Sqaushing the bug thing.

Big Words

TBA,
I get part of what you are saying(maybe) see if I am right. at the swing of the bat the front leg is locked (straight), and the hips are are rotated (the catcher can see your back pockets). Describe the ratio of weight transfer (front leg to back leg) and how the back leg is postioned. I understand the hands and arms, I am just curious about the lower half. And I am sure I am asking the question several are thinking

 

Squash the bug

is a que used to teach hitters to get the back foot rotating and not lifting or sliding on the hip rotation. There are many ques used by hitting instructors , coaches etc. You could get 10 well known hitting instructors together and all of them would disagree on some aspects of hitting. That is a fact.

I would focus on what everyone agrees on and what every good hitter does do alike. There are certain things that have stood the test of time. And there are certain fads that come and go. There is no one way to hit. Many coaches clone hitters and teach them all one way , one style , one stance etc. Sometimes this is done because the hitters they are teaching are at a level where anything you do is an improvement in where they are currently at. And sometimes it is done because the coach or instructor believes in his way and only his way.

Again I would focus on what has stood the test of time and then work from there on an individual skill basis. Each kid is different and has a different level of ability currently and a different ceiling. Some kids can mash with a high slotted elbow and some can not. Some kids have success with a slightly open stance and some need to close off.

I bet no one has ever said "Dont track the ball all the way in. Dont keep your eyes on the baseball." So I would say a def would be to teach hitters to track the baseball all the way in and never take their eyes off the baseball. Find it as soon as you step in the box and focus on tracking it all the way in. Another would be learn to hit the baseball deep. Do not be afraid of being late. In fact learn to be late. Learn to hit the baseball between your thighs and where it is pitched. Many hitters hit out in front of the plate constantly and never learn to let the baseball get deep. There are certain things that every good hitter does. These are the things I would focus on. I have seen guys that could slide the back foot , lift the back foot , and they could mash. I have seen others that did this and they couldnt hit their way out of a wet paper bag.

Stance , load , swing plane , timing , strike zone rec , mental approach , strength , etc etc. When teaching hitting its important to understand the level of ability of the kids you are teaching. Have a base of solid hitting fundementals that you teach that they can repeat over and over again. Then learn your hitters. And then be willing and take the time to find what works for each individual kid. I have always said this when teaching hitters "If I had a watch that had 5 parts. And you had a watch that had 100 parts. If one of our watches quit working which one would you want to work on?" In other words have a basic simple hitting approach that works for you. The more you have going on , the more you have to think about doing , not only will you have less success , you will have a much harder time figureing out why your not. JMHO

 

Let me

just make this point and then I will stay out of this one and let everone else respond. Your hitting mechanics have to become second nature. They have to be so engrained that you dont even think about what you are doing you are just doing it because its how you do it. This takes a tremendous amount of work and effort and it takes a tremendous amount of time and dedication.

If your standing in the box thinking "Ok I got to load , I got to make sure I stay closed , I got to make sure I ........................" your in serious trouble because your not focusing on what you need to be focusing on. Your hitting mechanics dont or shouldnt change from ab to ab from game to game. But the things you need to be focusing on at the plate do from pitch to pitch. You can not hit if your thinking about your hitting mechanics while your trying to hit. So no matter what your being taught it is pointless unless your putting in the time needed to make it something you dont have to think about once you step in the box.

 

I agree that you dont need to think about what you are doing. I often wonder how old guys like me ever hit without all the instructing that is out there now.I think I was a pretty good hitter but I stayed in the driveway and hit rocks with a tobacco stick for hours at a time.Of coursre the older you get the better you was!!!

 

I don't think kids could do this today.

Yez. Rocks with stick bats.

I used to enjoy the sounds that the rocks would make after you hit them.

We had our favorite field where there where some power lines that we would try to hit the rocks over. It took years and years to finally hit them over. I think back at that and just think about how hard that really was.
But it was best fun.

 

Amen

Amen 27. Well said.

 

I went to that same school, but I couldn't explain to somebody how I did it. I just did it---lucky I guess.

Fortunately, they have people who can teach the mechanics and properly explain the why's and therefore's, which is pretty cool. I came from a time where if I asked my coach what's wrong with my hitting, he'd spit a a chaw and say, "simple. your missin' the ball, son. See hit and hit it"....and dang, if he wasn't right.

 

Several Variables

This is where it can get tricky, there are variables: pitch location (up-down, in-out), and then whether the hitter is "Rotational" or "Linear"...

Rotational Hitter will have more weight force on the front foot at contact than Linear Hitter. However, just after contact the weight force quickly decreases off the front foot and increases sharply on the back foot during transition into follow-through. The Linear Hitter will continue to see an increase in weight force on the front foot.

Pictures can be deceiving! Eventhough the rotational hitter never appears to get his center of gravity anywhere near the front foot, you have to understand the torque that is actually generated around the pivot (the front leg) and the force that it sees for that brief moment.

 

time it, SEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE it, and hit the top half of the ball swinging the bat hard/w authority trying to drive the ball on a line between the 6 &4 positions.. As said earlier and if I am not mistaken there was a great hitter for the angels and O's named Ford who absolutely could not hit nothing w authority to the left side of the diamond but was deadly middle away....great MLB hitter squashing or capturing the bug is old scholl but still applicable. one of the best hitting coaches i have ever been around is Bubba Dorman @ USC spartanburg i believe? Rotational will is turning on the bug tho... jmho 2 cents.. today i see many way too many hitters not rotating at all on their back foot yet they can time the 98 mph fb and more than this perhaps SEEEEEEEEEEEEE it and then drive it with authority to the gaps 4 & 6....this is why and where their success and longevity come from not what their feet do!!!

 

speaking of old school.... my high school coach was a great coach, but he was a lefthanded pitcher. his instructions to me about catching was.... don't let any balls by you and throw out all baserunners.

plain and simple.

we used the back of our garage for a pitch back for so long it eventually fell down. wiffle ball all day long, taping up an old ball and bat with black electrical tape... oh the good old days... ha ha