HITTING Site Map Bad Advice Skills & Instructions BASIC ADVANCED BASICS In General The Bat Grip Stance Load & Stride Swing Special Situations Bunting Illustrated Step by Step   ADVANCED Stance versus Swing Bat Angle  Bat Selection  Aluminum or wood Bat Size Bat Sizes and Age Getting Ready HITTING APPROACH  KNOW YOURSELF How do you step in the box? KNOW YOUR OPPONENT STRATEGY KNOW THE SITUATION BE A TOUGH OUT GRIP LOOSEN UP PICK IT UP LIKE AN AX KEEP LOOSE STANCE  DIG IN WEIGHT AND HANDS LOCATION IN THE BOX DEPTH Proper Hitting Goals On-Deck Preparation Stance versus Swing Bat Angle COIL STRIDE COMMON PROBLEM Keep the Front Toe Closed During the Stride Perfecting the Stride Hitting Off Your Front Leg "Squishing the Bug" Flat-Snap Hitting Finishing the Swing Seeing the Ball Plate Coverage and Forward Extension  Poor Timing Correcting a Weak Swing Lunging and Over Striding Lunging forward during stride Over Striding Staying Closed Before the Swing  Stepping Out on the Pitch The Level Swing Bunting The K Factor (The Strike factor) Trouble Shooting Your Hitting   Click Here!   Report Broken Links

"Get Your Back Elbow Up!"   I cringe every time I hear these words. Every Little League coach I have ever heard at one time or another has told this ‘‘advice’’ to his hitters. I spoke to a good friend of mine, Chris Bando, about this advice the other day. Chris and I were teammates at Arizona State and we played together in the minor leagues, as well. He is currently the third base coach for the Milwaukee Brewers I thought I would ask him what the worst advice he ever heard a Little League coach say. Chris is a great person to ask since he has five boys in Little League. The first thing he said to me was, ‘‘The absolute worst thing and the thing I hear all the time is, 'Get your back elbow up.’’ I couldn't agree with him more.   This well intended statement has hurt more young hitters than any other advice I have heard. The idea here is to get on top of the ball and hit line drives, but just the opposite will occur. Here's what happens. During the swing the back elbow should come close to the rib cage and the barrel of the bat should stay above the hands when you first start the swing. With a high back elbow, the elbow travels a much greater distance and at a much faster rate of speed. Consequently, the barrel of the bat will drop below the hands, the front elbow will raise up, and you end up with a long swing. If this technique is used for very long, you will develop a real bad habit. info acquired from www.hitting.com Here what others have to say about "Get Your Back Elbow Up!"                                     Click the button above to go back to the web page or web site you were at before coming to this page Copyright © 2000 Brookside Little League, Inc. All rights reserved Brookside Little League, Inc. Indianapolis, In   Do you like what you see,  got a gripe,  would you like to see something added to this site? We would love to hear from you! jontanderson@juno.com Thank You for visiting Brookside Little League's web Site [Official Little League Rules & Regulations]   [Parents]   [Players/Kids] Learn How to: [Hit]  [Pitching]  [Infield]  [Outfield]  [Catcher]  [Baserunning]  [Coach] [Baseball Humor]  [Baseball Terminology]  [Site Map] [Sign Our Guestbook] [Privacy Statement/Disclaimer]  [Terms]  Use of the Website signifies your agreement to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.