The Five Stages of the Swing

I look at five stages of the swing when I work with hitters.  Here are the stages and a brief explanation:

1. Stance:  This includes where the feet are located and where the hands are but also how the eyes are looking forward and the angle of the bat.
2. Preliminary Movement:  Another word for this is the load.  This is the movement, effective or ineffective, before the swing starts.
3. Approach:  This is the movement from the loaded position where the bat begins to go forward toward the ball.
4. Contact:  This is not a movement but a snapshot of the swing at the very point the ball makes contact with the ball.
5. Finish:  This is also called the follow-through.  

I will talk more abouit each of these stages in upcoming blogs.