@dcrysup Last week I got a threatening letter that I had not paid and they were going to start increasing my penalty by 50% a month until I paid it. (I had already paid it). Fers
When I was with the St. Louis Cardinals, I saw Troy Glaus doing a drill I'd never seen before.
The tee was set ridiculously deep.
Almost under his belly button.
Honestly, it looked weird.
When he swung, it looked like he was letting the ball get way too deep.
But every ball he hit was a line drive back through the middle.
So I asked him:
"What are you working on?"
He said:
"My front hip is flying open."
Then he pointed to the tee.
"This keeps me closed."
That was it.
Simple.
The drill forced him to let the ball travel.
It forced him to stay closed longer.
It forced him to keep his direction through the baseball.
At the time, I wasn't struggling with that issue.
But I logged it away.
A few weeks later, I started noticing the same thing in my own swing.
My front hip was leaking open.
I was getting pull-happy.
I was cutting myself off.
I wasn't letting the ball travel.
So I went back to the Troy Glaus drill.
Deep tee.
Middle of the field.
Line drives.
And almost immediately things started cleaning up.
I was staying through the baseball.
I wasn't rushing to pull everything.
I was letting the ball travel deeper.
One thing I've learned:
The best hitters I've ever been around didn't panic when something broke.
They had a tool for the problem.
That's why I always tell players:
Don't just collect drills.
Understand what problem the drill solves.
Because when the problem shows up...
You'll know exactly what tool to pull out of the toolbox.
If your front hip is flying open...
Try setting the tee deeper than normal.
Your goal isn't to pull the ball.
Your goal is to drive line drives back through the middle.
You might be surprised how quickly it cleans things up.
Thank you for reading,
Jermaine Curtis
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