Most swings and misses do not start where people look first. Coach Bass's main cause is attack point: the hitter attacks a middle or away pitch as though it were inside.
Start with the purpose of the swing
In Coach Bass's words:
The purpose of hitting is to swing to hit the ball. Try to make hard contact.
So the first question Coach Bass asks about a hitter who swings and misses is whether the hitter is actually watching the ball or is just up there swinging. Watching the ball means tracking it out of the pitcher's hand into the hitting or attack zone.
Usually you just see a kid swing and hoping they hit the ball. The eye and head pull off the ball. You have to see the ball with your eyes and watch the ball hit the bat.
Tracking matters, but tracking alone is not the purpose of the swing. When the hitter swings with purpose, Coach Bass wants the hitter to get the barrel to the ball with the back hand.
When you swing with purpose you have to get the barrel to the ball with the back hand. That is the main purpose.
The main cause: attack point
The main cause of swinging and missing is attack point. The ball is probably middle and away and the kid is swinging like the pitch is inside. In this case the bat is not long enough. This is why it is so important to think middle and away and think about hitting a line drive as a right-handed hitter and taking the second baseman's hat off.
That is the read Coach Bass makes first: a middle or away pitch attacked as though it were an inside pitch, and the bat is not long enough to reach it. Tracking the ball, the back hand and throwing the knob all still matter, but none of them automatically outranks attack point.
Coach Bass's three attack points are the same for right-handed and left-handed hitters:
- Inside: the inside front knee.
- Middle: the belly button.
- Outside: the inside back knee.
The ball is in front of the hitter at all three. The hitter does not think about three attack points during an at-bat. The approach Coach Bass teaches is simple: focus on middle and away, and react on an inside pitch.
When the swing looks great and still misses
If they look like great swings and the hitter is just missing the ball, I pretty much know the hitter is swinging as if it was an inside pitch and not letting the ball get deep in the zone and just misses the ball.
Two more things Coach Bass watches for when he evaluates attack point:
- Foul balls hit straight up.
- Where the hitter pulls the ball when they do make contact: toward shortstop for a right-handed hitter, toward second base for a left-handed hitter.
These are evidence to look at, not automatic conclusions. Not every foul ball straight up has the same cause.
The order Coach Bass checks next
If the hitter is letting the ball reach the proper attack point and is still swinging and missing, Coach Bass works through the rest of the swing in order:
- Momentum. The front shoulder attacks the ball. A right-handed hitter's momentum goes toward the second baseman; a left-handed hitter's goes toward the shortstop.
- The load. A lot of hitters let the ball get to the attack zone and then try to load, and the ball beats their bat. The load happens with the pitcher as he is winding up, and you can never load too early.
- The back hand. If the back hand is just coming along for the ride, the barrel will not get there. The back hand has to throw the barrel to and through the zone.
- Bat speed. The bottom hand pulls and throws the knob to the ball as hard as the hitter can, from the elbow to the hand, at the same time the back hand throws the barrel.
When all of that is right, Coach Bass's answer is short:
He won't be swinging and missing after this.
Why it takes video to know
Most of this is something Coach Bass determines by watching the swing and what the ball does. A description of the problem cannot show where the hitter attacked the pitch. That is why the Free Hitter Scan starts with one complete game at-bat on video.