There are few things more frustrating for a hitter than having a problem with his baseball swing and not knowing where the problem stems from or how to solve it.  When I work with hitters, I teach them how to identify core movements of the swing process which then gives the hitters power to problem solve on their own.  Essentially they become their own baseball swing technician, able to fix most problems.

While there are a half dozen or so major mechanical movements that can snag in any swing, this article is devoted to one problem I tend to correct much more than others.  This mechanical flaw can be one of the biggest lower body problems for hitters.  I say the biggest in the sense that it does the most damage when trying to hit a baseball effectively.

Mechanics Problem: Hip Slide

The hitter should begin the stance position, waiting for the pitcher to move into his windup.  Next, the hitter needs to transfer some weight from his balanced stance position onto his back leg.  It’s commonly taught to have an overall weight distribution that is roughly 60% weight on back leg, and 40% on front leg.  Most hitters have little problems with this step without a lot of baseball drills to assist in the process.

The second movement in the hitting process occurs as the hitter takes some of the weight he has loaded onto his back leg and begins to pivot and rotate the back leg towards the pitcher in order to create energy.  This movement is often referred to as the trigger process.  It is at this juncture when the hips sliding forward problem happens.

In order for a hitter to become effective in hitting a baseball, the weight that was originally placed on the back leg must remain partially there as the rotation occurs.  It’s easy to spot if this process is occurring correctly.  Take a look at the angle of the back leg as it begins to rotate.  If there is a gentle bend in the back leg at the knee (at contact with the baseball), there is a good chance this hitter is swinging with his full energy being used from his back leg.  However, if the back leg is relatively straight when the hitter makes contact with the pitch, then the problem of hips sliding forward has damaged the total power potential of the hitter.  The main reason this hitting mechanics problem occurs is that many times younger hitters feel that they must move their weight towards the baseball.  When the weight is taken off the back side of the body and moved to the front, a hitter will create very little power with the lower half.  At the Little League level some hitters can get away with this mistake, but as a player gets older the hips sliding forward problem will destroy the ability to create a quick and powerful swing.