It is easy for a young hitter to step up to the plate and swing for the fence. It is harder to execute that objective. One of the reasons a batter fails at the plate is due to poor balance. In many ways, consider this the foundation to the entire swing. What are three ways to stay balanced at the plate?

1. Pigeon Toe: We are not talking about a disease here or a foot injury. We are talking about having our feet turned in slightly and the weight on the balls of our feet.

2. Knees Bent: The player should bend their knees slightly for comfort at the plate not straight up and down like a ladder.

3. Parallel Stance: We all love geometry. What we are saying is that your feet should be lined up straight and parallel with the plate. There are two other stances called Open and Closed. These would not be recommended for the beginning hitter.

How do you know if you son or daughter is balanced at the plate? Well, go up and push them. That is right go up and push them at the plate and see if they fall over or retain their balance easily. You need to check our video to see what we mean. Also this entire lesson is located on page 36 of Dusty Baker’s Hitting Handbook.

You get a sense of the stance by seeing a natural at balance former Cardinal Willie McGee below.

Happy Hitting!

We love doing radio interviews throughout the nation. Today we were fortunate to be interviewed by Good News nexium dosage Broadcast.

Check out Marv Bittinger’s insights on the book and some great ideas for the hitter including bat selection, keeping the eye on the ball and overcoming fear at the plate.

Happy Listening!

Marv Interview 2012

Listen to author Jeff Mercer on the Lance McAllister show co-author of Dusty Baker’s Hitting Handbook. This will be a great opportunity to hear the story of the book and hear some great ideas for teaching hitting.

Dusty Baker, Jeff Mercer and Marv Bittinger collaborated on the book many years ago and recently released an enhanced e-book full of video content and instruction to help you teach hitting to your child or players.

Click on the mp3 file:

Radio Show

Happy Hitting!

Too close or too far away…How do you know how to approach the batter’s box and make sure you are in the best possible position to hit the ball?

The goal of the Depth and Distance portion of the systematic approach to hitting is to make sure you can cover the entire

strike zone. Check out our latest video on this topic for more information.

I remember as a kid that if you could pound the bat on the middle of the base and stood somewhere in the middle of the batter’s box that I was good to go. In actuality, young kids sometimes get as close as possible to the plate, which is not a good idea. At that point, they have put themselves in a position of potential failure.

This is one of those posts, where it is really best for you to see a video on how to help your child or player come to the plate. We call it Depth and Distance. Oh, your kids may wish to emulate MLB players on this…Well, sometimes that is a good idea and sometimes not…

Happy Hitting!

Marv Bittinger, one of the co-authors of Dusty Baker’s Hitting Handbook visited the Louisville Slugger bat museum and factory in Louisville, KY last Wednesday. It was a most interesting and informative tour. You watch the procedures they use to produce today’s bat. You also see bats once used by Babe Ruth and other Hall-of-Fame players, as well as present day players such as Joey Votto. You can even program purchase your own autographed, personalized bat.

I highly recommend you visit the Louisville Slugger Museum and there you will see several Louisville essay writing Slugger bats on display. See if you can track down a size similar to Dusty Baker’s bat. It is model number S318, 35 inches and 33 ounces. Below is a couple of pictures of Dusty’s Bat.