Batting: Intro to Upper Body

As mentioned in a previous post, your swing is split into two major parts: the upper body and the lower body. In this post, we will introduce the upper body and the first drills to do in order to create muscle memory.

The Whole Picture

The full hitting progression consists of five drills in this order of completion: bottom hand, top hand, knob to extension, extension, and full swing. Think of it as a puzzle; each piece contributes to the full picture in some way. The exercises in this post are not part of the hitting progression, but they are a part of the puzzle. The hitting progression is intended to create muscle memory for an effective swing, and these exercises create muscle memory and understanding for the drills in the hitting progression.

Breaking it Down

As we continue to dissect the upper body movements, it is critical to know that your upper body is split into two parts: the top hand and the bottom hand. Your bottom hand makes the first movement to pull your elbow and bat knob towards the pitcher. This motion ensures that you stay inside the ball, rather than wrapping around it. When you wrap around the ball, you lose power and control; it also takes longer to reach the ball, impacting the quality of your hit. The top hand punches through the ball and— for the most part— controls what type of hit you have (line drive, grounder, or fly ball). Punching all the way through the ball is extremely important for the power aspect of a hit because it ensures that your full force is behind the ball.

Equipment

For these exercises, you will need:

• At least one ball

• A tee

A bat is not required for these exercises because you will only be using the ball and tee to ensure that you have the correct motions and that you are the correct distance from the tee; you will also build muscle memory.

Introducing the Exercises

The first exercise is a modified version of the bottom hand drill, as it simulates the elbow pull towards the pitcher that is needed to trigger your swing. The main focuses of the first drill is to create muscle memory for the elbow pull while keeping your arm close to your chest.

The second exercise is a version of the top hand drill that you will do without a bat. The purpose of this exercise is to create muscle memory for the elbow and hand path of your top hand and to begin punching through the ball.

Identifying Your Top and Bottom Hands

You can identify your top and bottom hands by determining whether you hit on the left side or the right side of the plate.

For left-handed hitters:

When you grip the bat, put your left hand just above your right hand on the grippy portion. Your right arm will be your bottom hand and your left arm will be your top hand.

For right-handed hitters:

When you grip the bat, put your right hand just above your left hand on the grippy portion. Your left hand will be your bottom hand and your right hand will be your top hand.

Exercise 1: Bottom Hand

In this exercise, you will build muscle memory for the first drill in the hitting progression.

Start by setting up your tee and stand in an athletic position (knees slightly bend, back straight, leaned forward, feet a bit wider than shoulder width apart). In this position, you want your tee to be aligned approximately with your front knee and just a few inches away from you.

Extend your front arm (the arm closest to the tee) to the side in this position and set your tee to be a few inches below your extended arm. If you bat left-handed, stand on the left side so that your bottom hand is closest to the tee. If you bat right-handed, stand on the right side so that your bottom hand is closest to the tee.

Set a ball on the tee. Hold your bottom hand beside your opposite ear with your elbow close to your chest. Focusing on keeping your hand close to your chest and your elbow straight towards the pitcher’s mound, slowly pull your elbow slightly down, knocking the ball off of the tee with your elbow.

While you do this, your arm should be close enough for you to drag your thumb across your chest for the whole drill.

Important notes: you should only pull your elbow far enough for you to hit the ball. Going any farther could cause the habit of pulling your elbow out, which would cause you to tip the ball when you’re batting. Also, stay in this position for a second before restarting.

Repeat this drill approximately 50 times. Remember, learning to bat and building muscle memory takes time, reps, and patience!

Exercise 2: Top Hand

In this exercise, you will focus on building muscle memory for the second drill in the hitting progression. Start by resetting your tee and standing in an athletic position. As opposed to having the tee high, close, and forward, put the tee a few more inches away from you. A good indicator for the position of the tee is having it between your front hip and your knee.

When your tee is set up and your ball is on the tee, hold your top hand next to your back ear with your elbow up. Have your palm facing towards your ear. Slowly bring your elbow towards your navel, but keep your arm at an angle resting sort of on top of your upper arm. Pause. From here, extend your lower arm and keep your palm facing forward. Punch through the ball with your palm at a slight downward angle. Make sure you hit the ball into the ground. After contact, keep extending your arm until your arm is straight towards the pitcher. If it is helpful, pretend that there is a second ball behind it that you wish to hit in the same motion.

There is another component to this exercise: hold your opposite hand over the ball as you do the drill (all the way through extension). This prevents you from opening your chest towards the field.

Repeat this exercise for the same number of reps as you did the first drill.

Remember that batting is fun, but it does not come easy!

Check out this tutorial:

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Thanks for reading!

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