Hitting Problem Troubleshooter

12/13/2007

A few years ago I had a hard time figuring out what to do when my batters were having different problems hitting the ball. I came to realize that that was because that I didn't really understand the root cause of the problems they were experiencing. As a result, I put together this document that describes common problems and their likely root causes, listed roughly in descending order of what I would look for first.

Can't Hit A Good Fastball
- Bat Drag
- Hands not all the way back

Lots Of Swinging Strikes (At Slower Pitches)
- Setting up too far away from the plate
- Swinging too hard
- Overstriding and sliding under the ball
- Bat too heavy or too long
- Poor eyesight
- Not picking up the ball at the release point
- Gripping the bat too tightly
- Head not steady
- Both eyes not on the ball

Lots Of Called Strikes
- Poor discrimination between balls and strikes
- Poor eyesight
- Not picking up the ball at the release point
- Cage of helmet obscuring view of ball
- Not seeing the release point with both eyes
- Fear of being hit by the ball
- Head not steady

Lack Of Power
- Poor posture
     - Not bending at the knees
     - Stance too narrow
- Standing too far away from the plate
     - Fear of being hit by the ball
- Cutting the swing short
     - Not swinging all the way through the ball
     - Not following through completely
- Swinging with the arms and not the entire body
- Hips not rotating ahead of hands and shoulders
- Getting the weight over the front foot
     - Lunging at the ball
- Gripping the bat too tightly
- Gripping the bat in the palm
- Stance too wide

Lots Of Pop-Ups Straight Up In The Air
- Lunging at the ball
- Overstriding
     - Sliding under the ball
- Stepping in the bucket

Weak Pop Flies And Grounders To The Opposite Field
- Bat drag
- Setting up too far away from the plate
- Standing too far up in the box
- Stepping in the bucket

Swinging At Unhittable Pitches
- Can't tell balls from strikes
- Poor eyesight

Constantly Pulling The Ball
- Swinging too soon
- Using too light of a bat
- Standing too far back in the box

Feel free to contact me if one of your kids is having a problem that I haven't listed above. I'll do my best to help you figure out what's going on.
     If you are interested in seeing what a near-perfect swing looks like, I have put together a number analyses of the swings of very good hitters. I have also put together a page with an analysis of a video of Albert Pujols' swing and a page with a number of photos of Albert Pujols' swing. Finally, here's a link to a site with a large number of videos of the swings of pros.