Common Hitting Flaws

During this past weekend’s showcase/skills camp I was responsible for morning player check in and to throw batting practice in the afternoon. One of the deals I made with the director of the camp was that my hitting coaches and myself could evaluate each hitter and then use those evaluations to entice some of the players to take private lessons. As the day progressed I began to notice that almost every hitter was suffering from the same 3 or 4 flaws.

I was blown away almost every hitter, most of which have private hitting coaches, all suffered from the same 3 or 4 flaws. The hitters who didn’t have these flaws in their swing were the hitters who looked like they had never played before. So not only did they share the same 3 or 4 flaws that the other hitters had but they had a whole list of other problems as well. But I just couldn’t believe that every athlete had the same problems. That none of their hitting coaches could recognize where these athletes could improve and then make the necessary adjustments to their swing.

Like I’ve said before I believe much of this comes from coaches who just don’t know but also It has to do with the fact that if a player’s numbers are good then we have this belief of, “If it aint broke don’t fix it”. The problem is that regardless of what your numbers or accolades are it doesn’t necessarily mean that you have mastered the skills necessary to succeed at the next level. There is always room for improvement. You can always produce more power, more consistency, more repeatability. You can always improve your mind which will greatly improve your performance. There is always something to be worked on. So don’t assume that just because you hit .400 or were all this or all that, that you’ve got hitting mastered.

A couple of other theories that prevent coaches and athletes from striving to find higher levels of performance is the “Natural Born Talent Theory” and also the belief that, “Everyone’s different”. We have this belief that one thing might work for one person but it might not work for another. Unfortunately this is looking at it from an extremely limited perspective. Sure everyone is different and somethings work better for some than they do with others, but the main reason behind that is that they may have different flaws. Most corrections from hitting coaches merely cover up other flaws. They don’t fix the real problem. So in that regard one “fix” might work for one but not another.

If you look at hitting from a biomechanics perspective then everyone, whether they are 5’8” or 6’5”, are biomechanically the same. If you want to generate power it’s important that you do certain specific things to ensure that you are in the strongest position possible at the point of contact. Look at coaches in other sports. Take sprinters for example: There are specific ways of using your body to get the maximum speed out of it. Sprinting coaches don’t tell one athlete to run one way and another athlete to run a different way just because, “everyone’s different”. There has been proven ways to generate speed and maximize efficiency and coaches teach their runners accordingly. The same is in weight lifting. When you are working out there are specific mechanics you must perform in order to avoid injury and maximize strength. It is the same in hitting. If you want to maximize power and consistency then there are specific mechanics that need to be performed.

Unfortunately most athletes never learn these mechanics and as a result success is left up to physical size, strength, dumb luck, or anything else that might lend credibility to the “natural talent theory”. So what were the flaws each hitter was suffering from? What was it that each hitter could do better to drastically increase their level of success?

Base- I didn’t see a single player that had a strong base in their stance. This is primarily due to the “weight shift theory”. Most, if not all hitters are taught to rock their weight to their back leg during the stride and load phase and then it will transfer slightly forward during the swing. This has caused most hitters to have a weak base. They believe that the weight shift back and then forward produces power. The problem is it puts them in a weaker position at the point of contact. When a hitter has a strong base their swing is more repeatable and they are able to produce more power with less effort.
Hip Separation- In addition to a strong base there wasn’t a single player at the camp that got sufficient hip separation. This is an aspect of the swing that not many people talk about. Oh sure, we know that the power comes from the hips and that we must turn our hips to swing but what many fail to realize is that there has to be separation between the hips and hands in order to maximize power production and enable you to maximize your bat path. So more than just turning your hips make sure that you are getting separation between the hips and hands.
Bat Path- The bat path is one of the most difficult thing for the untrained eye to see. Most hitters believe they have a “short” swing but what they don’t realize is just how much shorter and direct they could be. My belief is that this is due to the old teaching technique of “get the hands inside”. While this is good advice what most coaches don’t realize is just how to accomplish this goal. As a result most hitters pull the bat through the zone trying to force the hands “inside” the ball. This forces the bat head down, lengthening out the swing, putting the hitter in a weaker position at the point of contact, and causing the hitter to produce top spin. In addition a small fluctuation in the degree of the bat path creates a massive result in what the flight of the ball will be. Understand that just because you may have a “short” swing doesn’t mean you are as direct as you could be. Worry less about being “inside” the ball and more about being direct to the ball.
Extension- Finally I didn’t see a single player who had good extension through the ball. This is primarily due to the bat path. If you bat path isn’t where it should be then you won’t be able to extend through the ball as well as you should. Most hitters cut themselves short and finish their swing shortly after they make contact. Using the analogy of a punch think of a boxer finishing his punch immediately after making contact with his opponent. The boxer wouldn’t hit his opponent very hard as he wouldn’t be transferring all of his available energy into the body of his opponent. The very same thing is true in hitting. When a hitter finishes his swing too early then he doesn’t transfer all of his available energy into the ball. Which limits the amount of power he is able to produce. This is important not only for hitting home-runs but also for producing more hits. The more energy transfered into the ball, the faster the ball exits the bat, the faster it gets through the infield or shoots through the gap.

In order for the game to change and become better then it’s up to us as players and coaches to pay more attention to the details that create success. There’s an old saying that if we do things the same way we’ve always done them then we’ll continue to get the same results. Our game has become stagnant, it isn’t open to new techniques or new ideas and as a result it lends more credibility to the “natural talent theory” leaving success up to luck or size or strength. Unfortunately many athletes aren’t living up to the potential that resides inside them and even sadder still is that they won’t realize all of their dreams. If you want to perform better, if you want to reach the levels of performance you know you can reach then you must pay attention to the details. Don’t be satisfied with your current level of performance or just try and explain it away by making excuses about your size or genetics. Change these four aspects of your swing and you will begin to produce results that you once didn’t believe were possible.