Remember that one time when it wasn’t raining and we actually got to practice outside? That day, when we were out there, I spent most of my time at the pitching venue…but when I was able to go over to the field and watch some of our players hit, I saw some good things; but I also made some mental notes about things we could focus on improving:

1, It seemed with the hitters I saw, that there could be improvement with their loads.
2. Some of the hitters had bent front knees at contact.
3. There was lack of extension at contact point.

These 3 things will cause major power leak. Not truly getting the weight back and stacked is like tossing a rubber band at someone, rather than pulling it back and snapping it. If your front knee is bent at the time of contact, that means your weight is forward before your bat is thru the swing zone, and this will result in a high percentage of batted balls resulting in ground balls. Lack of extension means you are not getting bat head whip thru the zone, and if that is the case, most of the hit balls will be off the taper, rather than the sweet spot.

I want us to focus on a vertical stack starting with the back knee, and from there the back hip and shoulder should be in alignment. Then, to ensure optimized weight transfer into bat at contact in front of plate, we need a straight/locked front leg. Next, the whip like action of the barrel from when the handle comes across bellybutton to front elbow extension at contact in front of body will make a huge difference in distance and power.

It takes time, and more importantly, it takes effort.

If we can get to a point where we have a true load, with a locked front knee at contact, along with full extension at contact, I guarantee we will all be even better hitters.

I came across these articles, and think they are great…if you can, check them out…good reads, along with good videos:

This one, is about a player with one of the most powerful swings you will see – Alex Hugo:
https://torque-hitting.com/2014/05/10/alex-hugo-must-see-tv/

This one is about an amazing hitter with a .424 average, 21 homeruns, and a .880 slugging percent…and she is only 5’4"…so you know at that size she is generating extreme leverage thru good mechanics – Kasey Cooper:
https://torque-hitting.com/2015/06/05/asey-cooper-must-see-tv/

Check it out, give it a try!

James