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Article coming soon!

We believe that weight transfer is an essential element of great hitting mechanics. We do not believe it is a hitting technique, but rather an element of great hitting, and a major one at that. There has to be back to front movement of the body in the hitters stride process in order to hit with any kind of consistency and power. The transfer of the weight occurs against a rigid front leg (not over it) creating a front side axis. Sitting, squishing the bug is simply poor hitting mechanics.  At the proffesional ranks, a hitters back foot is in one of two places at the point of contact. Its either completelyoff the ground or there toe is barely touching the ground. Either way, the back foot does not bare any weight once the front foot lands. In many cases you will see the back foot travel foreward. This foreward movement is usually equal to or slightly less than there stride. This is not a thought process of the hitter, rather, it is a natural reaction of the body when the hitters weight is placed in the right place at the point of launch. This is a sign that the hitter is using there entire body to create power and has complete leverage against there front side.

I feel that many young hitters never get a good weight transfer due to what they have been taught. One key phrase in baseball and softball is “stay back” and without a full understanding of when “stay back” happens, the hitter gets caught with his weight stuck in his back leg. When you look at a high level swing, you will see the hitter’s first move is back (loading against his back leg). Once back, the hitter will move the entire body (including the head) forward   (in a controlled manner) maintaining dynamic balance throughout until the front foot plants(creating forces against the front leg not over).  Now, at this point the head stops forward movement along with the rest of the body, and rotation occurs in a natural motion. Newton’s First Law of Motion states that a body at rest will remain at rest unless an outside force acts on it, and a body in motion at a constant velocity will remain in motion in a straight line unless acted upon by an outside force. Which should explain why some amatures swings looked forced and  a high level swing looks effortless. So to tell players to stay back just isnt enough. We as coaches must explain when this happens and what it really means.

So with all this said, the transfer of weight is a vital element of  high level swing mechanics, not a particular technique.

Taylor Bales

“If you expect to hit everyday: you better hit everyday”