FUNDAMENTAL HITTING MECHANICS, APPROACH AT THE PLATE, AND PHILOSOPHY OF THE TROJAN BASEBALL PROGRAM

1. STANCE 2. START “LOAD + LAND” 3. SWING 4. FINISH

1.BALANCED, EQUAL BALANCE ON BOTH FEET, SQUARE TO THE PLATE 2.WEIGHT ON THE BALLS OF THE FEET, FEET SHOULDER WIDTH APART (SLIGHTLY WIDER) 3.KNEES INSIDE THE FEET, GOOD ATHLETIC POSITION 4.BELT BUCKLE IN LINE WITH INSIDE CORNER OF THE PLATE 5.ELBOWS RELAXED 6.HANDS SLIGHTLY ABOVE SHOULDERS/ BEHIND EAR, BAT HEAD AT 45 DEGREE 7.HANDS LOOSE RELAXED, HOLDING BAT IN THE CREASE OF THE HANDS, LINE UP DOOR KNOCKING KNUCKLES 8.CHIN OVER FRONT SHOULDER 9.BOTH EYES ON THE PITCHER 10.STANCE SHOULD BE LOOSE, RELAXED

1.“LOAD + LAND” WHEN THE PITCHER BREAKS HIS HANDS (MUST GO BACK BEFORE FORWARD, TIMING, WEIGHT SHIFT) 2.SHIFT WEIGHT TO BACK LEG AS HANDS AND FRONT FOOT SEPERATE 3.FRONT FOOT TOUCHES GROUND WEIGHT IS ON THE BALL OF THE FOOT, KNEES STILL INSIDE FEET 4.FRONT FOOT MUST GET ALL THE WAY DOWN BEFORE ANY OTHER MOVEMENT 5.HANDS ARE SLIGHTLTY OUTSIDE BACK FOOT, FRONT ARM SLIGHTLY BENT, “L” 6.BAT STILL AT 45 DEGREE ANGLE 7.HEAD STAYS STILL AND QUIET 8.WEIGHT IS NOW 60% ON BACK LEG TO INSURE PROPER WEIGHT TRANSFER

EXAMPLE GOOD LOAD (LOWER) 1.LOAD (QUIET) WHEN PITCHER BREAKS HIS HANDS 2.LOAD CREATES A WEIGHT SHIFT 3. FRONT FOOT/ HANDS SEPERATES 4. BACK TOE POINTED SLIGHTLY IN 5. LAND SOFT ON THE BALL OF THE FRONT FOOT 6.KNEES STAY IN BETWEEN THE FEET 7.FRONT FOOT MUST GET DOWN FLAT

EXAMPLE: GOOD LOAD ( UPPER) 1. KEEP “L” WITH TOP HAND AND FRONT ARM DEGREE ANGLE WITH THE BAT 3. CHIN ON THE FRONT SHOULDER 4. BOTH EYES ON THE BASEBALL 5. SHOULDERS ARE LEVEL 6. HANDS SLIGHTLY OUTSIDE BACK FOOT

1.ONCE THE FRONT FOOT GETS DOWN, SWING STARTS WITH THE “BACK KNEE TRIGGER” (NOT HIPS) 2.FRONT SIDE OF THE BODY USED TO: STAY CLOSED, LOAD. BACKSIDE USED TO BE EXPLOSIVE. 3.SWING STARTS FROM THE GROUND UP 4.BACK KNEE EXPLODES DOWN AND TOWARDS THE FRONT LEG, BACK HEEL MUST GET UP AND THE SHOELACE WORKS DOWN AND TOWARD THE PITCHER 5.“BACK KNEE TRIGGERS” DOWN AND TOWARD FRONT LEG, BACK HEEL MUST GET UP AND SHOELACE WORKS DOWN AND TOWARD THE PITCHER 6.UPON “BACK KNEE TRIGGER”, PATH OF THE HANDS NEED TO BE IN LINE WITH THE BASEBALL (NOT AROUND THE BALL). CLOSER THE HANDS ARE TO THE BODY THE QUICKER THE SWING 7.BOTTOM HAND MUST STAY ABOVE THE BALL, AND WORK DOWN TO THE BALL (“KNOB TO THE BASEBALL”) ELBOW SHOULD BE SLIGHTLY BENT (“L”) WORKING TO THE “SLOT POSITION”

