It's hard enough to coach hitters.

What makes it even harder is when well-intentioned but ill-informed coaches coach hitters into problematic movement patterns.

Common But Problematic Advice for Hitters

The following is a list of the problems our hitters have been coached into and that I have had to fix.

Get Your Front Foot Down Early

One of our hitters went on a tear that included a three home run game. Then he went flat. He went from being on time and letting the fastball travel to being early and out front on everything. He hit many balls in BP off the cap of the bat.

I didn't know what was going on until, one day, I came across one of our coaches telling him that he needed to get his front foot down early. Given that I had just seen the hitter be early on everything, getting his front foot down early was the LAST thing he needed to do and the cause of, rather than the solution to, his problems.

Align Your Door Knocker Knuckles

A number of hitters have a problem with their back elbow leaking forward during the swing. This lengthens the swing, moves the contact point out front, and often results in lots of top-spin and ground ball.

In nearly every case, hitters with this problem have been taught to align their door knocker knuckles.

Push Through Contact

One of our hitters is big and athletic, but doesn't hit the ball nearly as hard as you would expect him to. Through conversations with him, I came to understand that the problem is that he was taught to push with his hands through contact.

Get'/Keep the Barrel Up

While this isn't always bad advice, the problem with telling a hitter to get/keep the barrel up is that, if taken too far, it can create a problem I call a True Loop.

Stop Dropping Your Back Shoulder

Don't Dive Over the Plate

Hit/Catch the Ball out Front

Keep Your Front Foot Closed into Contact