16 Sep Drills & Tips To Fix Pulling Off The Ball
Summary
The following article provides simple tips, and hitting drills to stop pulling off the baseball and softball. Including, physical and mental batting tips to fix, flying open too early with the head, front shoulder, and hips.
Coaching Front-Side Mechanics
Struggling with staying-closed/pulling-out/jumping out/lunging?
Avoid instructions such as, “keep your front side closed,” “stop flying open;” and be specific, coaching simple step-by-step instructions, addressing the issue. For example, “watch the ball out of the pitcher’s hand, tracking closer to your body, aiming at the opposite field gap;” pointing to a landmark on the home run fence, as the focal point.
Clinton Balgera,
Inventor, Hit Lasers Bat Speed Trainer.
Founder, Multi-Swing Method.
Close Your Mind, Open Your Eyes
If you can’t see the ball, you will fly open. Focus on the pitcher’s release point, clearing your mind of all thoughts and see the ball. This method naturally helps you to track the ball, allowing the ball to travel, giving you time to read the pitch, and preventing you from starting your swing too early. Additionally, triggering your “natural reflex swing.” Ultimately, improves your; timing, bat speed, helping to “stay closed” with your front shoulder.
Over-Swinging
Avoid conscious thoughts triggering you to fly open, for example, “I’m going to pull the baseball, and hit it for a 500 ft home run.” The subconscious mind is a powerful beast, controlling your reflexes; critical for hitting dominant pitchers. In this case, it relays a message of over-excitement to your body, as you rush your swing, hoping to pull a “monster shot,” however, you fly open; and strike out. Another example, doubting your bat speed when a pitcher is “hammering” you with inside fastballs; again you rush your swing, compensating for your doubt.
Hitting Approach
Lacking discipline in your hitting approach creates the habit of “flying open.” The most straightforward method to prevent “flying open” is to practice hitting the ball “up the middle” to the “opposite field.” Focus on a target area during batting practice, aiming for your location; developing the proper approach helps to fix hitting mistakes.
A to Z of Tee Drillhttps://hitlasers.com/trainer/a-to-z-of-tee-drill/ Location: #Baseball Park, Thornlie, #WesternAustralia. HittingCoach: #ClintonBalgera, inventor of our Exoprecise #HittingTrainers, and creator of the #MultiSwingMethod. KEY POINTS Covering the plate: #Hitting the challenging pitches. Balance: Staying in the legs, core/lower-half turn, adjusting to the change of speed to prevent lunging, harnessing your power. Multi-Swing Method: Top hand release, reaching the low, and outside pitch. Approach: Staying up the middle, and the opposite-field. Self-analysis: Learning about your swing, how to fix mistakes; watching the ball travel. Isolating critical parts of the swing: Keeping the head down at contact, preventing the front shoulder from pulling-out early. The x-factors of hitting: Fine-tuning the load for timing. Game-day autopilot: Relax, the eyes to trigger your load. Heavy bat: Increasing the strength of the secondary hitting muscles; forearms, and biceps.
Posted by Hit Lasers on Sunday, August 18, 2019
RELATED: Fastpitch Softball Trainer
Timing the release of your front shoulder is critical for power hitting, and increasing your batting average. You can acquire this skill by improving your batting practice discipline, for example, hitting the baseball “up the middle,” and “opposite field.” The time your front shoulder opens during a swing, varies with pitch location, and contact depth. For example, your front shoulder mechanics for hitting a “hanging slider,” is different to swinging at an “up and inside fastball.”
RELATED: Multi-Swing Method
Core and Rotational Hitting Mechanics
Attempting to fix, “pulling off the ball,” many coaches focus on the upper half of the swing, however, staying closed, and staying through the ball; can be a result of incorrect rotational hitting mechanics.
Simple drill
Coaching rotational mechanics
Connect your top/trail hand elbow to your hip, pick up the leg you turn when hitting, and rotate for ten repetitions; repeat for three sets.
RELATED: Hitting Program, Step 1
Video Overview
Top/Bottom hand drills are excellent to improve bat speed, power, front-side, and back-side swing mechanics. In particular, bottom/lead hand drills train mechanics for “staying closed,” with your front shoulder.
RELATED: Hitting Program, Step 2
Keeping the head still when you swing
Keeping your head still is critical for staying closed with your front shoulder, and hips. The video below gives a simple drill for keeping the head still during your baseball swing, by placing your hat in front of home plate as a focal point; make sure you can see the hat after you finish your swing.
Video Summary
Looking for a simple hitting drill to fix for pulling off the ball? Place your hat two feet in front of home plate, make sure you can see it; after you complete the swing.
Ball tracking, and fastball mechanics
Laser Reflex hitting drills fix common hitting mistakes, for example, pulling off the baseball. Increase the resistance of our baseball swing trainer by reducing the size (adjustable to fix youth, and professional players), to fix casting, reaching, and lunging; making contact closer to your body; critical for keeping your front shoulder closed, hitting against a dominant fastball pitcher.
- Set Up: Both arms inside
- Pitch Height: Thigh to belly-button
- Pitch Location: Middle to inside
- Approach: Hitting the ball up the middle, and opposite field (key point)
- Advanced: Swing a heavy bat
RELATED: Hitting Program, Step 3
Hitting Aid To Fix Pulling Off the Ball
Our Hit Lasers Bat Speed Trainer is driven by globally patented Exoprecise technology, coaching you to a compact and powerful swing path, fixing mechanical flaws such as, pulling off the ball/flying open, lunging, casting, and a long/loopy swing. Works with all drills, for example, on-field batting practice; giving a full range of motion, accommodating to little, and big league players.
