Grounding out

Question
Hi John,

Lately I have been grounding out to third base. My last 20 atbats I have 4 Strike Outs 7 walks, and 9 groundouts to third base. Earlier in the season i was doing very well Offensivley but now I either walk or ground out to third base with the occasional strike out. Also I seem to be watching alot of fastballs right down the middle of the plate and waiting for the inside pitch. I tell myself not to but I end up doing it anyway. I look for the inside fastball and if I get a curve I'll foul it off 90% of the time. Is there any mechanical things I can do to prevent all this?

Thanks,
Shawn

Answer
Shawn,
Work on hitting the ball to the opposite side.  Stay inside the ball and make sure you let it run deep, waiting as long as you possibly can before contact.  

As far as something mechanical most of the time when I see a player grounding out to third and striking out they are swinging with too much top hand, rolling the wrists to early, and swinging with the arms and not the hips.  Make sure you keep the hands back and initiate your movement with the rotation.  The order should always be footwork, hips, then hands.  If the hands go too early you will cast them out, coming around the ball, then they will roll as the bat goes through the contact zone.  If the hands stay back and you rely more on your rotation the hands will follow the hips creating a shorter swing.  This will allow you to have flat hands as you go through the contact zone.  

Also a good drill for you is the use of a one hand trainer.  The best one hand trainer is made by D-Bat.  I am assuming you are a right hand hitter and right hand thrower.  If this is correct your top hand is your dominant hand.  When you start hitting the ball on the ground to third it usually comes from too much top hand.  The one hand bat can develop your bottom hand to become more dominant and your top hand becoming more of a control hand.  This will create that very slight upper cut swing players look for giving the ball back spin and some lift with more distance.  The short bat can also be used with both hands.  This will help train you to let the ball get deep and hit the inside half.  Because the bat is so short you will hit it off the end or miss it if you try to hit the ball too far out front.  

Let me know if I can help you further and thank you for the question.
-John Priest