Fastpitch Softball Hitting: Bottom Hand Only Drill

Posted on YouTube by jebadoa
Coach Scott Miller demonstrates a drill for improving the front arm in the swing. Many coaches use this drill, but few use it or teach it correctly, and they actually reinforce BAD habits. Learn the proper way to teach "bottom hand" and help your hitters excell.

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Softball Hitting Drill: Walk Thru Hitting Drill

Walk Thru Hitting Drill w/ Variations
Posted on Youtube by naplesmystix

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Softball Hitting Drills - How To Improve Your Forearm and Grip Strength for Power

Softball Hitting Drills - How To Improve Your Forearm and Grip Strength for Power

http://www.softballperformance.com - Softball Hitting Expert, Marc Dagenais, share some of his great hitting drills and softball training tips to help you increase your grip strength and hitting power.

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Tips on Coaching Softball Hitting

Helpful Tips on Coaching Softball Hitting
By Guest Author Marc Dagenais

If you want to have a well-rounded team, you must teach them how to perform all the aspects of the game well. You should teach them how to pitch and throw the ball correctly. You should also show them how to slide. And of course, you should teach them how to hit with more power and accuracy.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of so-called hitting coaches who do not have an idea on how to teach players how to hit the ball correctly. They only tell players to do this and that but never really know if that's what the particular player really needs to improve her hitting. Worse, these coaches never show players HOW to do it.

So if you want to improve your team's hitting, here are some of my softball hitting tips for you.

Before You Teach Softball Hitting Techniques

First, you should begin by looking into each of your player's hitting technique. You could do this by letting them hit the ball several times and find out what they're doing. But if you want to be more accurate in your analysis, I strongly recommend that you videotape their swings so you can review them several times, and if possible, slow it down.

Once you've nailed down what's working and not for each of your players, you should provide each of them with feedback. It eats up your time but it's something that will truly help your team become better hitters.

But what particular areas of softball hitting should you look out for?

Teaching Your Team the Proper Softball Hitting Techniques

One of the areas you should look out for is the stance. Teaching your players the proper stance is important for several reasons. For one, it helps them to keep their balance while on the plate. Another thing is that a confident or aggressive stance can also play a significant role in the mental part of the game.

You should also teach your players how to handle the bat correctly. The tendency of most players is to choke the handle of the bat, hoping that it will provide them with better grip and control. It does provide them with better grip, but gripping the bat tightly reduces the bat and ball speed. Tell them to loosen up their grip on the bat instead.

Anticipation is also important for your players to hit the ball with greater accuracy. To improve your team's anticipation and accuracy, teach them how the track the path of the ball from the time it leaves the pitcher's hand to the time it goes within their hitting range.

All in all, it's about teaching your players the correct softball hitting mechanics. When they know how to hit the ball correctly, they will be able to do it with lesser effort but with more accuracy and power. And as a coach, there's probably nothing more you could wish for from an offensive point of view.

But you should also take a scientific approach at coaching your players in doing the correct hitting mechanics. Take the time to individually analyze the way they hit the ball so you can provide each of them with specific advice on how to improve their hitting.

Marc Dagenais is a Softball Peak Performance Coach that helps softball players turn their athletic talent into extraordinary performances and help coaches get more out of their players, turn their struggling team around or get an edge over their opponents. Visit us to sign-up to get our FREE softball pitching tips!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marc_Dagenais

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Softball Hitting Drills - How to Increase Batting Power

Softball Hitting Drills - How to Increase Batting Power

http://www.softballperformance.com/ - Marc Dagenais, peak performance coach demonstrates an excellent drill to increase your batting power.

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Fast Pitch Softball Hitting Drills with Crissy Rapp

Fast Pitch Softball Hitting Drills with Crissy Rapp
On http://ClubHouseGAS.com, noted college player and coach talks about the basic drills for fast pitch softball hitting. Also check-out http://YouthSportTravel.com



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Dramatically Improve Your Softball Game With These Sport Specific Exercises

Dramatically Improve Your Softball Game With These Sport Specific Exercises
By Guest Author Bill Manly

It has now become accepted fact that weight training can help softball players become better. In the last decade, specific training programs have really developed. There are different training programs for each type of sport, and softball is not an exception. The weight training programs for softball players mainly focus on the core stability of a player. They serve as a base for power conditioning that is required in the game. The program takes about 4 to 6 weeks and should be combined with a complete body workout.

