365 Days to Better Baseball - Sign of Good Baseball Swing

Tuesday Tips to Tattoo the Ball - "Don't work so hard"

I often hear adult youth baseball coaches tell kids to not swing so hard. I know they have a point but it is a little off.

I tell hitters that I always swung the bat at one hundred percent every time when I hit, but it was always done under balance and control. I do not want hitters going easy on the ball and to ease up in their swing, but they must learn to swing 100% under balance.

Often I find myself saying the following to baseball hitters, "Don't work so hard." They and everyone around look at me somewhat funny after saying this. The point is that agreat baseball swing has an effortless, fluidity and tension-free look to it. With a great baseball swing, the whole body works in such a smooth manner that it looks like the player is not working hard, even though they are swinging the bat at one hundred percent effort. When hitters work too hard to swing, they often lunge or try to muscle the ball, or at the least have a lot of unwanted head movement.

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What to look for in a baseball swing?

When youth baseball coaches see batters, who move their head a lot, over swing or are off balance, telling them to "not work so hard" helps players understand that it is not how hard they swing, but how efficiently they swing. With a great swing, the ball jumps off the bat more when it feels like they put little effort into their swing. It's important to teach kids to swing hard, but efficient at the same time.