Roth Regatta

Hitters tend to try too hard to hit the ball, especially when things are not going well.  This can send a hitter into a slump where they are hitting the ball, but rolling over the ball and hitting ground ball after ground ball.  This article goes into why and how to use the up-side-down swing to get a hitter back on track.

 

So what is the up-side-down swing?  It is basically a way to smooth out your swing, keeping the head of the bat in the strike zone longer and driving the bal

l to the outfield.  First off, this works best by starting on a tee to get the feel for it (however hitters like Don Mattingly used to take batting practice this way).  Get up to the tee and take your stance.  Take your top hand, and turn it up-side-down so it looks more like it is going to push the bat rather than hold the bat.  As you take your swing, the top hand does just that, it pushes the bat through the zone into the ball.

I know what you are thinking.  How the hell does a swing

like that help smooth out my swing.  It does not feel natural and does take some getting used to.  It does a couple of things if it is done correctly.

First, it helps the bottom hand get used to going straight to the ball as opposed to going around (or casting around) the ball.  Swings that go around the ball get you a lot of jam shots and grounders to second base or shortstop.  The up-side-done swing guides the bottom and takes the knob of the bat directly to the ball which gets the hand

s through and gives you more pop in your swing.

Secondly, it takes the top hand out of the swing equation up to contact.  Now, I am not advocating  the top hand coming off of the bat after contact, and do not really think it matters.  It seems to be more of a preferential kind of thing.  But what this swing does is it keeps the top hand from rolling too soon and causing grounders to shortstop or second base.  It keeps the hitter from making the swing too short before contact.

In a nut shell, the up-side-down swing helps hitters work on a “short long” approach to their swing.  Another way of looking at it is in the first part of the swing, the bottom hand takes a short direct line to the ball.  After contact, the swing is longer and allows for a full follow through and complete finish of the swing.  This is possible to do in regular batting practice and if done correctly, can really smooth out and correct blemishes in a hitter’s swing.  If you want to find out the top 3 things to get your swing back to the basics, go to http://www.squidoo.com/improvebattingmechanics