Hip rotation is a vital part of generating power when batting. This is especially true for women. A recent army survey of male and female recruits found that the females had 59% of the upper body strength of the males but 72% of the lower body strength, which means women get a higher percentage of their body strength from their hips and legs.
is good advice for a batter but what does it mean ? It means hit a pitch down the middle back over the pitcher,
an outside pitch is hit to opposite field, an inside pitch down the line closest to the batter.
The diagram shows how a right handed batter should look to hit the ball. The closer the ball is to
the batter the earlier, further in front of the plate the batter should hit the ball.
Place the cursor over an image to find out what the batter is doing wrong (or see the list below).........
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List of faults:
1. Opening up, causes pop ups, front foot should stay closed
2. Crowding the plate, can't hit inside pitches
3. Weight too far forward, will lose power and balance
4. Legs too close together, will lose power and balance
5. Looping swing, no power, tendency to pop up
6. Turned too far round, no power on inside pitches
7. Bat wrapped round the head, long swing, less power and control
As a coach when you are watching a batter don't get too prescrptive, don't just watch the swing, watch the results. Some players naturally stand closed or very open and this may suit them, don't just make them change to make them "look" right, watch them hit and if you can see a problem look for the fault that may be the cause, and only then do something to help
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