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The Eight Essential Pieces to a Smooth Swing
8 Essential Pieces to a Smooth Swing
1. The GRIP: Picking up a bat is the first physical action that takes place before walking up to the plate. Holding the bat is your only actual physical connection to swinging the bat and hitting the ball. If you are not holding the bat properly, you are not allowing yourself to be the best hitter you can be. To hold the bat properly, lay the bat down in your fingers and then pick it up. For most of you, your “door knocking” or “baby knuckles” will be aligned. People with longer fingers will have knuckles slightly off center which is fine as long as the bat is in your fingers. Holding the bat in the fingers provides for more bat speed and extension through the baseball resulting in more power and fluidity in the swing. When holding the bat ANY other way, doing these things properly becomes a physical IMPOSSIBILITY. If this is something you struggle with or have been told to do but it’s uncomfortable, I encourage you to check out ProGrip. ProGrip will re-teach your hands the muscle memory necessary to hold the bat properly.
2. The STANCE: There are many different options when choosing a stance at the plate. Not only are there many different places for the hands, but there are a few options for the feet as well. Many young baseball players try to emulate MLB players and their different stances and I encourage them to STOP!! Getting repeatability and consistency in the swing is extremely important. There are certain positions that every successful hitter gets too including the Load/Launch position and the PoC. The more indirect movement it takes to get to these positions, the more difficult it is to remain consistent. Those unique MLB players are able to remain consistent due to thousands of practice swings and their own unique abilities. As a hitter you want to find YOUR comfort zone not theirs. If you choose a unique stance please do it with the understanding that you will need to work twice as hard as everyone else to remain consistent. I encourage players to keep their stances as simple and comfortable as possible. The feet should be roughly shoulder width apart and in a comfortable athletic position. I tell my players to stand like they would if they were leading off a base with their weight distributed evenly to both sides and on the balls of their feet. An open or a closed stance is ok but both have their disadvantages. I like the feet to be in a straight line facing the pitcher because at the Load/Launch position they are straight, so it is much easier to start that way. Remember every hitter gets to the same Load/Launch position and the more movement it takes you to get into this position, the more difficult it will be to keep your swing consistent. I like the hands positioned not too far away from the body but not to close either, finding a happy medium between the two. Many young hitters put their back elbows up and that’s fine but they should consider a few things first. When the back elbow is up, the first thing a hitter must do before swinging the bat is DROP IT!!! So why have it up in the first place?? Most hitters have a tendency when dropping their back elbow to drop their back shoulder as well and this is the number one cause of pop-ups among young players. When the hitters back elbow and shoulder drop, it causes the bat to drop as well resulting in a loopy uppercut swing. We want a quality bat path to the baseball and this means driving the bat head “Down to the ball”. The reason some Major Leaguers are able to keep their back elbow up and succeed is due to repetition and a quality bat path. Remember swinging a bat is a complex movement so we want to simplify every chance we get and if you start with your elbows down, now all you have to do is drop the bat head on the ball!
3. LOAD/LAUNCH POSITION: Although hitters have many different stances, they ALL get to the almost the EXACT same position before swinging a bat. We call this the load or launch position. Many hitters start with their hands in another spot and move them to this position while other hitters choose to start here. I like a little movement to get to this position because I believe not only does it loosen the hands and arms to allow for more quickness but the cocking action provides for a little more power as well. If you were going to punch a block of wood in front of you, would you punch it with your arm in a still position or would you cock it back slightly??? I encourage my hitters to bring their hands straight back a few inches from where they start. The length of this movement depends solely on the hitter and what they are comfortable with. Movement is necessary to generate a rhythm but remember the more movement there is the more difficult it is to keep it consistent!
