old that will make sense to him?  How can I get my son/daughter to not be so afraid when hitting?  You have the luxury to teach great, strong and athletic players, what can you do with the opposite?  And they go on and on.  All the questions are good ones and the only poor questions are the ones that are not asked.  They go from simple to complex but all are intended to find a way to help their players.  We field the same questions on a daily basis with our players.  Hitting a round ball with a round bat – squarely is a very difficult task but rewarding when done with some consistency.

Hitting is rewarding if done correctly and consistently.  But what is consistent?  At the Major League level, 3 hits in 10 at bats (.300) is considered the upper level of success.  That’s the goal for most hitters to achieve to gain the recognizable success statis.  In the current month of June, we have 5 hitters in our line-up that are hitting over .300 yet each has had their frustrating nights.  Our first goal has to be in helping the ballclub try to win regardless of our personal stats.  Did we do our best?  Did we not give away out at bats?  Did we contribute in some way?  Were we a better team-mate today?  Did we play the entire game?  Did we have a solid game plan?  Did we pay attention to our coaches, the opposing team and were we following the flow of the game?  Did we stay focused and not become distracted by umpires, fans, parents, etc.????  Wow, a lot of things to be concerned about, but all are what make us better at playing the game as it was intended to be played.

When we begin to talk about hitting, we always begin with the foundation (the base/stance/footwork).  The 3 types of stances (closed, open and even) all have their places.  I generally like to start with the even (parallel) stance to promote balance and to simplify the swing from the ground up.  Just like every building is constructed from the ground up, thus is the building of the correct swing.  Most of our youth have a tendency to be upper body hitters because that’s where they relate their strength to and also the youth bats are very light and do not require the legs to be involved as much.  But the biggest muscle in the body is the hamstring and the sooner we teach our youngest hitter how to use them the better.  As kids grow taller, the strike zone doesn’t and also the pitchers ability to refine and locate their pitches get better.  Thus, the legs need to be engaged more as they develop.  Emphasize this in your drills.  You can isolate the legs (leg isolation drills) by getting the lower half in the “at the point of contact” position and do tee or soft toss drills.  This really trains the leg muscles to fire in order and the players often come away with “tired or burning” leg feeling.  This also promotes alignment of the feet, balance through the entire swing, being strong to the contact point, core balance and proper weight shift.  We often have the players stand on a 2 x 8 (called a balance beam), to make sure they hold their balance through the swing.

I better end for now as we are about 25 minutes from playing Cleveland and I know they’ll be waiting at the cage for some last minute tune up.  Until next time…Keep Swinging, Joe V