The Sitting Action

The biggest problem that effects hitters is not getting themselves in a good position to adjust to the baseball. Timing is a key part of hitting but we have to understand that it is very difficult to have perfect timing. The key thing to understand is that if you have great body movements you don't have to be on time to still be in a good position to hit. Most hitters are taught that you load back and then you stride forward and the adjustments that hitting coaches make if that doesn't work is to "get the foot down early" or not stride at all. Neither of which helps the hitter store energy. Hitters need to think about the early movement in the swing as their element of style and timing. Some guys are loud with their load others are simple depending on body type and coordination levels. However, the "load" is not back and the stride is not forward. You need to decide how you are going to gather or load but all you are doing in the gather is setting yourself up for the down or sit. In the clips below you can see how the hitters are bringing their hip line down. Watch their back hip joint as it moves down. The reason that the stride is taught as a forward move is because the body does move forward as the hips or butt sits down. As you sit down your body naturally needs a wider base to support that position. 

The main point of this post is to understand that you do not want to think of striding forward but instead sitting down or pushing your back hip down. The lower your start in your stance the less down there will be. Once we begin the sitting movement we just keep sitting down and track the ball and wait for it to get to us. Most hitters know that at contact the position of power is a bent back elbow however most amateur hitters get to contact with a straight back elbow. This is because most amateur hitters load back and stride forward so if they are not on time they have no way to adjust and have to reach out to hit the ball. (I put 3 pictures below of the right contact position)

This concept is difficult to put into words and I have done my best but here is an article that may help some understand it better: https://tewkshitting.com/josh-donaldson-swing-changes-over-time-and-adjusting-to-off-speed-pitches/

Watch Donaldsons' transformation as a hitter from college to pro ball and then look at how he adjusts to different pitches. I am going to stop there but continue to revisit this concept in future posts.