SHORT & QUICK: THREE STEPS TO A COMPACT SWING

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Struggling at the plate? Think 'Compact Swing'.

Ever suffer through a batting slump where every pitch seems too fast to hit? Does your coach constantly remind you to shorten up with two strikes? Are you frequently guilty of lunging at home plate?

All these problems have the same solution - a more compact swing.

Every hitter has a limited amount of time to move from a ready position to a contact position after the pitcher releases his pitch. A long, loopy swing takes precious seconds to complete. Fastballs get by before the barrel whips around and through the impact zone. Every pitch seems impossibly quick. You can’t seem to catch up.
The answer is a shorter swing.

With two strikes, good hitters learn to think defensively. They shift their hitting emphasis from destroying the baseball to making solid contact. Their goal becomes put the ball in play, even when that two-strike pitch is likely to be a tough pitcher’s pitch. The best way to accomplish that goal is to implement a more compact, shorter swing.

A hitter who repeatedly finds himself out on his front foot (lunging) has a swing so long and slow he’s forced to pull the trigger on his swing early. He doesn’t have the bat speed to stay back the extra moment required to properly judge a pitch’s speed and location. He begins his swing earlier, hoping for a fastball. He’s wrong more often than not. The answer? A more compact swing.

There are many ways to address this common problem. Concentrating on three main points, however - quick hands, a short stride, and a quick bat - will make your swing more compact. Here are a few drills to eliminate that loopy swing.

1)  Quick Hands
A long, sweeping swing is a slow swing. In golf, breaking the wrists too soon is called casting. It drastically decreases club head speed at impact. The same holds true in baseball. A quick and compact swing is one in which the wrists stay cocked until the last possible moment before exploding through the pitch. One key to keeping those wrists cocked and increasing bat head speed is to initiate your swing by driving the knob of the bat at the pitch. Good hitters take a direct path from the load position to impact position. As the ball whistles in, they keep most of their weight loaded on the back leg while judging pitch speed and location. When the decision is made to swing, the first movement is forward, driving the knob of the bat handle directly toward the baseball. The barrel of the bat trails behind the hands and is the last thing to swing around and through. Using the knob in this way keeps the wrists cocked longer. Wrists that uncock too soon result in a sweeping, slow swing. To obtain the highest bat speed, keep the wrists cocked and snap the barrel through at the last possible moment.

2) Short  Stride
If pitches seem to get on you before you’re ready, your stride might be eating up too much valuable time. A short stride is a quick stride. Major Leaguer Jim Edmunds uses no stride at all. He simply drops a raised front heel. The point of the stride is to get your weight shifting forward at impact. You do not need a twelve inch stride to accomplish that. Also, the longer you stride the more your head moves during the swing. A bouncy head produces bouncy vision. Keep your stride short so your head will stay rock solid to see the pitch clearly. The less distance you stride, the less time needed to swing, the more time you have to look at the ball.

3) Quick  Swing
Long, loopy swings sweep through the strike zone. They must be started early in order to get the barrel to the ball in time for impact. More often than not, the hitter will find himself on his front foot because of misjudged pitch speed. Get in the habit of staying short and quick. The image you want is one of waiting, watching, then hammering the ball.

When a carpenter drives a nail, he doesn’t swing his hammer around in a wide arc with his arm fully extended. Nor does he push the nail into the wood with his muscles alone. He cocks his wrist and snaps the hammer head quickly against the nail, popping it into the wood. Hitting a baseball involves the same concept. It doesn’t call for brute force, it requires quickness. It requires a short, compact, explosive swing, accelerating through the point of impact. A snap of the wrists. Generate bat speed with quickness; don’t rely on the big muscles. Use the hands more than the body.

With a compact swing, you’ll have more time to judge the speed and location of each pitch. You’ll be able to see and read each pitch better. You’ll find it easier to check your swing on bad pitches with your wrists cocked longer. Most importantly, you’ll discover the power to hit sizzling line drives and long home runs comes from quickness and good solid contact, not from throwing your entire body at every pitch.

 

FOR DRILLS TO PRACTICE EACH OF THESE 3 STEPS, BE SURE TO READ THE JAN/FEB 2010 ISSUE OF JUNIOR BASEBALL.

TO PURCHASE THIS ISSUE, CLICK HERE.

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