SWING

• Initiate your Swing after the front foot has complete the Step.
•  Simultaneously:
  • Pivot onto the ball of your back foot.  Point your back toe and knee at the pitcher (Rear leg is in the "L" position).
  • Aggressively rotate your hips towards the pitcher.
  • Straighten the front leg and begin to lock the knee.

• Immediately after the hips begin to turn, drop your rear elbow and allow hands to begin pulling the knob of bat towards the quadrant where you expect the ball to enter the strike zone.   The bat should quickly level out, with the barrel momentarily pointing at or above the umpire's head as the knob of the bat moves toward the quadrant where you expect to make contact with the ball.
  • Note:  This tutorial assumes that the strike zone has 9 quadrants,   The quadrants are "stacked" three high, between the knees and arm pits.  There are 3 inside, 3 outside and 3 quadrants in the center of the plate.  
• The knob of bat will travel "in", "out" or "down" depending on which quadrant of the strike zone the ball is pitched.     
• TIP:  Your hands begin at shoulder height in the TRIGGER position. They hands should never move "up" to contact a pitch that is out of the strike zone.
• TIMING: Your rotating chest will begin to decelerate as your arms and hands pick-up speed.  When the moment feels right, the batter will snap her wrists and fire the bat barrel at the ball.  The batter's timing must be precise if the bat barrel is to move from behind her body, to a point where her arms are almost fully extended at impact.    Learning when to snap your wrists is a "timing" skill that is developed by hitting live pitching or practicing in a batting cage.  Fortunately, developing good timing is not difficult.  Timing quickly improves and becomes instinctive after several live practice sessions.
• As the bat barrel passes in front of your body, the hips slow down, and the arms and hands take over.  The bat barrel will drop below the hands as the barrel of the bat passes in front of the body. 
• As the arms extend, the bat barrel whips forward and picks up speed. The barrel reaches its maximum velocity when the front arm is fully extended. 
•  The fast-moving bat barrel generates forces that cause the batter's hands to pull inward and away from the ball.  This allows the bat barrel to move in front of the body and accelerate past the hands to the anticipated point of impact.
• The bat barrel reaches its highest velocity when the lead arm is fully extended and in-line with the bat.   Ideally, the alignment of the bat and lead arm occurs 2-3 inches past where the bat impacts the ball.
• BALANCE:  The batters head should stay between her feet throughout the entire swing.  Swing aggressively, but not so hard that, at the end of your swing, your head gets out over your front leg.
• When a pitch is thrown over the inside part of the plate, in order for the batter to fully extend her arms at impact, the barrel of her bat must contact the ball 12-18 inches in front of home plate   This requires more hip turn, a longer swing and additional time for the hands to travel from "trigger" position to an "impact" position in front of the plate.  Batters must initiate her swing a little sooner when swinging at balls on the inside part of the plate.  
• A pitch "down the middle" should be hit at or near the front edge of home plate.
• A pitch on the outside part of the plate can be hit 4-6 inches behind the front edge of home plate.  This is the easiest pitch for batters to get around on because of the shorter swing.