Unfortunately, most of the softball players lay a limit to their muscle strengthening by working out only on a specific group of muscles. However, a number of muscles should be included in the best strengthening programs. Some of the muscles that are ignored are the lower back, abdominal muscles, hip flexors, hip abductors, and hip adductors as well as all the upper body muscles. To avoid injuries connected to the game, all these muscles have to be exercised. Some of the exercises that should be combined with the softball-training program include:

The Horse Stance Exercise

Start while you are on your knees and hands, with your spine in a neutral position. The abdomen should be drawn in and the chin tucked. Then slowly raise your arm with the thumb up as well as the opposite leg. The arm and leg should be kept straight as you lift your body to a given height and hold it for about 5 to 10 seconds. After this, return the leg and the arm to the ground slowly. This should be repeated on alternating sides while you maintain optimal alignment. As you become better at this exercise, try holding it for a longer time and also include weights.

Stork Stance

The stork exercise works on core stability and balance. You stand on your left leg with the knee slightly bent. Once in this position, draw your belly button toward your spine. While extending the other leg behind you, bend at the waist. Try keeping the leg straight by forming a parallel line from the head to the toe. While maintaining this position, lift the arms so that the upper arm is parallel to the floor. The position should be maintained throughout the exercise as you repeat the exercise for each leg.

Cobra Stance

This works on the core upper, lower back and the gluteus muscles. With your face laying on the floor, the legs straight and the core and gluteus tense, squeeze the gluteus muscles and slowly retract the shoulder blades. The arms should be at the side with the thumbs facing the ceiling. Tuck the chin towards the chest as you keep the neck and spine aligned. The head should not be allowed to extend backwards. There should be slight discomfort in your lower back while you concentrate on squeezing the gluteus muscles.

If these three exercises training exercises are performed regularly, you should see dramatic results in your softball game within just four to six weeks. Keep up the training, and you will leave the competition in the dust.

Bill has been an online article writer for nearly 6 years. In addition to his normal topics of diet, fitness and weight training, you can also check out his latest website on Brother Embroidery Machines as well as Garden Tractor Tires to see reviews and product comparisons.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bill_Manly

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Baseball & Softball Swing - Confidence Vs Mechanics

Baseball & Softball Swing - Confidence Vs Mechanics
By Guest Author Todd Thomas

I was at a high school level ball game recently. Of the two teams playing, one was filled with a group of very cocky players. They were cocky and CONFIDENT. What's interesting is that the players on this team had some of the worst baseball swings I have ever seen in my life. But they were confident as all get out.

It's an interesting phenomenon to observe that a player can have horrible mechanics but have supreme confidence(cockiness is a good word to describe here) and still be able to hit the baseball successfully. Alex Rodriquez successfully? NO! No, as I watched the game none of these players really scorched the baseball but they did swing confidently at it and put the ball in play often finding holes and blooping hits all the way to a 14 to 2 win.

These players' potential to play at higher levels is limited with bad mechanics. Ultimately, they will reach an end to their success(and subsequently their confidence) as they move to higher and higher levels of baseball. These were high school players. Obviously, they are going to have some success at the high school level. Reaching the collegiate level is probably out for most of them because of their technique, but one or two of them may reach that level. Then that's probably it. I once had a collegiate player over for some training and his mechanics were awful, but he was playing Division I baseball. Why? More than likely he was extremely confident up until this point but now was crashing and burning at the collegiate level. He also had a load of natural ability that had carried him this far too. However, he had reached his peak and I remember telling him that if he has sights on playing professionally he needed to change what he was doing mechanically. And he did have the desire to play pro ball.

However, even if a player works on and gets mechanically sound, I believe that any player(no matter what age) will struggle if they don't learn how to be confident. If they are not confident and their new mechanics aren't "working" for them, then they will blame the mechanics or the teacher or both and will keep searching for that "perfect" way to swing to insure success. When what they really need is confidence training in order to raise the game and to be successful.

So is learning the proper mechanics the "answer" to being a good hitter? I teach the mechanics of the best players in the game and I am supremely confident in what I teach. Let's say however that I took a player from the team of confident hitters with bad mechanics and we started working on fixing his mechanics. IF he is able to sustain his confidence, look out. He should excel in a big way.