4. BAT PATH: Your bat path too and through the baseball begins after you launch your hands towards the ball and continues until the end of the swing. Many young hitters have an extremely poor bat path to the baseball. After our hands are in the launch position when we are ready to swing the bat, we want to take the barrel of the bat to the ball in the most direct way possible. Instead of bringing the bat directly to the ball, many of you drop the bat head and sweep the bat into the ball providing for an extremely long swing. We want to be “Short to it and Long through it” not the other way around. I encourage you to take a look at your swing in slow motion or consult with a professional hitting coach to ask if you are experiencing this problem. Many hitters don’t know they have a long swing and it certainly hurts their chances at success. You will also hear many people discuss whether to swing level, swing down or now people are saying to swing up to the ball. This is all nonsense. The bat is in a starting position above your head and your hands are starting above the strike zone, therefore you MUST swing down to the ball. The trick is to not chop down on it. Also, after the Point of Contact (PoC) you must swing up through the ball to finish over your shoulder. “Down to it and Up through it” is the phrase I like my students to remember because this helps them understand that you must swing down to the baseball connecting with the middle to lower third of the ball to hit line drives and extend up through the baseball to get carry and distance on the ball. If a hitter only thinks about chopping down, they will end up hitting tons of ground balls and if a hitter thinks about swinging up they will end up with a ridiculous amount of pop-ups which is the easiest out in baseball. Being a line drive hitter and a difficult out is what you WANT to be. This will provide you with more success at the plate and a higher batting average.
5. POINT of CONTACT (PoC): Looking closely you will find at the major league level that PoC is the second point in the swing where ALL HITTERS are almost exactly the same. When making contact with the ball we want our swing to be at a certain point and our body to be in a certain position. At the PoC we want our lower half turned into the baseball with our back knee in between our feet driven into the ground. This is a result of using our lower half and core properly. We want a locked out front leg and our weight over the center of our bodies. Our bat should be making contact with the middle to bottom third of the ball and our hands should be “palm up palm down” on the bat. Our back elbow should be flexed allowing for extension after the PoC and our eyes should be on the ball. I encourage all hitters to videotape themselves swinging and take a look at their position at PoC. Getting to a quality position at PoC is extremely important and something every hitter should work on.
6. EXTENSION: This part of the swing is extremely important in getting distance with all of that solid contact you are making. Think about this, if you swung as hard as you could and then stopped your swing at the PoC the ball wouldn’t go too far would it. Extension is the key to getting distance and power into the ball. After making contact I tell my students to think about not hitting one ball but hitting three balls to the field that the pitch dictates so they continue to follow through. At PoC as I previously explained, the back elbow is slightly flexed and now you must push through or extend through the baseball. Extension is often seen as the “snap” through the ball right after PoC. Having proper extension turns those week gapers into stand up doubles and those balls off the wall into homeruns. Many young hitters have poor extension and don’t even allow them to extend through the ball because they were already extended at PoC. Again I encourage you to check out your swing on slow motion to see if you extend through the ball properly. If not, there are a number of drills used to fix this so consult with a local hitting instructor or send us an email.
7. FINISH: The finish is the last part of the swing after extending through the baseball. Some hitters prefer finishing one-handed while others choose to keep both on. As long as both hands are on the bat through extension it is ok to release one afterwards, BUT ONLY if they stay on through extension. You don’t want to become a one handed hitter or get in the habit of releasing too early. As far as the rest of the body is concerned it is ideal to have your back shoelaces, back knee, beltbuckle, chest and outside ear facing towards the pitcher while remaining balanced and continuing to focus on the PoC. That 5 point check will force you to be fully rotated through the ball without over rotating.
8. BALANCE: In my opinion balance is the most important facet of the swing. If you do not remain balanced through the swing, you cannot be a successful hitter. So many players worry about generating more linear power by transferring weight to the front side and stepping into the ball. These players fail to understand two things: 1. When you try to transfer so much weight all the time and step into the ball, you throw your balance off and more often than not will be too far out in front to succesfully hit off speed pitches as well as pitches on the outer half. 2. The pitcher is providing more than enough power to produce consistent and solid line drives. If you ask most coaches what they are looking for in hitters, they will tell you consistent line drives and solid contact. They don't want guys that try to hit the ball out of the yard and swing out of their shoes because that provides for more strikeouts and pop-ups, resulting in more outs. To become a succesfull line drive hitter you need to work on a fundamentally sound swing and balance at the plate enabling you to hit all pitches in all counts. The greatest advice I ever got from a coach was "stay within yourself and don’t try to do too much." This philospohy will help you in all situations from putting to much pressure on yourself and trying to force an outcome on the game.
