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Step One For New Members

If you are reading this, you are in the main forum....where all the good discussion and exchange of ideas occurs.

Instructional threads are 'stickied' to the top of this forum page in an effort to get new members to see the work that gets done here. There are 5 different threads of a dad and his kid, going through the HittingIllustrated process. They are quite instructional. I think you'll be impressed with what you see. The kid's progress is amazing. One of them is now a D1 player who chose college after being drafted. Another is a DII college player. A third is his brother who is now in high school. The fourth is a current high school freshman. And the fifth is my son who is now out of college and playing amateur fastpitch softball. Take a look. The terminology is likely to confuse you at first. But do your best to understand.

Then, there is another forum titled The Second Engine, found just below this one on the main page, which consists of 18 threads that have been chosen as 'good reads' for new members to get 'up to snuff' on what is taught here.

It is my recommendation that you spend your first hour or so in that forum reading those threads. Then, come here to ask questions. We love it when clips of hitters are posted.

And here is a link to an Instructional Starter Pak. It has the basic information. There are many details that go with each step that are too cumbersome to put in the Pak.

Instructional Starter Pak

MAKE THE BEST USE OF YOUR TRIAL PERIOD
POST A CLIP OF YOUR SON OR DAUGHTER
I'LL GIVE YOU AN ANALYSIS AND A RECOMMENDATION.

If I were you, I'd concentrate on figuring out what the Hand Pivot Point and what the Rear Hip Pivot Point are....and how they are synced together to create the high level swing.

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Mini-Pronk

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  • #46
    Pronk,

    Very nice work. One question - is his bat a little heavy for him? Not knowing what he's swinging, I could be way off, but that's the impression I get from the clip. Or, it could be he needs a bit more seperation/more stretch/rotating more into toe touch to add more horsepower to the swing.

    Mike
    Last edited by Slapper23; 03-07-2009, 06:55 AM.

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    • #47
      Excellent work, Pronk.

      Jim,

      This is an excellent example of one-legged hitting, stretch in the lower rear back, and the connection of the rear hip turn to the hand turn.

      Notice the alignment of the hands and the rear hip.....and how the turning of the rear hip is connected to the turning of the hands. They both do one thing.....they turn the barrel.

      There are no other links to be moved first. There is a direct connection to the barrel. The rear hip doesn't turn the torso first, then the shoulders, then the handle, then the barrel.

      All of those links have been removed. The rear hip action is felt directly by the barrel.....instantly.

      Comment

      • #48
        Originally posted by Slapper23 View Post
        Pronk,

        Very nice work. One question - is his bat a little heavy for him? Not knowing what he's swinging, I could be way off, but that's the impression I get from the clip. Or, it could be he needs a bit more seperation/more stretch/rotating more into toe touch to add more horsepower to the swing.

        Mike
        Man the site's busy today. I am stupid or a glutton for punishment managing both kids teams so if you don't see me around as much that's why. Mike he is swinging a 31-22 at 11, I am not sure if it's too heavy or not. He was ok today 1-3 with one cut that looked like HR written all over it. He really just started using this handset yesterday so he needs to groove it a bit before it's game ready. I still would like to see the weight more over the rear leg and reduce some of the forward movement.

        Mini-Pronk 2-3 with two nice line drives.

        Comment

        • #49
          31/22? I would say he's probably just fine, especially with his swing sequence. Definitely is a bat turner - great work!

          MIke

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          • #50
            Proud papa day....No clips, but my 11 hit his first HR tonight!!! Very excited for him, I didn't think he quite had enough salt and vinegar to hit one this year. Big week for teams managed by pronk.... Pony team scored 30 in two games, and LL team is 6-0 now and I've had 7 different kids hit home runs (not making this up as Sherpa and Esmith can back me up quite easily on this one). The nice thing is I have at least 2 more kids (possibly 3) who have a chance. I'll work on getting game clips of my kid. I will say that Kyle who worked with Teach the other day smoked 3 straight strikes past mini-pronk the week before, so he mini has some work to do. Been a tough season as he can't seem to shake elbow pain, but he's keeping the avg. high.

            Back to my 11, one thing new clips will show (hopefully I can get my wife next game) is that his hands are a little more back (more Rowand-like) than these clips from two weeks ago. He was really too slow against live-arm and ended up pushing and not making solid contact. He looks real confident right now I put him at leadoff and in two games he's 4-5 with 3 walks which is great knowing my boppers are behind him. He's too slow to really be a leadoff, but he works the count and can sit longer.

            Now I can't claim every single one of these hitters is mine, or an HI hitter. I can claim I do set a tone for some basic concepts, such as back-leg hitting (helps against off-speed), getting the hands flat early after the rear hip is turning. (I also drafted kids I felt would hit, or could learn). So I haven't pulled off all 12 kids and put them through the HI regimen, but I've sold enough of the coaches and dads on creating a good swing plane. For instance I'll show the kid how a rising front shoulder at GO is what helps you finish high (instead of the typical loopy hands when you say finish high). The other philosophy we emphasize is the GO-GO-No as in the Jim Thome clips I made and put on another thread. Oh recently I really started working on some tee shots with the tee placed at the rear hip.