What if though(and this probably goes higher the younger the player is) the player starts "thinking too much" about executing the proper swing mechanics? What if he starts over-analyzing his swing and trying to hard to make things happen with his new swing? Questions and doubt may start building within him after a bad(weak) hit or a strike out. He then starts asking himself, "Am I doing it right?" "Am I performing my mechanics correctly?" If the results are not there, then the player will assume that he is not swinging "correctly" and there begins the process of over-thinking, over-analyzing, and confidence shrinking. And I believe the downward spiral of his hitting results and confidence will continue to fall.

What's interesting as I think about the team of cocky confident hitters is that I don't think they realize that they suck. Their mechanics that is. They seem to have no idea how "bad" they are and they play as if not to care. They are just confident. On the contrary, they are pretty good because they THINK they are in spite of what they don't know.

So which is more important? Confidence or mechanics? It seems from my observations that confidence with bad mechanics can still have a degree (albeit limited) of success. YET, good mechanics with zero confidence and playing scared seems to have no chance to succeed.

Hmmm?

Todd Thomas is a Baseball Coach and Professional Hitting Instructor for Mike Epstein Hitting. Coach Todd's personal hitting website is http://www.HitItHere.net. Coach Todd also enthusiastically endorses http://PlayMyBestBaseball.com as a place where baseball and softball hitters can master the Confidence, Composure, Focus and Consistency of their game so they can reach their full potential.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Todd_Thomas

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5 Simple Hitting Drills That Will Raise Your Average Overnight!

5 Simple Fastpitch Softball Hitting Drills That Will Raise Your Average Overnight!
By Guest Author Janet K Hansen

The best hitters in the game use a variety of hitting drills to improve hand-eye coordination, bat speed, and power. These drills will have you or your players hitting the ball more consistently and with more power, with the ability to place shots more effectively. The result will be higher average and better run production in just a week or two of practice.

1. Ball on a Cone or Tee: Hand-eye coordination is the key to all good hitting, in any game and at every level. Improving your ability to match what your eyes are seeing with the trajectory of your swing creates the kind of contact that produces more line drives, and with time, more power. Hitting legend Ted Williams used to practice by using a cue stick to hit bottle caps. That's not a bad idea, but these drills will serve the purpose, too.


Ball on a cone: Put a traffic cone on the floor 3 feet out from a mat. Kneel, or have your players kneel, on the mat. Put balls on the cone and have the players focus on hitting a line drive. Hit 15 to 25 balls in each session, more if time allows - the more the better. The drill emphasizes contact using just the arms and upper body, which is essential to hitting the ball consistently.

T-Ball: Kids start in t-ball for a reason - they learn to make contact, plain and simple. Since solid contact is the key to all good things in hitting, contact drills never go out of style. Pro, college, and top amateur teams continue to use hitting tees to warm up and find the hitting touch, especially after layoffs. Start hitting practice with a round of tee drills to emphasize keeping an eye on the ball, with a bonus feature being an increase in confidence. When pitch speed is added, the improvement will be noticeable. When the game starts, sharper hitting will lead to more base runners and more RBI's. VARIATIONS: place the tee on the inside, middle, and outside parts of the plate to encourage hitters to go with the pitch, so they learn to drive balls to all fields. Most hitters try to pull everything, and this will help break that habit.

2. Wiffle Ball: This drill emphasizes bat speed and a compact, powerful swing. Using either a pitching machine or a live pitcher, stand 20 feet in front of the plate and use waffle balls for safety. Set the machine to about 40 mph, or gauge your pitch speed accordingly. Batters have to get the bat around in a hurry. The drill will expose swings that are too long - the kind of swings that keep pro players in the minors. On the positive side, it encourages increased bat speed to be able to get around on the pitches, and a shorter, more compact swing that is the foundation of power.

3. Wait and Explode: Many hitters develop the bad habit of starting their swing far too early. The results are all bad. For instance, the hitter will often stride into the pitch too early and then have to hold back the upper body waiting for the ball. Timing and hand-eye coordination is thrown off, plus if contact is made, it's only the upper body involved. The powerful motion of the legs is eliminated. Misses, weak grounders, and lazy fly balls are the result. Here's how this drill works. Have the batter stand in the box and coach them not to move at all until the ball leaves the pitcher's hand. Keep it up until the hitter learns to be patient, reserving their energy until they can complete the swing in one powerful motion. Hitters with good contact skills but poor power will start driving the ball much harder with this drill.

Another way to encourage a "wait and explode" approach is to use tennis balls and bounce balls up to the plate. The hitter must not move a muscle until the ball bounces, 6-8 feet in front of the plate. Patience is learned, and hand-eye coordination is also improved. A short, compact, energetic swing will result.

