A Baseball Travels on a Downward Plane
When you really think about it, a baseball is usually always being thrown on a downward
plane. So if you keep your shoulders level, what is going to happen? You’re going to hit a
ground ball. No, not a line drive or a deep fly ball, but a measly ground ball! It’s simple
physics – The ball is traveling downward and you’re bat is not meeting the ball on the
same plane if you’re swinging with your shoulders level. So how are you ever going to hit
for POWER if all you’re doing is hitting the top of the ball and continuously producing
ground balls? Well you NEVER will, and you’ll be extremely frustrated because you
listened to your ignorant coaches’ WRONG advice!
Don’t Swing Down or Uppercut the Ball
Now when I say that you need to dip your back shoulder to crush a baseball, I’m not
telling you to swing up, or uppercut the ball. That’s the last thing you should do, and you
definitely shouldn’t be swinging down on the ball either. Because of all your past baseball
all.
So what AM I saying to you then? Ok, well first of all I’m saying that it’s alright for you to
dip your back shoulder when you’re swinging a bat, and you really need to get that into
your head. But you might ask, “Why, I’ve been told to swing level all of my life?” But if you
just stop and think for a second, what does “level” really mean? From what frame of
reference can you define your swing as “level?” Now this is where things get interesting!
So what you really want to do is swing in line with the plane of the pitch, or “level” with
respect to the baseball’s path, and not with the ground. So what this means is that you
need to always be adjusting to where your pitch is coming in and how it is thrown.
Adjust to EVERY pitch
So if you see the ball coming in on a downward plane at your knees, you need to adjust
and get your swing in line with that plane. Once you do that, what path is the ball going to
take? The exact same, but opposite path that the ball takes to get to you, or a slightly
upward path. And if you’re lucky, that may be a path directed straight towards the seats.
So now that you’re starting to understand this a little better, would you want to be dipping
your back shoulder for a pitch that comes in on a level path at your letters? NO way,
because then you’d only be setting yourself up for a Major League pop-up.
So the next time somebody tells you to stop dipping your back shoulder, stop and think
about whether what they’re saying has any TRUTH to it. In the case of a high pitch, you
may want to heed their advice. However, most of the times you NEED to have a natural
dip in your back shoulder to really DRIVE the ball to great distances.
Article Directory : http://www.articlecube.com
