Hip Force Can Mean More Baseball Batting Power

Driving the backside is one of the most controversial aspects of baseball batting. Between rotational hitting, linear hitting, and everything in between, it can be difficult for a young athlete or an inexperienced coach to really figure out what's right. In my opinion, the real issues isn't about getting the most power, it's about putting the player in the best position to have a high average, and drive the baseball to all fields. Power is a great thing to have, but if you don't have the average to match, it is all for loss.

Now, if your like most coaches and players out there, you are not a guru on the different batting theories and may not be able to spot flaws or discrepancies in so called "expert's" hitting theories. Not to worry, over the next few paragraphs you are going to receive a full walk-through of the two most common theories on the market and I am going to give you why neither one of those are the best way to hit. There is a more common middle ground that players should use to build their hitting foundation and I will let you in on the secret on how to really help your player succeed.

In my younger years, I was taught a rotational style of hitting. In rotational hitting, you rotate your back knee toward your groin, take your back heel to the sky, and the laces of your cleats are pointed back at the pitcher. At the conclusion of the rotation, your body weight is either balanced 50/50 or slightly back and on the balls of your feet. During rotational hitting, a players body weight does not transition into the baseball and power is generated by the torque created with the lower half. The balance and stability generated by the limited weight transition will potentially allow players to make adjustments more easily with their hands. This will help them to more readily be able to hit the ball to all fields during timing mistakes. The downside to rotational hitting is that a player's bat speed, which allows them to see the ball longer before committing, is limited to the torque generated with their lower half.

On the linear side of things, driving the backside involves more of a push off the back leg into a strong stable front side. Linear style batters often look like they are jumping into the ball and you see a considerable transition of weight move from the backside into a firm front leg. At some point during a linear swing, you will most likely see the back foot of the player come off the ground. Linear hitters will typically hit for more power because there is a large transfer of weight into the baseball. This helps them to apply greater force on contact helping the ball to have great exit force causing the ball to travel a greater distance. Linear hitters will also be more susceptible to off speed pitches. Once linear hitters decide to commit to the ball there is virtually no stopping them. As a result, it is more difficult for them to adjust to changes of speeds.

The batting style I consider to be the most beneficial for players will combine both linear and rotational batting. However, saying that, true power comes from a players ability to properly identify pitches. Properly identifying pitches will allow players to commit their hips properly.Driving all of their force through the baseball, instead of around the ball, begins by locating he pitch in the proper portion of the plate. This makes a big different when it comes to extension through contact. To get a better understanding of this concept, check out my first piece on the baseball load.

Getting back to the hips, I like the idea of stability in balance from rotational hitting, and I like the idea that a weight transfer can increase my bat speed and power. So here is what I want your player to do. The next time your player "pops his hips" or drives his backside, I want him to actively try to drive his knee and hip into his front foot. In reality, he will probably only drive it 2-4 inches lower then were his knee starts, but over-exaggerating this concept gives players something to shoot for. As your player gets older and his core becomes stronger, they will naturally begin to keep their upper body in sync with their lower body. However for young players, begin with the knee and the hip.

The action with the players lower half will naturally begin shifting his weight into the baseball. However, unlike linear hitting, I don't believe in transferring all of our weight during this part of the swing. I believe weight transition should flow through contact and then continue after contact. If you are saying that's great coach, but how do I get my player to do that, then read on.

I believe that a players weight should only begin to transfer into the ball during this step, not fully commit. As the swing progresses through contact, so does the transfer for weight. This will allow players to have a more fluid transition of weight through the baseball rather than to the baseball. In effect, I believe this allows players to gain better extension to the field the want to contact the ball helping them make up for timing mistakes.

As far as what this will feel like for your player, he should feel as though his weight is rolling off his back foot and transitioning to the field he wants to hit the baseball. His foot will feel heavy from the rotation and then light after he extends through and post contact. Another explanation, is he should start by "squishing a bug" and finish ending on his toe with his heel toward the sky.

Remember, maximizing your hips and power all begins with identifying the pitch correctly. For instance, if your player is a right handed batter and he identifies the baseball on the inner 1/3 of the plate, he should drive his hips and almost walk through to left field. If he identifies the ball in the center 1/3 of the plate, he should drive his hips and walk through center. The same goes for right field. By doing so, your player will focus his energy to that field maximizing all he has to offer into the baseball. Misidentifying the pitch causes a disconnect for players as they will drive their hips to one field, but try to hit the ball to another. Aligning the two makes for a very dangerous hitter and a very powerful swing.

As you can see, these three theories are all very similar. In order to fully understand the benefits and downside of each theory your player must use the different theories in his batting training sessions. Gaining experience and understanding will educate your player in what his different moves feel like which will help him understand the middle ground that will bring him success.

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