4. The Barrier Drill: This drill will teach good mechanics. Have the players stand one back length back from a barrier, such as a net or string, and take their cut. If they hit the barrier with the bat, they are taking too long a swing, unlocking their elbows before the shoulders are fully engaged. Point out what's happening and see if they can make the correction, which will produce a compact, powerful cut.

5. Reward or Run: There's nothing like the possibility of a little physical exercise to get players to concentrate. Using a pitching machine, or reliable batting practice pitcher, feed each batter 15 pitches. On strikes only (make swinging at a bad pitch an out, no matter if they hit it or not), count well-struck balls versus misses or weak hits. If the batter has 8 or more good cuts reward them in some way. If 8 or more bad swings happen, it's time to run! As the season continues, and the players improve, bump your better hitters up to 10 or 11 quality hits to avoid running. Tailor the drill to stretch each player to achieve their best.

Each of these drills is used by many professional, college, and top amateurs teams every year. Employ them on your team and start noticing immediate results in terms of contact and power. You'll enjoy better run production from the first time through the order!

Janet Hansen is a softball coach in NC and helps others understand how to choose the right softball bat for their needs, at her Softball Batting website, http://www.SoftballBatGuide.com. You can also learn batting tips and join in the discussion along the way!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Janet_K_Hansen

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Top 5 Softball Batting Tee Drills

Top 5 Softball Batting Tee Drills
By Guest Author Marc Dagenais

Here are the top 5 softball batting tee drills, in no particular order, and in my opinion. They are the ones that can really help turn you into an elite batter.

Drill 1 - Back Knee Down

Purpose: To develop upper-body strength and quickness. The drill helps the player stop lunging by eliminating lower-body movement. The drill can reduce upper cutting. It emphasizes keeping the barrel above the hands and using correct timing.

Procedure: Use a low T for this drill. The hitter kneels on a towel with the back knee at a 90-degree angle, keeping the shoulders on a level plane. The drill can also be done off a soft toss. The player sees the bat hit the ball.

Drill 2 - Bingo

Purpose: To develop a level swing and proper mechanics by offering instant feedback.

Procedure: Position two Ts at the same height with one directly behind the other. The batter drives the back ball into the front ball. The farther apart the Ts, the more difficult it is to hit the front ball because errors are magnified. The path of the hit provides quick feedback on the mechanics of the swing. If the hitter misses to the left, she has an outside-inside swing. If the hitter misses by going above, she is dropping her back shoulder. When successful, the hitter should yell "Bingo."

Drill 3 - Balance Beam

Purpose: To check balance during a swing.

Procedure: The hitter stands on a two-by-four or with both feet on the inner edge or a tire while hitting off the T. A hitter with good balance can stay on the beam throughout the swing.

Drill 4 - Look at Pitcher, Then Hit

Purpose: To practice refocusing from the pitcher to the point of contact.

Procedure: The batter at a T looks out at an imaginary pitcher and then refocuses on the T and takes a normal swing.

Drill 5 - Two Ts

Purpose: To concentrate on hitting to and through the ball on the sweet spot of the bat with a line drive contact.

Procedure: Two Ts are placed at the same height one directly in front of the other with a ball on each. The batter tries to drive the bat through the ball on the first T and into and through the ball on the second T.

Marc Dagenais is a softball peak performance coach that provides softball tips, softball drills, and information on techniques for hitting, pitching, coaching, and training through his blog at http://www.softballperformance.com/blog

He also helps softball players and coaches improves their game by sharing with them the tips and strategies used by the world's best softball players and coaches to achieve extraordinary performances. You can sign-up to get his FREE Softball Tips at http://www.softballperformance.com/softball-tips.html Go Sign-up Now!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marc_Dagenais

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How to Hit a Softball

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Utilizing proper techniques will help develop a more fluid and solid softball swing. Learn some techniques for batting in this softball video.



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Softball Hitting Instructions

Softball Hitting Instructions
By Guest AuthorMarc Dagenais

If you are a softball coach, you have a big responsibility at hand. You need to empower the players every now and then. You need to be a living example of what you tell them to do. Most importantly, you need to improve their learning and make them become better. In order to improve the softball playing techniques of every member of your team, you need as much power and willingness to device a prevailing plan and instructions.

