In today’s video blog post, we demonstrate 6 Common Baseball Hitting Mistakes that many players make at some time or another in their career, and provide some proven hitting drills you can use to fix them.
Baseball Hitting Mistakes #1: Collapsing the back side/Dipping the shoulder
Problem: Collapsing on the back side, or dipping the back shoulder causes severe upper cut.
To correct: Sequence Drill, Front Toss Drill
Baseball Hitting Mistakes #2: Pulling Off The Ball
Problem: When the hitter pulls off the ball with his front shoulder, his head pulls off the ball.
To correct: Fence Drill (focusing on leading with the hips)
Baseball Hitting Mistakes #3: Arm Swinging
Arm swinging, with his hands outside the ball and going around the ball is an issue, but the problem really begins when the swing gets out of sequence and the hitter doesn’t use the lower half of his body properly. When he makes front foot contact, he needs to get his back heel up, begin rotation with the hips, and then with the upper body.
To correct: Dry Swing Drill, Sequence Tee Drill
Baseball Hitting Mistakes #4: Rolling the Wrists Over
Rolling the wrists over leads to beating the ball into the ground. Hitters want to make contact with the top hand with palm up, bottom hand palm down.
To correct: Front Toss Contact Drill
Baseball Hitting Mistakes #5: Losing Balance During the Swing
A hitter who loses his balance is losing his dynamic balance early in the swing. A hitter needs to keep his chin over the top of his belly button, and when he strides, move from ball of foot to ball of foot.
To correct: Sequence Drills, Fence Drill, Front Toss Drill
Baseball Hitting Mistakes #6: A Hitch in the Swing
A hitch in the swing will cause the hitter to have a slow bat and not be able to get to the ball at the correct time. When a hitter makes front foot contact, his hands should be right at his shoulder, with his elbows down 45-degree angle.
To correct: Sequence Drill, Front Soft Toss Drill