Angry hips

When I see young players hit, the biggest problem with regards to not hitting the ball with authority is an inability to use their midsection.  The strongest muscles in our body are located from the top of our knees to our chest.  That’s why core training is so important to developing good hitters.  If you are just an arms or hands hitter, you may be a good contact hitter but your power will be very limited.

Watch major league hitters, at least the good ones, and you’ll see they all have explosive hips.  I’ve also heard it called “angry hips.”  I think that is a good phrase to use because even young kids know what “angry” means.  Anger means aggression.  It means attack.  It means to quickly lash out at something.  All things that are good at describing how the baseball swing should be.

Some players get a lot of training in the mechanics of the swing.  That’s all well and good but never forget to load up and put some anger into those hips!  As my dad always said, “the ball won’t jump off your bat by itself.  You have to make it jump!”