Posted by: () on Tue Mar 26 20:07:28 2002

The High School coach that started hitting him down has the right idea, but obviously doesn't know enough about the swing to teach the downward cut well. May I use a couple of examples of Downward swingers first then let me explain why they swing downward, a star (*) is put by players i have worked with this winter..
Alex Rodriguez is the master of the downward cut then, Jeff Cirillo*,Bernie Williams,Derek Jeter, Ichiro Suzuki, Bret Boone.. ok i just wanna name a few. Now Why the downward cut:
First off a downward cut generates more batspeed, obviously since you are working with gravity. Next a downward cut generates backspin ****** which is a key factor yet no one knows about it. Major League and Minor League batting coaches today teach BACKSPIN because backspin creates lift. "cutting" at the ball creates lift with increased batspeed. Less homeruns, more doubles and triples and line drives!!!! Also backspin confuses fielders tremedously because the "rising" effect of a backspin ball is hard to pick up. Now what Your son is doing right now is hitting the ball directly with a downward cut. NO! DONT DO THIS. Try hitting the bottam half of the ball only with a downward cut. Here are some drills that are used by A-Rod, most major league teams, Cirillo, the entire Stanford team, Arizona state, and many others... PUT A TEE WITH A BALL AS IF YOU ARE READY TO HIT IT. THEN BEHIND IT ABOUT 2 FEET (NOT SURE EXACLY) PUT ANOTHER TEE AND STAND IT UP MUCH HIGHER THEN THE ONE IN FRONT. NOW TRY TO HIT THE FRONT BALL STRAIGHT WITHOUT KNOCKING THE BALL OFF THE BACK TEE. DRILL 2: Set up a tee as normal, then put a ball directly in front of the tee plate on the ground, directly in front of the tube that holds the ball, and try to get the ball your hitting to hit the ball on the ground by obviously using a downward cut. THANK YOU