Now, softball has been one of the most popular team sports in the U.S. You must have observed that in every softball game, much of the control in the runs come from the batting. That is why every softball coach should properly and constantly instruct every softball player to practice and learn the different softball hitting styles and techniques.

There is a need to know that there are different hitting drills that are fit for every softball player. With this fact, the player and the coach must evaluate the varieties of softball hitting styles so that you will both know what works for you and what will not work for you but will still work for the other members of the team. Incorporate your new learning style to your practice and approach in each bat.

Hitting the softball is one of the most difficult skills to be learned. It is also one of the most difficult to coach. Because of these reasons, there is a call for both the players and the coach to work hand in hand for the direct positive result of every undertaking. Just avoid extreme changes when incorporating new styles. Change is good but when it is applied radically, it may bring a negative result which you don't want to happen of course.

The coach and the player must be well coordinated with the kind of style they will use. If the player uses a certain stance, the coach must observe him first. The coach must not reprimand the player in an instant. Observe first the comfort the player while he is using his own style of hitting and the stance as well. The player, on the other hand, should always listen to the coach. Both of you have one major aim. And that is to produce the most number of runs. In order for this to happen, a coordinated plan should be working between the coach and the players. In this way, a smooth flow of the game plan will materialize. Eventually, all the softball hitting instructions that the coach and the players have practiced will serve as their winning edge over the other competing teams.

Marc Dagneais is Softball Peak Performance Coach that helps softball players turn their athletic talent into extraordinary performances and help coaches get more out of their players, turn their struggling team around or get an edge over their opponents. Visit us to access our directory of FREE softball drills!

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Fastpitch Hitting - Swing Like "the Best in the World"

Successful Fastpitch Hitting - Swing it Like "the Best in the World"
By Guest Author Joe M White

Many people who follow fastpitch softball consider Jessica Mendoza to be the best all-around player, and best overall hitter in the world over the past several years.

Mendoza can do it all at the plate. She is a great bunter, a very effective slap hitter, and hits away for a very high batting average and with terrific power. In fact, baseball fans can compare Mendoza side-by-side with most any major league baseball hall-of-famer, and see that they swing the way she does.

Although Mendoza isn't the first fastpitch player to adopt a Rotational swing, she does it at least as well as anyone who's ever played. More and more fastpitch players are turning to her method of hitting. Increasingly, Division 1 college coaches are converting their players to Rotational hitting (for example, Mike Candera, Head Coach at the University of Arizona, whose teams have won 6 College World Series National Championships, is teaching a peculiar variation of Rotational hitting).

While softball players can continue to have success using the Linear method of hitting, there are reasons for the shift to Rotational.

A Very Short History

Many in the fastpitch community are under the impression that Rotational is relatively new, and that Linear hitting has always been the norm. Actually, Rotational hitting was introduced to Major League Baseball by Shoeless Joe Jackson in the early 20th century, and after Babe Ruth copied Jackson's method, it became the swing of about 95% of Major Leaguers until the introduction of synthetic turf on many Major League fields from the 1960's to the 1990's.

Those early synthetic turf fields were nearly as hard as concrete. Major League batting coaches quickly realized that ground balls hit on it moved so fast, that many balls that were routine ground outs on natural fields were hits on 'turf. Many that would have been outfield singles bounced so hard they became doubles or even triples. So many began to teach Linear hitting to their weaker hitters. And in many cases it worked.

(Most of the Big Leaguers who hit over.300 in those years, and nearly all the RBI and Home Run leaders, continued to be Rotational hitters. As synthetic turf disappeared from the Major Leagues, so did Linear hitting. There are very few nowadays, and although many still use Linear terms to describe their swing, they actually use Rotational swings.)

The increasing use of Linear hitting in MLB coincided with the introduction of lightweight aluminum and composite bats. These bats were not only much lighter than wood -- and so could be swung much faster -- they also had more "pop." The ball came off the bat harder and faster, so grounders hit with metal or composite bats got past infielders more often than with the old wood bats.

While MLB rejected Non-wood bats, they were quickly adopted by youth baseball leagues, middle and high schools, and the NCAA. Along with the bats, coaches at all these levels began to teach Linear hitting. Boys and young men who might have struggled with heavy wood bats became good or even above average hitters by using aluminum/composite bats and Linear hitting.

During all this, fastpitch softball experienced a rebirth as a game for women and girls. Fastpitch softball was originally played with wood bats, and Rotational hitting was the dominant method for both women and men playing the game. In fact, relatively few women played fastpitch until the 1970's.

