Baseball Hitting Drills Working on Proper Rotation

Baseball Hitting Drills for Working on Proper Rotation

Many times hitters do a poor job of rotation their backside when hitting a baseball. Since good bat speed originates with good rotation of the hips, you need to rotate properly to gain bat speed. The old saying of squish the bug is useless and completely incorrect.

Good hitters generate momentum by rotating their hips and creating energy while moving towards the pitcher, not just spinning out on their back foot which generates no forward momentum. If squishing the bug were taught in the Big Leagues, the there would be a ton of hitters placing weight on their back foot on rotation wouldnt you think? This picture on the left of Albert Pujols shows otherwise. Take a close look at his back foot. The reason that only the toe is on the ground is because he has slammed so much energy forward with his back thigh and hip. That momentum timed properly with his hands creates tremendous bat speed. (Check out the Baseball Hitting Drills to Improve Your Bat Speed article series for more on the bat speed sequence).

To get this type of bat speed Pujols creates take years and years of practice, however, there are some things you can do with your baseball hitting drills that can drastically improve your bat speed now. The first place we need to examine is your stance. I know, not the most earth shattering and exciting part of a hitters swing sequence, but if you want speed in your swing, a proper stance is a must.

A good wide stance is immensely valuable to a hitter. Its his foundation. Without a good base, its impossible to generate proper bat speed. Because your goal is to transfer energy into the pitch, then you have to have a wide enough stance to transfer that energy and not end up with your weight on your front leg. Here, take a look at the picture of Brian Giles on the left. Youll see something I need for you to practice with your baseball hitting drills. Look at the line on his pants. It runs vertically up to his hip. If you continue an imaginary line upwards, it will continue up to the outside of his left shoulder. This line means that he is balanced on contact.

If you set up in your stance with a narrow base, you will float forward during your swing and will not end up balanced like you see in this picture.

In short, if you want good bat speed (and I know you do), you need to create energy with your rotation. If you want good rotation you need to begin with a good stance. In your baseball hitting drills have someone take a picture or a video of you hitting. When finished, look to see if you look similar with your balance as the pics of Giles and Pujols show.

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