By: Tony Musielak

Teaching Players to Hit Using 5 Words

I teach players how to hit by using 5 key words: (1) Stance; (2) Load; (3) Hip; (4) Swing; and (5) Follow-through. The following is a summary of the key steps associated with each word:

(1) Stance

• Wide stance (about the length of the bat)
• Square stance (toes are even)
• Flexed knees, bend at waist, & chest over knees (good athletic position)
• Hands relaxed and placed near the back shoulder with relaxed arms as elbows
• Balanced weight
• Slight ‘bounce’ (natural side-to-side or up and down rhythm).

(2) Load

• Front foot strides (usually between 1 and 6 inches) and simultaneously the hands ‘trigger’ to the back shoulder.
• Weight remains balanced
• Feet remain square
• Stay in a good athletic position

(3) Hip

• The swing starts by rotating the back hip forward
• Back knee turns in and down and the back heel will face up
• Front leg will anchor and stiffen
• Hands stay close to the body
• Head remains still

(4) Swing

• Hands stay close to the body and the arms remain relaxed. This is commonly known as 'keeping the hands inside the ball'
• The hitter ‘punches’ or ‘pushes’ their hands to the ball meaning the elbows and wrists extend and straighten out towards the ball just before contact
• Head remains still and the player tracks the ball and hits the back-middle-half of the ball
• As contact is made the lead hand palm (left hand for a RH hitter) is down and the rear hand palm is up

(5) Follow-through

• Hands end up slightly above the front shoulder.
• Head remains behind the ball and the chin ends up near the back shoulder.
• Rear knee, belt buckle, belly button and back foot shoe laces end up facing the pitcher.