Hitting Absolutes If you watch baseball games from little league to the major leagues, you know that hitters have a wide variety of stances from which to hit. However, there are many common denominators in all good hitters. Stances may be different, but there are similarities in the moving parts of the swing if a player wants to give himself the best chance to be a good hitter. Below you will find guidelines for the proper stance and swing. Also keep in mind that every player s body is different and interprets movement patterns differently. Therefore, every swing will not look exactly the same and we should not make every player swing exactly the same way. Use the following as a checklist but also understand that slight variations from these guidelines are accepted. Also see the Photo Gallery at the end for visual examples of some of the best hitters in the world finding the proper position from which to hit. STANCE 1. Athletic, Knees Bent a. Feet are slightly wider than shoulder width, knees bent in an athletic position 2. Hands and Bat Placement a. In stance, hands are even with back shoulder, with top hand slightly above shoulder (near ear) b. Bat Barrel is more upright (up/down) than flat (sideways). This creates a cleaner path for the barrel to get to contact. (Picture 2) 3. Toes In a. Front foot is toes to home plate, back foot slightly turned in. Every pitch, check feet to see if they are turned out, make the adjustment if necessary. 4. Weight Back in Stance a. Shift weight back into the inside edge of the back foot while still keeping head positioned between feet. b. Head should not drift back with weight shift back. Keep head centered between feet to keep from drifting to the ball. STRIDE 1. Hands Back/Head Still a. The phrase commonly used is Stride and Separate. Hands should go back to even with the back foot while front foot strides out to pitcher a few inches. b. During stride (before hands start to travel forward), weight stays back on back foot. c. Head stays still in balanced position between feet. Head should not travel forward too much during stride. 2. Launch position a. With hands back, weight back, and stride out to pitcher (on balls of feet in athletic position), this is the Load or Launch Position. This is the loaded, strong position to drive the bat through the ball. b. Keep barrel of the bat up. Try to keep from wrapping bat behind head or flattening the bat lower than shoulder height at launch position. Woodall Baseball Academy 2013 www.woodalltraining.com 608-213-6261 brad@woodalltraining.com
SWING- Getting to Contact 1. The swing begins with a pull with the bottom hand (left hand for right handed hitters) straight to the pitcher. The knob of the bat leads the way with the barrel of the bat lagging behind. The first half of the swing (to contact) with the bottom hand pulling through sets the path of the bat correctly to the ball. 2. As the hands move forward, the back heel releases and turns to heel up and shoelaces to the pitcher. Think of hands connected to the back heel so that as the hands move forward, the back heel goes up and turns to free the back hip to drive to the pitcher. CONTACT POINT 1. At contact, hitters need to be in their most powerful and balanced position. 2. Weight is distributed against the front foot (inside edge of front foot) with head behind the point of contact 3. Front foot is closed; Back foot is heel up, shoelaces to pitcher, back knee bent with little to no weight on back foot at contact. 4. Hands are palm down (RHH- left hand)/palm up (right hand) with bottom hand (left hand) pulling through the inside of the ball and top hand punching through the inside of the ball. 5. Hitter should focus on back hip driving through the pitcher. 6. Head, nose, chin and both eyes are down on the barrel of the ball at point of contact and through finish of swing 7. Contact point (in relation to body) varies depending on the pitch a. Outside pitch- contact at or around middle of home plate b. Middle Pitch- Contact point at or around front of home plate c. Inside pitch- Out in front of home plate EXTENSION AND FINISH 1. Hands extend past the ball through the point of contact, maintaining acceleration of hands and bat through the ball. 2. Finish is balanced and stable 3. Extension is long and through the ball, not around the body (until the very end of swing at full extension. 4. Front foot stays planted, with hitter trying to keep lower half stable through the extension phase 5. Hands and bat finish high, with bat finishing above front shoulder AFTER PROPER STANCE, CONTACT POINT, EXTENSION, AND FINISH. Jog around the bases in your home run trot!!!
Woodall Baseball Academy PHOTO GALLERY (STANCE)
Woodall Baseball Academy PHOTO GALLERY (GETTING TO CONTACT)
PHOTO GALLERY (CONTACT POSITION)
PHOTO GALLERY (EXTENSION AND FINISH)