How Does The Aluminum Bat Hurt Your Swing?
by: Dave Hudgens
Assistant Director of Player Development
Hitting Coordinator / Oakland Athletics
Every kid today uses an aluminum bat. Through the years, the aluminum
bat has developed to be a high tech, light weight, lethal weapon, with
which kids really have a tremendous amount of success. Recently I read
an ad that sang the praises of the "large sweet spot" on the aluminum
bat. What the ad doesn't tell you is that this large sweet spot could
keep you from maximizing your success as a hitter. Let's see how the
aluminum bat affects your swing:
The aluminum bat increases the habit of creating a "long swing"
One of the reasons most kids today have a "long swing" is the muscle
memory they've developed through the years of using an aluminum bat.
Years of using an aluminum bat create a "sweeping motion" in most kids
swings, which causes them to actually drag the barrel of the bat through
the strike zone. When you sweep the bat through the strike zone, you
are incorrectly training your hands to take the wrong path to the ball.
The "wrong path" to the ball. You do not want to incorporate any of
these bad habits into your swing!
How Can The Aluminum Bat Ruin Or Delay Your Career?
Year after year, I see newly drafted players with both an extremely
long swing and an ego to match. These guys have been fooled into
thinking they are professional hitters when, in reality, they merely
had an aluminum bat swing.
One player with whom I worked had a typical aluminum bat swing. He had
had great success in high school and college. He was drafted, by our
scouts, in the first round. Unfortunately he was determined not to
change his swing.
For the first two years he would not listen to instruction. After
two years of struggling in the low minors (when he thought he would
be in the big leagues), he started to listen.
He realized he had to change in order to have some success as a
professional ball player. He eventually advanced to the AAA level,
but he never attained the success to which his potential could have
carried him. His lack of instant success was because of the
development of an improper swing and the years of training muscle
memory incorrectly. He fell short of reaching his potential.
What if 99% of your practice time created a bad habit, that could
cost you a college scholarship or Big League career? When would you
want to change that habit?
Dave Hudgens is a hitting instructor for the Oakland Athletics
He also has a very good internet web site about hitting
Hitting For Excellence
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