1.SLOT POSITION- BACK ELBOW AGAINST THE RIBS, HANDS CLOSE TO THE BODY, BAT HEAD ABOVE THE HANDS, BAT SLIGHTLY LAGGING 2.ONCE THE KNOB GETS TO THE BACK LEG THE TOP HAND THROWS THROUGH THE BASEBALL (EXPLOSIVE) 3.AT CONTACT (LEVEL 1) SHOULD BE PALM UP/ PALM DOWN. EXTEND THROUGH THE BASEBALL AND GET TO EXTENSION (“HITTERS V”- LEVEL 2) 4.HITTERS V- HEAD DOWN ON THE BACK SHOULDER, THE TOP HAND SHOULD STAY PALM UP AS LONG AS POSSIBLE

POINT OF CONTACT 1.3 POINTS OF CONTACT (INSIDE, MIDDLE, AWAY) 2.HIT THE TOP HALF/ INSIDE THE BASEBALL 3.HANDS BETWEEN BODY AND BASEBALL 4.FIRM FRONT SIDE, CLOSED 5.HEEL TO THE SKY/ OVER TOE 6.BACK KNEE WORKING AGAINST FRONT LEG 7.CHIN ON BACK SHOULDER, EYES DOWN

BAD SWING 1.HANDS DROP 2.FRONT ARM BARED 3.HANDS CASTING AWAY FROM THE BODY 4.SWING IS AROUND THE BASEBALL 5.COLLAPSING ON THE BACK SIDE NO PIVOT ON THE BACKSIDE, NOT CLOSED ON THE FRONT SIDE

1.HANDS HIGH 2.BALANCED 3.HITTER CHECK POINTS 4.1 HAND FINSH VS. 2 HAND FINSH

1.GRIP (DON’T GET KNUCKLES LINED UP PROPERLY, SQUEEZE BAT TO HARD) 2.DON’T GET BOTH EYES ON THE PITCHER (SHOULD BE ABLE TO COVER THE FRONT EYE AND STILL SEE THE PITCHER 3.OVER STRIDE AND LAND WITH THE FRONT FOOT OPEN 4.BAT WRAPING 5.NO LOADING OF THE HANDS 6.COLLAPSING OF THE FRONT LEG 7.HANDS DROP, ARM CAST AWAY FROM THE BODY 8.LAZY BACKSIDE 9.POOR EXTENSION ON THE FINISH OR CUTTING SWING SHORT 10.POOR PITCH SELECTION 11.PISS POOR WORK ETHIC

1.TO BE SUCCESFUL WE MUST BUY INTO THE HITTING PHILOSOPHY, HAVE GREAT WORK ETHIC, HAVE CONSITENCY, BE COACHABLE AND WILLING TO LEARN 2.WE LOOK FOR THE FASTBALL UNTIL WE GET TWO STRIKES, WE WANT TO HIT OUR PITCH NOT THE PITCHERS PITCH, WE WILL NOT SWING AT BREAKING PITCHES UNTIL WE GET 2 STRIKES (UNLESS IT IS HANGING) 3.WE WANT TO PRODUCE LINE DRIVES AND HARD GROUNDBALLS 4.OUR GOAL IS TO BE ABLE TO HIT THE BALL HARD TO ALL FIELDS!! 5.2 STRIKES WE MUST CHANGE OUR APPROACH. SHORTEN UP, COMPETE AT THE PLATE, PROTECT AGAINST ANYTHING CLOSE, DON’T GIVE IN. HITTING WITH 2 STRIKES IS A MENTALITY 6.NEVER GO DOWN LOOKING 7.WE MUST BE READY TO HIT WHEN WE GET IN THE BOX, YOU MAY ONLY GET ONE GOOD FASTBALL TO HIT IN AN AB, WEAR IT OUT! 8.KNOW THE COUNT AND WHAT PITCH YOU ARE LOOKING FOR WHEN YOU GET IN THE BOX, WORKING THE COUNT TO YOUR FAVOR INCREASES YOUR CHANCE OF BEING SUCCESFUL (LOOK FASTBALL 0- 0, 1- 0, 2- 0, 2-1, 3-1) 9.“YES, YES, YES, NO APPROACH” 10.BE A GOOD SITUATIONAL HITTER, WILLING TO SACRIFICE YOUR AB FOR THE TEAM, MOVE RUNNERS OVER (SAC BUNT, GB OPPO, HBP, HIT AND RUN, SQUEEZE)