On the Right Track

I was sent a picture by one of my 12-year old hitter's this week. It's a great photo and I love the angle that it was taken from. We talk a lot to our hitters about the lead arm in their swing, and the 2-pictures I will show will include the photo from last weekend with the 12-year old hitter and then a picture of one of the kid's I've worked with from The Woodlands, Tx. Audrey (12U pictured below) is having trouble keeping her barrel below her hands. Becuase of the tightness in her top hand, it prevents her from achieving a proper angle with her bat as she enters the hitting zone, and then it doesn't allow her to effectively put her top hand and wrist in the most effective position to really release that angle back along the line of the incoming pitch. If you'll notice in this photo, the barrel and hands are almost level with each other.

(Click on pictures to enlarge for a better view)

(Jayme is a 2010 Graduate. Collegiate coaches may contact me for more information)

In the photo above , Jayme has created a much better launch angle of her bat. By allowing the barrel to work below the hands, the back arm is in a stronger position and the lead elbow has climbed to the same height of the shoulder, creating a much more solid upper body position to transfer energy into the bat. In our 12U hitter's case, she needs to keep the lead elbow even higher than the ball, allow the barrel to have more of an angle through the contact zone, as well as allow the top hand to properly release the stored energy of the bat, by allowing the weight of the bat to move into the fingers instead of the palm. Our12U hitter's posture can also be corrected, during rotation to allow for her proper lead arm position to be achieved.

The picture of Jayme is a screen capture from the Right View Pro professional system that we use at the Southlake Baseball & Softball Academy. I will be posting some of our research from the RVP system in the near future.

Visit the Right View Pro link on the page for more information about Right View Pro. Contact me if you want to set up a Right View Pro evaluation.

Mark Mulvany
Coach@FastpitchTrainer.com