There is a lot of bad information and a plethora of horrible coaching cues in the world of hitting. Today I want to talk about one of those and that is to "keep the head still." While this may not be the worst cue of all time, I think that many hitters are either taught incorrectly when it comes to head movement or misinterpret this cue. Either way, I want to use today's article to discuss what the head doers in the swing of high-level hitters and why.
What the head does throughout the swing
Regardless of style of stance, load and stride, hitters will begin the swing with some sort of backward head movement. This is what allows the hitter to load the back hip, get force from the ground and time their movements. This rearward movement is often, but not always accompanied by some downward movement as well.
Once a hitter is fully loaded on the back side, they will begin their forward movement of the stride. Again, this will vary based on a number of factors but check out this video to see how the head moves from this point on.
What do we see?
The green line represents the hitter's starting point from their max rearward load. The yellow line shows where he is when his stride foot lands. This shows how hitters will have some forward head movement as well as downward movement. It is this forward and downward movement that allows the hitter to both get into good postures as well as put force into the ground to create power. The next line, the blue line represents where his head is when he makes contact. This pitch was a little lower, so the head moved lower as he began rotating. On higher pitches this is where we may see the head stay more still through rotation.
What happens if the head stays still?
Hitters will interpret this cue in a few different ways. First, they will completely eliminate any load and stride which severely restricts power generation capabilities. The thing that shows up when hitters try to avoid head movement is that they stay very upright and tall. This causes hitters to work flat or down through the zone and causes a lack of consistency.
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