Understanding Baseball Torque for Young Athletes (Age 12)

What is Torque in Baseball?

Torque is a term that describes the twisting force that helps an object rotate around an axis. In baseball, when you swing the bat, you are creating torque that helps drive the bat through the hitting zone to make contact with the ball.

How Torque Works in Your Swing

To understand how torque plays a role in your swing, let's break it down step by step:

1. Stance: Start by standing comfortably with your feet shoulder-width apart. Your weight should be balanced between your feet.
2. Grip: Hold the bat with both hands. Your top hand (the one closest to the bat’s end) should be firm, while your bottom hand should provide support.
3. Load Phase: As the pitcher throws the ball, you prepare to swing by shifting your weight slightly back, coiling your torso to store energy like a spring. This is when you generate the initial torque.
4. Swing Phase: As you start to swing, uncoil your body by transferring your weight from your back foot to your front foot. Your hips and shoulders should rotate towards the ball.
5. Follow Through: Continue the motion even after hitting the ball. This ensures you're using the full torque generated by your body to maximize power.

Why Torque is Important

Torque helps you hit the ball with power and accuracy. The more efficiently you create torque in your swing, the harder the ball will travel and the more consistent your hits will be!

Practicing Torque

To practice creating torque, you can do exercises that focus on twisting your torso, such as:

• Torso twists: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, and twist your torso to each side while keeping your hips stable.
• Medicine ball throws: Stand sideways to a wall, throw a medicine ball against it, and catch it as it bounces back. This mimics the action of hitting.

Conclusion

Understanding torque is key to improving your baseball swing. Practice makes perfect, so keep working on it, and you will become a stronger hitter!