Squish The Bug? Why This Is Not Good... - The Baseball Barn

Rich talks about how teaching players to "Squish The Bug" sets your swing up for failure.. See more at www.vvbaseballb...

[@TheWaltherFamily]

Working with recreational level, 7 & 8 year olds with zero lower body in their swing, and inadequate time to have a significant impact due to lack of repetition, "Squish the Bug" is a concept that gets the job done, and is easy for the kids to understand and remember. I agree that your points are valid for many advanced players, or someone you will be able to work with individually for a period of time, but there are kids who can benefit from squishing the bug, and then graduate to more advanced swing technique when they have time for individualized instruction or a better foundation to work with.

[@richlovell-thebaseballbarn1008]

+Neal Walther I am not disagreeing with your premise that using something to get the lower body working is better than nothing, but sometimes a bad teaching cue is a bad teaching cue and a bad habit is harder to correct after they have done it hundreds, if not thousands of times. If I may suggest, just tell them to swing hard enough until the back foot comes off the ground.They'll get the gist without learning a bad technique-squishing the back collapses weight on their back leg. Don't count the youngsters short on their ability to understand and apply different techniques. I had a 6 year old hitter in my facility during an open hitting session who had a great swing, but had one major flaw. I suggested to his dad that he not get any lessons for him because his swing looked great, but to have him keep his head and eyes more level to the pitcher-less head tilt to the side. "How do I tell him or get him to not do that?", he asked. Just tell him, I responded and the kid understood. The moral of the story is sometimes we try to dumb things down too much for younger players. Give it a try and thanks for the response.

[@QuotidianPerfection]

Hi TheBaseball Barn, I agree that grinding insects into mush by situating a disproportionate amount of weight on the ball of the back foot decreases the probability of hitters getting a good power "L" position in the back leg at contact. By doing so, as Mike and Jake Epstein point out, it becomes difficult for 1) a hitter to get his or her hips into the ball, and 2) makes it cumbersome to permit "the plane of swing to match the plane of the pitch." Letter me explain the two numbered statements above in greater detail. As Steve Ferroli once pointed out in his book "Hit Your Potential," if the back knee does not bend at the same rate (Batspeed.com's Jack Mankin's term) as the front knee straightens, the back hip will not rotate fast enough to maintain a stationary axis, and a negative weight shift will result during the swing. The hip rotation, as Ferroli suggests, will be slow, and one's bat-speed, as a consequence of the sluggish hip pivot, will not be especially fast, since, using Mankin's reasoning, the hips turn the upper body, which exert rotary forces on the bat. Also, if too much weight remains on the back foot, "the gradient of the swing," as Mike Epstein has noted in the past, "becomes too steep." In essence, what hitters construe as a linear movement with the back hip is, in reality, just a move to ensure that "hitters rotate around their spine." (Note: the four quoted words are Mankin's.) Thanks for the wonderful tutorial, and best of luck in teaching students how to ameliorate their bat-speed. In fact, Jake Epstein stresses the same key points which you do. One more thing--it's refreshing to see an Epstein certified instructor offering KZbin viewers hitting tips, as I am a long-time Epstein adherent, and believe his rotational teaching system is the best one anyone can use. Take care. Best Wishes, QuotidianPerfection

[@richlovell-thebaseballbarn1008]

QuotidianPerfection Thanks, I appreciate all of the comments and observations from such an eloquent individual. I agree and that is why I became a certified Epstein instructor and have since been trained as one of Mike and Jake's Master Certified Instructors. Thanks for all of the well thought out comments. I wish you the best and keep preaching the system...

[@mbmurph100]

Thank you, squish the bug is the worst thing taught these days!

[@richlovell-thebaseballbarn1008]

+Matius M You're welcome. Check out my other videos and share with your friends.

[@victorvizcarra3630]

With all due respect, but I disagree with the method that you are showing to illustrate"squish the bug" Not only are you showing the incorrect way to squish the bug, but also wrong weight transfer. You are leaning back and down towards your back leg and therefore providing the appearance that the squishing the bug is a wrong technique. There is definitely is right way to do it and the way you are illustrating it is not. It is impossible to hit the ball correctly without turning that back foot (squishing the bug). The question is what is the correct way to squish the bug. Just my thoughts. Thanks for the video and input.

[@richlovell-thebaseballbarn1008]

Victor, you're welcome and thanks for the comment. Keep in mind when I demonstrate, some things are exaggerated to show effect, however Squishing the bug is not done at the elite levels of baseball or softball. By squishing the bug you are not transferring weight from the back leg into the front leg to create ground force through weight shift. I am not aware of another way to squish the bug except to pivot, or spin on the back foot which collapses weight to the back leg, thus not allowing you to transfer weight into the front foot/heel to create ground force. The idea is to bring our knees together into and through contact. If a player spins on the their back foot-squishes the bug, they cannot do this because the majority of their weight is on the back foot/leg. View any MLB hitter and you will see that they are either completely on their back toe, without spinning the back foot, or the foot comes off the ground as the back knee is pulled forward. Squishing the bug is an incorrect technique and no hitting instructor, at least any that understand the MLB swing, teaches squishing the bug. The correct way for the back foot to work is that the back heel comes in and up as the knee pulls forward and hips turn through. Good luck and hope that helps you out. Keep with the comments and questions and challenge the why...don't forget to tell your friends about my channel too...if you don't mind.

[@victorvizcarra3630]

I think Arod explains my point: facebook.com/foxsports/videos/1434744356639280/

[@victorvizcarra3630]

Any input on A-Rods comments on squishing the bug? kzbin.info/www/bejne/Zoi5Y5mbpLN2qac