The backside connection to hitting

Note:  I’m sorry for those expecting a product review on the Three Piece Tee today.  More snow and low temperatures prevented me from filming over the weekend.  I hope to get to it by the end of the week.

Good hitters have a lot in common.  They may have very different stances, hand positions, barrel path, and follow through but in some very key areas they are virtually all the same.  One of these areas (actually made up of four separate things) is the backside connection on the swing.

When good hitters swing, pay attention to the following four things:  the hands, the back hip, the back knee, and the back heel.  What you will notice is that all four move forward at basically the exact same time.

A few posts ago I talked about the importance of creating a consistent rhythm to your swing.  Moving those four areas forward at the same time go a long way in perfecting that rhythm.

Watch the following YouTube video of major leaguers swinging in slow motion.  On each one, pay close attention to the four backside components – hands, back hip, back knee, and back heel.  On virtually every single swing, all four components of the backside fire forward at the exact same time.

When you work with younger hitters, you will often find that those four backside components do not work in conjunction.  Often one, two, and/or three of the components “leak” forward faster than the others (or not all all) creating poor timing and an inconsistent rhythm to their swing.

If you want to immediately improve your power and bat speed, clean up your backside connection and get all four of those parts firing at the exact same time to start the swing.