What is a pitchers whole job in life? To disrupt timing and throw off the balance of a hitter. Having said that, if you can remain balanced as a hitter throughout the swing, you are able to react and hit ALL pitches efficiently. The greatest hitters in the Major Leagues are guys that can hit for average and for power and you may be wondering how they accomplish both. The answer is that they have a quality approach at the plate which enables them to look to accomplish different tasks in different situations. Great hitters analyze pitchers and have an understanding of what the pitchers game plan is. They look to put themselves in quality hitters situations. At times they look for certain pitches and certain zones as well as certain pitches IN certain zones. When they are in a quality hitters count they look to drive the ball. When they walk up to the plate in a situation with men on base and they need runs, these hitters look to work themselves into those quality hitters counts so they can look for a ball in the zone to drive. The best two examples of this in Major League Baseball are Joe Mauer and Albert Pujols. Watch them hit and watch their aprroaches at the plate and you will see greatness in action. It's one thing to know what to do, but it's another thing to be able to execute and they execute better than anyone in baseball!! Absolutely amazing!!
I encourage everyone reading this article to go to a batting cage and take swings at 100% max effort and then to slow it down and concentrate on the fundamentals of the swing. You'll be amazed at the solid contact your making and the result of solid contact is line drives and hard hit balls.
Check out more from ProGrip Baseball on our website http://ProGripBaseball.com or check out sections from our instructional Hitting DVD on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/user/ProGripBaseball
1. The GRIP: Picking up a bat is the first physical action that takes place before walking up to the plate. Holding the bat is your only actual physical connection to swinging the bat and hitting the ball. If you are not holding the bat properly, you are not allowing yourself to be the best hitter you can be. To hold the bat properly, lay the bat down in your fingers and then pick it up. For most of you, your “door knocking” or “baby knuckles” will be aligned. People with longer fingers will have knuckles slightly off center which is fine as long as the bat is in your fingers. Holding the bat in the fingers provides for more bat speed and extension through the baseball resulting in more power and fluidity in the swing. When holding the bat ANY other way, doing these things properly becomes a physical IMPOSSIBILITY. If this is something you struggle with or have been told to do but it’s uncomfortable, I encourage you to check out ProGrip. ProGrip will re-teach your hands the muscle memory necessary to hold the bat properly.
2. The STANCE: There are many different options when choosing a stance at the plate. Not only are there many different places for the hands, but there are a few options for the feet as well. Many young baseball players try to emulate MLB players and their different stances and I encourage them to STOP!! Getting repeatability and consistency in the swing is extremely important. There are certain positions that every successful hitter gets too including the Load/Launch position and the PoC. The more indirect movement it takes to get to these positions, the more difficult it is to remain consistent. Those unique MLB players are able to remain consistent due to thousands of practice swings and their own unique abilities. As a hitter you want to find YOUR comfort zone not theirs. If you choose a unique stance please do it with the understanding that you will need to work twice as hard as everyone else to remain consistent. I encourage players to keep their stances as simple and comfortable as possible. The feet should be roughly shoulder width apart and in a comfortable athletic position. I tell my players to stand like they would if they were leading off a base with their weight distributed evenly to both sides and on the balls of their feet. An open or a closed stance is ok but both have their disadvantages. I like the feet to be in a straight line facing the pitcher because at the Load/Launch position they are straight, so it is much easier to start that way. Remember every hitter gets to the same Load/Launch position and the more movement it takes you to get into this position, the more difficult it will be to keep your swing consistent. I like the hands positioned not too far away from the body but not to close either, finding a happy medium between the two. Many young hitters put their back elbows up and that’s fine but they should consider a few things first. When the back elbow is up, the first thing a hitter must do before swinging the bat is DROP IT!!! So why have it up in the first place?? Most hitters have a tendency when dropping their back elbow to drop their back shoulder as well and this is the number one cause of pop-ups among young players. When the hitters back elbow and shoulder drop, it causes the bat to drop as well resulting in a loopy uppercut swing. We want a quality bat path to the baseball and this means driving the bat head “Down to the ball”. The reason some Major Leaguers are able to keep their back elbow up and succeed is due to repetition and a quality bat path. Remember swinging a bat is a complex movement so we want to simplify every chance we get and if you start with your elbows down, now all you have to do is drop the bat head on the ball!
3. LOAD/LAUNCH POSITION: Although hitters have many different stances, they ALL get to the almost the EXACT same position before swinging a bat. We call this the load or launch position. Many hitters start with their hands in another spot and move them to this position while other hitters choose to start here. I like a little movement to get to this position because I believe not only does it loosen the hands and arms to allow for more quickness but the cocking action provides for a little more power as well. If you were going to punch a block of wood in front of you, would you punch it with your arm in a still position or would you cock it back slightly??? I encourage my hitters to bring their hands straight back a few inches from where they start. The length of this movement depends solely on the hitter and what they are comfortable with. Movement is necessary to generate a rhythm but remember the more movement there is the more difficult it is to keep it consistent!
