Posted by: Bondo () on Tue May 2 11:55:07 2006

My son's an 11 year old who has always been a pretty good good contact hitter. I've always known he sort of rocked back and strided open before swinging. We decided to correct that few weeks ago by minimizing his stride by starting his stance upon his left toe (like A-Rod). We also worked on shortening his swing by keeping his hands in. Now he's square when he swings but he's late and the result is he misses the ball underneath (fouls off to the backstop) or hits it towards first base.
Upon viewing Ted Williams' swing, I immediately noticed how he strides toward the first base.
http://firstpickclub.com/video/tedwbackabovefull.mpg

In fact, that's exactly how my kid used to hit. Stride open with his arms extended at contact. Who says its wrong to stride open and reach? Ted Williams does it.