KEEPING YOUR HEAD STILL
Walk into a batting cage anywhere across the country and within 30 minutes you will hear a coach tell a player to keep their head still. What does this mean? To begin this discussion, let’s start with the fundamentals of a swing.
Most good hitters make a slight back movement with the lower half to get some timing and rhythm with the pitcher. They then weight shift back into a balanced position while they are taking their stride. Most strides are 4-8 inches in length and this is where some head movement is needed. In order for a hitter to land in a good launch position they need to move their head in connection with their stride. For example, if a player takes a 6-inch stride their head will typically move 4-6 inches forward to get to a balanced launch position. This begins the turn or rotation part of the hitting sequence and this is where a hitter needs to keep their head still. While a player is rotating through the baseball they want to keep their head still and rotate cleanly around the head.
When a player’s head moves back, they will pull their barrel out of the hitting zone to early and hit top spin pull side ground balls. When a player’s head continues moving forward during the turn they are destined to top the baseball into the ground. The best way to create a clean bat path with center field extension is to keep your head still during rotation. At UP17 we use our video technology to illustrate to players their head positioning during rotation and the impact it has on their swing.