As young ladies took up the game, they used aluminum and composite bats, for the same reason their male counterparts were. Most of their coaches were men -- dads -- who were enthusiastically embracing the cutting-edge Linear hitting movement. So most ladies learned Linear hitting, which tends to create more grounders as we'll see.

Linear Versus Rotational

So what's the difference between Linear and Rotational hitting? Andy Collins has a pretty good definition of Linear hitting: "Linear hitting is a hitting style that has been used for many years in fast pitch softball and by many little league coaches, some high school, college, and even minor league baseball coaches who still prefer this method of hitting instruction.

"It is used to achieve solid contact hitting, producing... sharply hit ground balls which are designed to shoot through the drawn-in infielders on the hard dirt surfaces of softball (and astroturf surfaces in baseball). It is especially useful in slap hitting (fast runners who hit it on the ground and beat it out to first base).

"Baseball players who use this style, do so especially when they use the ultra light aluminum bats and... if they play on artificial surfaces."

A Linear hitter will normally hit ground balls. Most Linear coaches teach "hit the top half of the ball," and "swing down," which naturally produces grounders. They also teach "lead with the hands" or "take the knob (or hands) to the ball," and to set up with most of your weight on the back foot and then shift your weight to the front foot as you swing. All of these work together to lengthen the swing (producing slower bat speed and therefore less power) and cause a lot of ground balls.

Since softball infields are clay (a hard surface), and the bases are relatively close together -- and so the infielders are close to the batter and have less time to react to the ball to field it -- if you hit a ground ball hard enough, you will get on base. So Linear hitters can be very successful.

Linear hitting works really well when playing against younger or less accomplished fielders and pitchers. But as the defense gets better, whether it's because the ladies at the level you've been at are more mature physically and more experienced fielding balls, or if it's because you're moving up from the Silver division to the Gold, fewer and fewer ground balls get through for hits.

And as the pitching gets faster, Linear hitters often struggle to get the bat around quickly enough, hitting more and more weak grounders to the opposite side. If you get a chance to watch Division 1 college softball games, you'll really see this happening. The lightweight bats allowed in softball go a long way in addressing the problem of slow batspeed. However, when you get to the very top level of competition at a given age, Linear hitters often struggle.

Also, if you are doing a correct Linear swing and happen to hit the middle or lower half of the ball, you will create backspin on the ball - which will usually result in a pop up or a very slow grounder. Slap hitting, a variation of Linear, can help overcome these problems. An accomplished Slapper can place the ball very accurately, and so, "hit 'em where they ain't," as baseball legend Wee Willie Keeler said 120 years ago (Willie was a Linear hitter, like all ballplayers of his time).

Rotational hitting emphasizes even weight balance, leading with the hips, using the legs, hips and torso muscles to produce a short, compact swing, and hitting the center of the ball. These combine to create more bat speed than Linear hitting can, and because the intention is to hit the middle of the ball, it produces many more line drives. No one swings perfectly every single time, so of course, there will be ground balls and pop ups, just as with Linear, but overall, there is more power, and many more balls hit in the air to the outfield. And, because the swing is faster, ground balls are normally hit harder than with Linear -- and so are more likely to get past the infielders for hits.

Perhaps the biggest problem with Rotational hitting is that many people who have very little understanding of it try, with the best of intentions, to teach it. They often combine bits of Linear with a partial understanding of Rotational, with horrible results. Some have grasped portions of the Rotational, and teach what they know. Their results are very uneven. Some hitters do fairly well with this partial swing, most do no better than with Linear, and some don't have any success.

Mike Epstein, former MLB baseball player, and the person credited with coining the phrase "Rotational Hitting," ask the question, "Do we coach what we REALLY see?" Very few coaches take the time to do the frame-by-frame video analysis of great softball and baseball hitters to see all of the components of a productive Rotational swing. (Epstein's hitting course is one of the better ones available. Thousands of players have benefitted from his instruction.)

What a Rotational Swing Looks Like

The photos at batting.wordpress.com in the Nov. 5 post, "The Best Hitter on the Planet?" show how the key components of Jessica Mendoza's swing work together to make her such a great hitter. A true Rotational hitter. You may see that it's very different from what most local coaches teach, even those who call their style of hitting "Rotational." (In her 5-minute video lessons on YouTube, even Mendoza teaches something very different from the way she actually hits! It seems to me that her using Linear hitting phrases -- "shift your weight," and "take your hands to the ball" -- can be confusing to most players, because Mendoza doesn't do these things in a Linear way at all, as you can see in the photos.)