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            • #51
              Congratulations to mini and you!

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              • #52
                Good stuff Pronk! Congrats.
                "Tip it and rip it" - In Memory of Dmac
                "Hit the inside seam" - In Memory of Swingbuster

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                • #53
                  Kyle and I were hitting on the adjacent field when John hit his HR last night. Good for John - I'm sure he will be wearing a smile for a week.

                  Comment

                  • #54
                    Alright since everyone else is posting a clip I have one from about 3-4 weeks ago. This was a game clip Sherpa took. He might have another one where he singled off of a curve ball (the only hit we had from a curve). My guess is that one is the same swing. His natural pattern is to line it up and swing leading to drag.

                    Anyway I'll try to get some Easter Sunday if we get out. We have made a couple of changes since we took this clip but they haven't been game tested as the league shuts down for two weeks. The first thing I did which I didn't want to have to do, but seemed forced to, was to get the rear elbow more up and over or loaded (scap). He has shown me consistently over time he just doesn't think to load with the top hand, and as a result tends to load up that lead arm pit. The second thing we did was cheat the back foot in a little. If you look carefully the rear leg seems to go "the wrong way" just before it starts turning toward the ball.

                    Oh we also did some "club" swings.



                    When the rear elbow gets just a little more up and over there is no bat drag. Also the last time we hit he started to really drive some balls, and what worked for him was me simply reminding him with everything we are working on, don't forget to "turn the vault handle".

                    Comment

                    • #55
                      Pronk,

                      Is this your oldest? Looks different to me for some reason.

                      I LOVE the overall pattern. Needs some tightening. But I like what I see.

                      I don't believe I see a loaded lead arm pit. I wouldn't worry about that hint of bat drag. You see almost the same exact 'look' in almost all of Pujol's swings.

                      Work on getting more stretch without changing the overall pattern.

                      A real simple change would be to let the lower body start forward AS he's taking his hands back. Currently he takes them back....pretty much as far as they get....then he starts his lower body. Without tension, and a nice Kent move, that rear hip gets in front nicely....naturally.....IF he doesn't rush. IF he allows it to happen.

                      Comment

                      • #56
                        Originally posted by Teacherman View Post
                        Pronk,

                        Is this your oldest? Looks different to me for some reason.

                        I LOVE the overall pattern. Needs some tightening. But I like what I see.

                        I don't believe I see a loaded lead arm pit. I wouldn't worry about that hint of bat drag. You see almost the same exact 'look' in almost all of Pujol's swings.

                        Work on getting more stretch without changing the overall pattern.

                        A real simple change would be to let the lower body start forward AS he's taking his hands back. Currently he takes them back....pretty much as far as they get....then he starts his lower body. Without tension, and a nice Kent move, that rear hip gets in front nicely....naturally.....IF he doesn't rush. IF he allows it to happen.
                        He looks a little different maybe because he's hit a growth spurt. With me throwing 40-45 MPH front toss from 20-25 feet he is topping out around 310 feet on a real good shot so getting some stretch will help.

                        Comment

                        • #57
                          Looking some more there may be some minor lead armpit load. It doesn't look like a 'load'....but what he does may compromise him a little. If what is happening happened as a result of his lower body moving/turning forward I'd like it better.

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                          • #58
                            He is getting big..........and getting close. He needs to have those hands closer to the shoulder at launch - a little higher than they are now. I do a drill with my kids and have them hold the bat with the hands back toward the catcher (like an arm bar) and then I have them hold the bat with the lead arm bent and near the shoulder. I ask them from what position can you "use your hands" - they all say they can use their hands better with the lead arm bent and near the shoulder. They must realize that they will actually hit the ball better and farther from this position. 99% of kids try and search for extra power, which is a killer in swing mechanics.
                            "Tip it and rip it" - In Memory of Dmac
                            "Hit the inside seam" - In Memory of Swingbuster

                            Comment

                            • #59
                              OK a little practice today, what the hell nobody else was out. I feel a good rear hip up and through. Still a little early with the hands, but now they don't seem back so far. I think they are about as far back as Aaron Rowands.



                              Another:



                              Finally I am posting this one because it was a little outside and slow but I felt he kept the rear hip loaded enough and also it stopped as the bat was released outside. This ball was maybe knee high, possibly outside the plate 1-2 ball widths which means strike with most umps it seems. Nice line drive. He hits a lot of oppo balls in the games, and I don't know if it's more outside pitches being taken or just deciding to swing late.

                              Comment

                              • #60
                                Pronk Sr.



                                As he is moving out his back knee is opening to the catcher. Does he do this on every swing?

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