Overview
Young players tend to develop poor hitting techniques when hitting from a tee or when hitting slow pitching. These techniques can provide positive results for slow pitching or hitting from a tee but do not work well as pitching speeds increase. It is difficult for coaches to get young players to change their swings particularly when they are getting good results. However, as pitching speeds increase, the poor hitting techniques become a greater and greater liability. Here are some of those poor techniques and why they do not translate well to faster pitching:
- The exaggerated wind up or negative move (pulling the arms and shoulders back, with little control, before the swing) increases the distance the bat has to cover to reach the hitting zone, and contributes to late, sweeping swings.
- The long stride and early shifting of weight to the front foot locks the hips. As a result, the lower body and legs contribute little towards the quickness and power necessary to hit faster pitches and the player puts herself in a position (with all her weight on her front foot) to be totally fooled by the change-up.
- An early extension of the arms, whether preceded by an exaggerated wind up or not, results in a sweeping swing with no hip turn. The result is slow bat speed and loss of the power generated by the lower body and legs.
- The uppercut, generally preceded by dropping the hands before the swing, reduces the chances of making contact with the ball and, when contact is made, results in weak pop-ups.
It is important to teach the proper hitting techniques from the start in the Kindergarten and Clinic Divisions because it is very difficult to change bad hitting techniques after they have been used for several years and have become habits. These techniques must be reinforced in every division until they are ingrained. The following describes the proper techniques:
