Questions have been coming in to Justin Stone’s Ask.fm account which you can access here.  Feel free to drop your hitting question which may be featured in our next post.
 
What are some good coaching cues to prevent a young hitter from lunging forward over his front knee?
 
There are several reasons why this can happen. 1) Poor tempo during the coil/stride. 2) Lack of resistance in the upper body. 3) Poor heel plant. Identify the flaw first that’s causing the issue. But as a general checkpoint, the upper body ends its forward advance when the front foot gets fully planted. Therefore upon finish, the nose should be behind the front knee, and the knee should be behind the front ankle.
 
My sons first move is always with his front side,his knee bends slightly then foot opens up, which causes him to open hips to soon. Any drills to work on to fire back side first?
 
If you are asking about opening up during the stride, it is usually a result of a fast tempo during the stride portion of the swing. To maintain your coil and be able to fire from the backside, the body must have a controlled tempo during this process. We use a drill where the athlete starts with their feet together and we challenge the athlete to control their tempo as they go through this lengthen stride. It will be important that your athlete maintains a scap-load during this process.
 
What’s the most important things to make sure a youngster ( 4 -5 yrs old) is doing so we don’t have problems to fix later?
 
For young guys it’s important to start and stay athletic during the stance, stride and into foot down position. I don’t impress style upon hitters, but often times widening a young hitter to slightly outside his shoulders will give him the balance and stability leading to a strong foundation.
 
In sequencing hitting what is the relationship b/w hands and back knee. Should they work together or independently?‎
 
The back knee is not a “mover” in the sequence. It moves because the feet advance it in the stride and moves again as the rear leg drives the hips open. The initial slot of the hands is because of the lower body being stronger than the resisting scap or upper body. This begins slotting the back elbow. People use the hands moving forward and the back knee firing together as check points. I do not, because neither are causing the initial moves.
 

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