Prodigy Coach Forum

Guru · Pro Joined: 26 Nov 2007 Posts: 50

We've all seen (and taught) young players how to hold the bat....but there's the perennial dilemma of the stiffness in the wrists and (particularly) the elbows. Their straight bat shots are very stilted and they all find the 2-handed approach a cumbersome front door way into acquiring batting skills. This is why they prefer to play cross-bat shots because (a) they are more comfortable and (b) the end result is so pleasing, so fulfilling.
So the essential need is to "unstiffen" the elbows - and then the wrists - if we want to advance them (in a better time-scale) with their straight bat shots.
Use the example of the "diamond" shape of the left elbow/hands/right elbow/chin configuration as they stand in their set-up "ready" position.
Now....Here's what I've found with success.....and it does require they have the proper size bat and not some heavyweight contraption that's made for someone much older.

Get them to release the bottom hand, holding the bat with ONLY the top hand. Allow them to swing the bat like a pendulum (preferably copying you as you demo it for them). Get them to notice their elbow and how it begins to bend on the back swing more and more. Get them to notice how much more control they are able to build into this action.
Next add in a front foot step as the bat swings through. This will enable them to stay side-on more easily as the bat swing increases.
Next, allow them to re-engage the bottom hand but merely as a stabilising guide. The swing should now be reduced as far as a forward defensive and also (with the hands a bit higher) for a check-drive. The key here is to ensure they maintain their side-on position.
Finally - with the aid of slow-motion practice - you can show them the movements of the wrists that will bring about a complete follow-through over the shoulders that will maintain their side-on position.

I stress this point about the side-on position because without it the upper body will tend to rotate and cause instability, loss of balance etc.

This will take about 5 minutes. You can incorporate it first with hitting static balls and then hitting balls fed to them.

If you can sort out the elbows early on with front foot shots, then it makes teaching back foot shots that much easier because they already have the muscle memory and proprioceptive effect of the aforementioned exercises.

As always, give it a go and see what happens.

PW