Welcome to another special mailbag edition!
We receive great questions from your fellow readers every week, and I do my best to answer them in each mailbag edition.
This week, the conversation turns to keeping your head down… and getting extension…
“What tip would you give to help my grandson keep his head down when he swings? He tends to lift his head and then his front shoulder when he swings. Is there a drill to help with this?” – Leon F.
Hi Leon, thanks for the great question.
Before any tips or drills, I want to clear up two things:
First, it’s almost impossible not to pull your head to some degree, especially on a swing-and-miss. That’s because a baseball swing is a violent movement. With your body and the bat moving at such a high speed, the rotational force will make it challenging to keep your head down entirely. That’s the case even when you make contact, but it’s much more noticeable on a swing-and-miss. So, if your grandson is pulling his head like crazy on every swing, then we need to make some tweaks. But if he’s only pulling his head occasionally on swings-and-misses, that’s just part of hitting.
Secondly, you mentioned that he lifts his front shoulder when he swings. While it sounds like you’re referring to his front shoulder flying open and off the ball, it’s essential to understand how the shoulders work in the baseball swing.
When you watch great hitters, here’s what you’ll see:
When their stride foot lands (and they reach their launch position), their front shoulder will be slightly lower than their back shoulder. But as they rotate around their axis and swing, that begins to switch. Their back shoulder drops as their bat gets on the plane of the pitch, and their front shoulder rises. When they make contact, their back shoulder is lower than their front shoulder. If their back shoulder is lower, then by definition, their front shoulder will be slightly higher. So, my point is that you don’t want your grandson to keep his shoulders level. It’s essential to understand his back shoulder SHOULD be lower at contact, meaning his front shoulder will be a little higher.
Now, with those two caveats, let’s talk about a few other tips that might help. I’ll give you the three biggest reasons I see hitters pull their heads. Then, I’ll give you a simple hitting drill to try.
Many hitters struggle to keep their heads down because they’re trying to do too much or are “pull-happy.” I would argue this is the number one cause of the dreaded “pulling your head” issue, and it’s probably what your grandson is doing.
To fix it, encourage him to step up to the plate with a middle-of-the-field, gap-to-gap approach. He shouldn’t be thinking about pulling the ball down the line. And he shouldn’t go to the other extreme of trying to hit everything to the opposite field, either. He should focus on hitting the ball up the middle, between the left-center and right-center gap. This pre-pitch mindset shift will fix a lot of issues.
Then, encourage him to “hit the ball where it’s pitched.” In other words, the pitch location should dictate where he hits the ball. He’ll want to hit the ball further out front to his pull-side if it’s an inside pitch. If it’s over the middle of the plate, he should hit it right back up the middle. He should drive it to the opposite field if it’s an outside pitch.
The second big culprit of pulling your head is trying to keep your shoulders level. We already discussed this, so I won’t belabor the point here. Just understand that you don’t want your shoulders to remain level or flat as you swing. The front shoulder should be slightly lower at the launch position, then your shoulders “swap” as you swing with your back shoulder lower at the point of contact. Attempting to keep the shoulders level is a recipe for pulling that front shoulder and turning your upper body instead of tilting it.
A third reason he might be pulling his head is a timing issue — especially if he’s consistently late. When you’re late, you don’t have much time to catch up and get the bat on the ball. As the pitch races towards you in a hurry, your brain recognizes that you’re running out of time. Subconsciously, your brain realizes that the only way to make contact is to find a way to give yourself more time. The only way to do that is to create space, which means pulling your head. If he finds himself late, tell your grandson to start everything sooner. He shouldn’t rush or load quicker; he should change when he starts his load. Beginning a little sooner will help him avoid being late and the cascading adverse side effects that come with it.
As far as a drill is concerned for fixing the pulling your head issue, try the “No Look Drill” I wrote about in a recent post. You can read about it here. It’s simple, but it works like a charm.
“Hey coach! I have heard things about extending your hands so that your arms are straight when batting to get the most power. But I have also heard things about keeping your hands tight to your body to generate the most bat speed. What do you recommend? Thanks!” – Graham W.
Hey Graham, thank you for your question.
Assuming you have good timing, extension should NOT happen at contact. It should happen after you hit the ball.
An easy way to remember this is “connection at contact, extension after.”
You want to be in a position just like the pros are below.
To maximize your bat speed and exit velocity, you want your bat to travel fastest as you hit the ball. It’s easier said than done, but that’s the goal.
But once your arms straighten and extend fully, the energy you’ve created in your swing is already spent.
That’s why a hitter fooled on a breaking ball that hits the ball way out front has limited power. They’ve already spent their energy, so their bat decelerates as they make contact.
Your timing will not always be perfect, and you will not always look picture-perfect at the point of contact.
But don’t try to extend your arms. Stay connected, and think about driving through the ball as you hit it. Everything else falls into place naturally.
After all, extension is a byproduct of proper swing mechanics. It’s not an artificial motion that any hitter should force. If you swing with good mechanics, you’ll “disconnect” automatically as you drive through the ball. Your barrel will follow the ball, and your arms will extend fully at the right time.
I hope that helps answer your question.
And that’s all for this week’s mailbag! Thanks to everyone who wrote in.
If I didn’t get to your question this week, look out for my response in a future mailbag edition.
I do my best to answer as many of your questions and comments as possible.
You can write me at mailbag@baseballhittingtips.com.
Keep your eye on the ball… and have a fantastic day!
All the best,
Coach Justin