Justin Stone took some time to answer several of your hitting related questions that came into his Ask.fm account. Click here to ask Justin your question.
What should I do to stay in my scap longer?
Make sure the timing of the scap load is consistent with the body’s forward advance instead of scap loading with the lower body load. Then maintain the pinch / clamp into your foot down.
If a young hitter has a problem drifting over their front foot when facing live pitching, do you recommend that they use a wider stance in an effort to stay back even if it results in a less powerful “unwinding” out of the negative move?
I generally recommend a young hitter be outside the shoulders in the stance for greater stability / body control. While by no means an “absolute,” one of the biggest issues young hitters have is lack of body control. With a narrow stance, there is the potential for greater momentum. This often leads youth hitters into their front side early. Widening out can (with controlled tempo) reduce momentum and give them a better chance of maintaining a strong hitting position.
I notice that a number of major league batters wrap their bat around their head (Bautista, Worth, etc.) but this is routinely taught as not appropriate for young hitters. Do you subscribe to this theory? If so, what cues would you use to break this habit?
Years ago, I focused on bat angle as a teach, and I rarely talk about it now. Generally, in a good scap load, bat angle is a non-teach. What you see in youth hitters with a “wrap” is a relaxed scap / excessively down elbow. With this lack of resistance comes poor sequencing with the upper body, typically, leading the swing.
What are some good coaching cues to correct a hitter when they are getting their rear elbow in front of their hands prior to contact?
Rewind and find out what the root cause is. The elbow leading initially is typical, as the lower body begins to pull the resisting upper body / elbow into the “slot.” When the elbow leads all the way to the bodyline, usually we have lack of upper body resistance (scapular load) and the swing is top-down / upper body first, thus out of proper synchronization.
How do recommend dealing with coaches who continue to teach incorrect drills and mechanics on someone’s current team?
In your baseball career, you are always going to have different opinions. That never ceases. Be open to all, but ultimately it is YOUR career and you have to develop an approach/system that works for you. Take in the information the coach is giving and retain what works / filter out what doesn’t. But regardless, be respectful – not a time, ever, to act like you know more than a coach, act un-coachable, or act bigger than the program you’re in. That stuff will have much more of a negative impact than a few misguided hitting tips.
What Motion Analysis software do you use? Or can you recommend one?
I use JC Video Ultimate. But I use it for recording my video analysis to file for my students. Common person probably doesn’t need that. Simple apps like Ubersense work just fine, and many of our instructors use those and like them.
I hear many coaches talk about hitters having a long swing and one of the drills they use to correct it is using one handed short bat drills. Are these drills you endorse or are there some more effective drills or cues you utilize? Thanks
One arm drills make you better at one-arm drills and have zero relevance to improving your game swing. Simply put, they are a waste of time. We teach sequencing, so if the teach / drill isn’t relative to the sequence, it’s not relative to your game swing. One arm drills fall into the category of non-relevance. As an aside, I was guilty of doing them too in previous years – but like my hitters, I hope I’m getting better as an instructor all the time too.
Tags: Ask.FM, Justin Stone
