Head Position At Impact May Be Causing You To Lose Out On Repeatable Power [The Neck Brace Drill]
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This is Part-2 of a 3-part video series coming straight out of the Catapult Loading System online video mini-course…
Sick of struggling with getting your hitters to hit the ball hard with more consistency? This is a simple 7-module online video mini-course that will help hitters weighing less than 100-pounds, hit the ball consistently over 300-feet in 60 days. You’ll be able to dramatically increase power without sacrificing swing quality.
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In this video post, I’ll be walking you through the Neck Brace Drill. We’ll be going over:
- The One-Joint Rule
- Head movement that is okay
- Jace Case Study: BEFORE & AFTER of Neck Brace Drill
The One-Joint Rule
Dr. Kelly Starrett from MobilityWOD.com, gives a perfect explanation of this in the following video (watch at about the 4:00 minute mark):
Head Movement that is Okay
Andrew McCutchen breaking One-Joint Rule photo courtesy: MLB.com
What’s better, and thanks to Dr. Kelly Starrett’s explanation above, we can look at what head movement IS NOT okay through impact:
- Chin to chest,
- Head back (like looking at the sky), and
- Ear into rear shoulder (for a righty, right ear to right shoulder).
Major League example of #1 is Andrew McCutchen (image to the right). Major League examples of #2 are Bryce Harper and Derek Jeter.
The only head movement that is okay through impact is a slight head turn. Generally speaking, the head position we want to model is during the follow through.
Jace Case Study: BEFORE & AFTER of Neck Brace Drill
Jace is one of my 10-year-old hitters who is 66-pounds.
Tiny compared to his peers.
However, over the last 6 months of hitting with me, and off a traditional batting tee, he now consistently registers 50-54-mph Ball Exit Speed with a non-wood bat.
In other words, Jace has the ability to hit the ball well over 200-feet, depending on the launch angle of the ball.
Now, we’ve been wrestling with his ‘bobblehead’ position for quite some time, and a big THANK YOU for the tip goes out to Coach Todd Bradley, head softball coach at Campbell University, the difference in one 45-minute session using the Neck Brace Drill can be seen in the image to the right.
Just about the same soft tossed pitch height.
Jace is still not perfect yet, but we’re getting there.
I hope this drill helps your hitters. Click the following Amazon links to get the same simple foam Youth Neck Brace
& Adult Neck Brace
that we used with Jace.
I’m the founder of the Hitting Performance Lab. I’m a member of the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), the International Youth and Conditioning Association (IYCA), and the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR).I’m also partnered with the Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA).
I’ve spent 10 years in the corrective fitness field, and have too many certifications to bore you with.I also played four years of Division One baseball at Fresno State (2000-2003).
It’s NOT how you study, but what you study that counts.I apply proven human movement science to hitting a ball.
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