4. BAT PATH: Your bat path too and through the baseball begins after you launch your hands towards the ball and continues until the end of the swing. Many young hitters have an extremely poor bat path to the baseball. After our hands are in the launch position when we are ready to swing the bat, we want to take the barrel of the bat to the ball in the most direct way possible. Instead of bringing the bat directly to the ball, many of you drop the bat head and sweep the bat into the ball providing for an extremely long swing. We want to be “Short to it and Long through it” not the other way around. I encourage you to take a look at your swing in slow motion or consult with a professional hitting coach to ask if you are experiencing this problem. Many hitters don’t know they have a long swing and it certainly hurts their chances at success. You will also hear many people discuss whether to swing level, swing down or now people are saying to swing up to the ball. This is all nonsense. The bat is in a starting position above your head and your hands are starting above the strike zone, therefore you MUST swing down to the ball. The trick is to not chop down on it. Also, after the Point of Contact (PoC) you must swing up through the ball to finish over your shoulder. “Down to it and Up through it” is the phrase I like my students to remember because this helps them understand that you must swing down to the baseball connecting with the middle to lower third of the ball to hit line drives and extend up through the baseball to get carry and distance on the ball. If a hitter only thinks about chopping down, they will end up hitting tons of ground balls and if a hitter thinks about swinging up they will end up with a ridiculous amount of pop-ups which is the easiest out in baseball. Being a line drive hitter and a difficult out is what you WANT to be. This will provide you with more success at the plate and a higher batting average.
5. POINT of CONTACT (PoC): Looking closely you will find at the major league level that PoC is the second point in the swing where ALL HITTERS are almost exactly the same. When making contact with the ball we want our swing to be at a certain point and our body to be in a certain position. At the PoC we want our lower half turned into the baseball with our back knee in between our feet driven into the ground. This is a result of using our lower half and core properly. We want a locked out front leg and our weight over the center of our bodies. Our bat should be making contact with the middle to bottom third of the ball and our hands should be “palm up palm down” on the bat. Our back elbow should be flexed allowing for extension after the PoC and our eyes should be on the ball. I encourage all hitters to videotape themselves swinging and take a look at their position at PoC. Getting to a quality position at PoC is extremely important and something every hitter should work on.
6. EXTENSION: This part of the swing is extremely important in getting distance with all of that solid contact you are making. Think about this, if you swung as hard as you could and then stopped your swing at the PoC the ball wouldn’t go too far would it. Extension is the key to getting distance and power into the ball. After making contact I tell my students to think about not hitting one ball but hitting three balls to the field that the pitch dictates so they continue to follow through. At PoC as I previously explained, the back elbow is slightly flexed and now you must push through or extend through the baseball. Extension is often seen as the “snap” through the ball right after PoC. Having proper extension turns those week gapers into stand up doubles and those balls off the wall into homeruns. Many young hitters have poor extension and don’t even allow them to extend through the ball because they were already extended at PoC. Again I encourage you to check out your swing on slow motion to see if you extend through the ball properly. If not, there are a number of drills used to fix this so consult with a local hitting instructor or send us an email.
7. FINISH: The finish is the last part of the swing after extending through the baseball. Some hitters prefer finishing one-handed while others choose to keep both on. As long as both hands are on the bat through extension it is ok to release one afterwards, BUT ONLY if they stay on through extension. You don’t want to become a one handed hitter or get in the habit of releasing too early. As far as the rest of the body is concerned it is ideal to have your back shoelaces, back knee, beltbuckle, chest and outside ear facing towards the pitcher while remaining balanced and continuing to focus on the PoC. That 5 point check will force you to be fully rotated through the ball without over rotating.