Mendoza keeps her hands back and high as she begins her swing. As she takes a very small step, her entire body moves slightly toward the pitcher (the "weight shift"), but her weight is balanced equally on both feet. Her hips begin to rotate as she brings her back hand down slightly. Her front foot pivots. Keeping her elbows close to her body, the hip rotation brings her bat around at very high speed. Her wrists remain in the same position as at the beginning of the swing.

Her back shoulder moves lower (how much lower depends on the pitch -- if it had been high in the strike zone, the back shoulder would have lowered less, but still would have "dipped"). At contact, both elbows are in an "L" position, head directly on the ball. At the moment of contact, the front knee is straight, the back knee in almost an "L" position. The bat extends straight from her lead arm, looking as if it is part of her arm.

The elbows remain in the "L" until well into her follow-through. Her back hand remains on the bat until the swing is 98% finished.

That's how the best fastpitch hitter in the game does it. And the ball is on a powerful line drive trajectory. If you can get a look at Crystl Busto, the most powerful fastpitch hitter who every played, you'll see that her swing is the same. If you can find video of Stacey Nuveman from 2004-2007, you'll see the same swing. If you look at the Texas A&M team, nearly everyone has the same swing as Jessica Mendoza.

Is One Better Than the Other?

In the fastpitch softball community, the discussion over the two styles is often very heated, and passions frequently run high. Often people are so emotional about their chosen method that they cannot see that both have a place. But look at the 2006-2009 USA National Softball teams. The ladies who made up the team were deemed to be the best players in the US at the time. Both methods of hitting were represented on the team, and they won 3 World Championships and a Silver Medal in the Olympics. Clearly there is room for both Linear and Rotational hitting.

What to Look for in a Coach

In general, everyone who teaches Linear hitting teaches the same principles and the same swing. While each coach will have their own way of teaching it, there is a great uniformity in Linear instruction. A player will get the same advice and tweaking of her swing, but perhaps with different words used from coach to coach.

Unfortunately, while Rotational hitting is fairly simple and straightforward, many coaches haven't really learned the components of the swing. Simply latching onto key words and phrases, they teach what sounds like Rotational hitting to them and the player. Of course, this doesn't produce a sound swing, and causes many to abandon and reject Rotational hitting. Those who have learned Mike Epstein's system can teach a pretty effective swing. Jack Mankin has taught many coaches how to teach the swing used by Mendoza and nearly every Major League Baseball Hall of Fame member.

Even worse than those who teach Rotational hitting without understanding it, are those who try to combine the two methods. This simply doesn't work, except for a very few extremely gifted athletes whose hand-eye coordination is so superior they can overcome this disastrous combination swing. Avoid this swing at all costs!

Use the photos at batting.wordpress.com and the description above of Mendoza's swing to guide you in finding a Rotational hitting coach. These are the fundamental elements of the swing, and each is crucial. Ask the coach to describe the components they teach. If it sounds very different, move on to someone else. If it sounds similar, ask more questions. Be sure they are teaching what you see in these photos. This particular swing is about as perfect a Rotational swing as humanly possible.

In the End, It's a Choice You Have to Make

As we said, there is a place for both Linear and Rotational hitting in fastpitch softball. However, as they move up in skill levels, Linear hitters will find it increasingly difficult to achieve the greatest possible success at the plate.

The best hitter in fastpitch, Jessica Mendoza, is a Rotational hitter. So are Crystl Busto, Stacey Nuveman, and many of the best players in the US. More and more top Division 1 college softball coaches are adopting Rotational hitting for their teams.

The method has been around for nearly a hundred years and is proven to be very effective. If you're serious about taking your game as far as you can, if you dream of playing college softball or even playing for your national team (and why NOT dream that?), you should look into Rotational hitting. But try to be sure you find a coach who really understands this simple method and knows how to teach it.

Whatever you choose, keep practicing, especially in the off-season, keep working hard at getting better, but also take some breaks from the game! Don't get burned out on the game you love!!

©2009 Joseph M. White

Now in his 17th season as a youth softball and baseball coach; also a hitting coach and fastpitch pitching coach. His long experience studying all aspects of the game, and teaching hundreds of boys and girls how to play, and play better, gives him unique insights and enables him to effectively convey game skills to players, coaches, and parents.

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