If your coach tells you are dropping your back shoulder I ask you to tell him/her, “coach I know my back shoulder is dropping, I am doing that because it is the correct way to swing.  Please don’t really say that, but it is a true statement

I hear everyone out there telling me I am stupid and that is OK because that may be true, but on this topic I am correct.  As your foot comes down and you begin to launch your back hip, your back elbow will go into the slot (down and in) when this happens your back shoulder will drop because your front elbow elevates in order to get the bat on the same plane as the ball.  At contact your front should will be higher then your back shoulder.

So why do I keep popping the ball up and why does my coach keep yelling at me to stop dropping my back shoulder?  I don’t know, but he/she is either wrong or does not have the proper knowledge to teach you how to hit.  Hitting is a bunch of complex and precise movements and a lot of people are not qualified to teach it.

So, with that being said here are some of the actual issues you are having:

Sitting on your back foot: this is when a hitter keep most of their weight on their back foot throughout the swing, their back knee has a huge bend in it and their entire body is leaning backward.  Your back shoulder isn’t the issue, your back leg is.  You can not collapse on the back leg, some call this drop and drive do not do this.  Remember once your front foot hits (heel) your back hip drives forward opening up and getting the elbow into the slot.

You are using a bat that is too heavy: Some players just pick up a bat and go.  This is a problem because if the bat is too heavy the barrel will consistently drop and drag causing not only a slow swing but also a lot of pop-ups.

Remember your back shoulder has to drop a little, try taking a swing with your shoulders level and tell me how weird that feels and also tell me how much success you had hitting the ball hard.  Actually don’t try this because I don’t want you to practice the wrong way.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/gallery/bonds/flash.htm

check this link out and tell me if this great hitter drops his back shoulder, one you play the video hit Tony Gwynn’s analysis and then click through the frame by frame to see it in slow motion as well as real time.

samflamont@tumblr.com