Hitting a Baseball - One Force Against Another

Batter VS Pitcher

In reality, hitting a baseball is a combination of two forces colliding. One element being the force behind the ball while the other being the force that you are able to exert with the bat. As a hitter, your goal is to apply equal to greater force than that which is coming he provides the proper amount of force, the elements of timing, hand-eye coordination and bat control are needed as well.

Many young hitters are not successful because of the way that they distribute their force. Delivering this force properly will help aid in their hand-eye coordination as well. Now it's just a matter of timing. A lot of common flaws that hitters exhibit are tied together. One flaw leads to another. A swing motion must occur in a split second. One body part aids in another's ability to perform its job correctly, and so on. Recognizing one problem and correcting it just might fix two or three other problems.

How many times have you heard a coach tell one of his players to get his elbow up during his stance? Why?? First of all, before I go any further let me make the following statement clear: "If you can't give an educated reason why something should or shouldn't be done, then you shouldn't be teaching it that way." Now, with that said...

The same coach who is telling his player to get his elbow up is also most likely telling him that he is dropping his shoulder during his swing as well. Think about it...you can't swing a bat if your elbow remains in an upward position. Therefore, the natural reaction at the start of the swing is going to be a drop of the elbow. However, this is where the law of opposite reactions comes into play. When the back elbow drops, the front elbow comes up. Grab a bat and try it. Make sure you apply force to your swing in order to witness this occurring. When the front elbow comes up, so does the front shoulder. What does the back shoulder do?? It drops!!

If you teach your hitters to relax their back elbow, their hands can work freely and they have less of a chance of dropping the back shoulder. This is an example of one flaw leading to another.