8. BALANCE: In my opinion balance is the most important facet of the swing. If you do not remain balanced through the swing, you cannot be a successful hitter. So many players worry about generating more linear power by transferring weight to the front side and stepping into the ball. These players fail to understand two things: 1. When you try to transfer so much weight all the time and step into the ball, you throw your balance off and more often than not will be too far out in front to succesfully hit off speed pitches as well as pitches on the outer half. 2. The pitcher is providing more than enough power to produce consistent and solid line drives. If you ask most coaches what they are looking for in hitters, they will tell you consistent line drives and solid contact. They don't want guys that try to hit the ball out of the yard and swing out of their shoes because that provides for more strikeouts and pop-ups, resulting in more outs. To become a succesfull line drive hitter you need to work on a fundamentally sound swing and balance at the plate enabling you to hit all pitches in all counts. The greatest advice I ever got from a coach was "stay within yourself and don’t try to do too much." This philospohy will help you in all situations from putting to much pressure on yourself and trying to force an outcome on the game.
What is a pitchers whole job in life? To disrupt timing and throw off the balance of a hitter. Having said that, if you can remain balanced as a hitter throughout the swing, you are able to react and hit ALL pitches efficiently. The greatest hitters in the Major Leagues are guys that can hit for average and for power and you may be wondering how they accomplish both. The answer is that they have a quality approach at the plate which enables them to look to accomplish different tasks in different situations. Great hitters analyze pitchers and have an understanding of what the pitchers game plan is. They look to put themselves in quality hitters situations. At times they look for certain pitches and certain zones as well as certain pitches IN certain zones. When they are in a quality hitters count they look to drive the ball. When they walk up to the plate in a situation with men on base and they need runs, these hitters look to work themselves into those quality hitters counts so they can look for a ball in the zone to drive. The best two examples of this in Major League Baseball are Joe Mauer and Albert Pujols. Watch them hit and watch their aprroaches at the plate and you will see greatness in action. It's one thing to know what to do, but it's another thing to be able to execute and they execute better than anyone in baseball!! Absolutely amazing!!
I encourage everyone reading this article to go to a batting cage and take swings at 100% max effort and then to slow it down and concentrate on the fundamentals of the swing. You'll be amazed at the solid contact your making and the result of solid contact is line drives and hard hit balls.
Check out more from ProGrip Baseball on our website http://ProGripBaseball.com or check out sections from our instructional Hitting DVD on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/user/ProGripBaseball
Tags: instruction, baseball, batting, hitting, swing
Comment
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Comment by Jeff Edwards on February 18, 2010 at 4:37pm - If you get your hitters in a good hand set then that high front elbow gets removed. But I agree, I don't want a high lead arm and elbow and a low rear one. Thats a stance foundation issue and not an issue related to launch and contact. I agree, dont force it up or force it down. Just let it do what it does within a good hand set.
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Comment by Kip Gross on February 18, 2010 at 4:30pm - I Just don't like forcing the elbow down at stance like a lot of college coaches do. Actually I don't like forcing it up either but most young kids want to start with the front elbow up and the back down which with your scenario you would leave alone. Maybe I'll find some video on the web to show you what I'm talking about and I'm sure both will agree.Time to go to practice my 9-10 year olds.
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Comment by Jeff Edwards on February 18, 2010 at 4:23pm
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Eugene and Kip. I'll leave this alone after this post. I wanted to add a swing comparrison of 3 hitters with different elbow sets and looks. Its why I say just let the elbow do what it does. I see a vertical bat and a 2 plane swing being more responsible for power than a high back elbow, on a side not.
Take a look at these guys and see how each turn the unit with lateral tilt. The beauty is turning that unit to the ball. The unit being the triangle. The triangle being properly spaced elbows that hold their spacing from launch to contact. Just thought it might help explain what I see better.
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Comment by Jeff Edwards on February 18, 2010 at 9:13am
- Let me add a "cue" here Eugene. If you draw a line (visually) while you watch the clips below. From mauers and Ortiz hands down both forearms to each elbow and then connect the elbows with another line you now have a visual "TRIANGLE". Watch closely as both Mauer and Ortiz TURN the TRIANGLE towards the ball. That TRIANGLE represents a UNIT. Has to be a unit to maintain the triangle. So both hitters are turning the unit with the lateral tilt of the shoulders. I hope the visual will be something you see and understand and maybe it will help you understand why the rear elbow is a non teach. The teach is the triangle or the unit.
