dropping the shoulder while hitting

Question
My 15 year old drops her back shoulder while swinging the bat. What can I do, drills and such to help her get over this problem.

Thanks,

Jim

Answer
Hello Jim

Backside collapse (back shoulder dropping) is usually caused by the hitter failing to pivot the back foot or hip properly resulting in poor weight transfer thus producing an uppercut type swing.

A good drill to work on proper hip and pivot foot movement is to use a broom stick behind the players back, elbows are holding the stick. Then have the player work on swinging with the hips and pivot the back foot.

A good drill to help keep the bat barrel up (stop upper cutting) is the high- low tee drill.

Stress keeping the "front shoulder down and in" instead of telling her not to drop the back shoulder.

Using two tees set one tee the front part of the plate, just inside the striding foot. Set a second tee on the back tip of home plate at the same height or slightly higher than the front tee. The object is to drive the ball off the front tee, without hitting the back tee. This helps reinforce keeping the "front shoulder down and in"