Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Mon Apr 13 09:45:33 2009

>>> Hey everybody. I have gotten to where I can swing pretty smooth and hit about 30ft from the fence. I really want to hit a home run and whenever I try to swing with more power everything messes up, I'll pull it foul and it feels like I'm hitting a bowling ball and it doesn't go very far.

Now I'm 6'0" almost 200 lbs and I'm pretty strong for my size so I should be able to hit it over the fence. But I'm at a loss for how to add any more power to my swing without messing up my mechanics.
So assuming my mechanics are correct when I swing smoothly. What do I need to do to add that extra "Umph" to my swing to get it over the fence.

When I swing, how tense should my arms be in order to keep the rear shoulder in the "slot" position? Should they be realativeley loose? Or realativeley rigid?

Any help would be greatly appreciated <<<

Hi JBO

It is the efficiency of your swing mechanics that determines how much of your strength is converted into bat speed. Since it is the rotation of your shoulders that supplies the lower-body's energy to drive the arms and bat, I am not sure what you meant by "keep the rear shoulder in the "slot" position?" -- The back-elbow should stay back in the "slot" and allow shoulder rotation to drive the forearms and hands.

Read the post from the Archives below, it may pertain to the problems you are having.

Best hit balls are pulled foul

Jack Mankin