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Comment by Jeff Edwards on February 18, 2010 at 9:03am
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Eugene, my comments were not personal. I, just frankly, disagree with you. We have no idea what a 10 yr old or 12 yr old young person will be like as a hitter when they grow in to an adult. Same for a 15 yr old. Teach the swing of the best and the young person will have a pretty good swing. Doesn't mean he will be a hitter. Don'"t short change the player. They deserve a chance at learning what the best do. As is often the case undertanding words in a forum on the internet can be difficult. So I can only go on what you have presented here and at your website and on youtube video. I disagree with your presentation. You have a spot where you have the hitter at contact, contact with arms extended straight. The best hitters in the world do not do that on good swings where they are not fooled. I presented that picture in another thread a few months ago and you took offense. I am not trying to bash you. What I'm trying to do is show exactly what the best in the world do.
Lets go back to Pedroia.. Little guy. Now think back to when he was 10. Think anyone gave him a chance to be who he is today? Same for Manny. You know what we can even say the same for Pujols. 13th rd pick. The bottom line is you have to give every kid a chance by teaching them what the best do. You have to give them a chance. Some attain it and some do not. The one's who do not are still better for trying to attain it. They are still better hitters.
I have 4 kids. I would never take one of my kids to an instructor that wasn't trying to teach my child the best way possible. The elite way. They may never attain that pattern but they can surely work towards it. Bottom line Eugene, if a young person is never shown the elite pattern then they surely won't attain it.
I'm sorry if I missed commenting on Ortiz and Mauer. Ortiz is a 2 plane swinger and Mauer is a 1 plane swinger. Doesn't really matter with his back elbow. Again its a no teach. Just let the elbow do what it does. Eugene, its the entire upper half unit thats important. Not the back elbow alone. Ortiz has a vertical barrel and swings the barrel within 2 planes. He can do this with both a high back elbow and a lowered back elbow. Same for Mauer. He has a flatter barrel and keeps it on the same plane through his swing. Again, he can do this with a high back elbow or a lowered back elbow. The beauty in understanding the two swings is that both hitters "Maintain the same elbow spacing between the elbows" from launch to contact. To do that, they are laterally tilting their shoulders and turning the barrel rearward as a unit with the lateral tilt. It has nothing to do with their back elbow.
Both hitters are turning the bat/ barrel with the unit of the upper half. Neither are independently lowering or raising the back elbow. The front elbow works with the back elbow and those elbows and arms HOLD their angle and are turned as UNIT with the lateral tilt of the shoulders.
Im not trying to belittle or put down or speak against you personally. The video doesn't lie.
The 2 swings above are in a game. The swing below of Ortiz is in the HR derby.
His elbow is down ONLY because his shoulders laterally tilted. Not because he had a high back elbow and then slammed it down. The elbow going down is about the lateral tilt of the shoulders and not the elbow. Which is why I say "let the elbow do what it does" its a no teach. The beauty is in the Thrust of the rear leg/hip and the lateral tilt of the shoulders. Not the elbow. I have no idea how to be any more clear on why I have the stance I do on the non teach of the back elbow.
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Comment by Eugene J Bleecker II on February 18, 2010 at 1:15am -
And I'm pretty sure you misunderstood my previous statement about the Mauer/Ortiz concept because your answer didn't really have anythign to do with it. I respectfully disagree with your opinion of what a teach and no teach aspect of the swing is. I think it completely depends on the player/what they know and understand about the game, their ability to learn and process information, their natural affinity for the game and hitting and their base of knowledge when they walk into your facility.
Also, if the elbow starts raised and then at contact it is tucked and facing the ground it has dropped or come down. I don't know how you could deny that, it is visible in every clip you posted unless were just disagreeing on terminology again.
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Comment by Eugene J Bleecker II on February 18, 2010 at 1:07am
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I'm certainly not sterotyping them I am merely stating fact. Dustin Pedroia has UNBELIEVABLE hand eye coordination and eye sight that many do not have. Look how hard he swings and how often and consistent he makes contact. As for him and others like him that absolutely come out of their shoes when they swing and are still able to be consistent, that unbelievable hand eye coordination and eye sight is the reason. It is our job as coaches to access our students abilities and swings. I am absolutely not sterotyping and placing certian kids in a group. I've had kids that were smaller with far more ability, strength and athleticism than larger players but ISN"T IT A FACT THAT SOME OF THOSE MLB PLAYERS ARE THE BEST ATHLETES(size, strength, athleticism, hand eye coordination and any combination of those tools) IN THE WORLD and you can't expect everyone to be able to do what they can do in the same way they do it. Also, remember I said some not all.
Again, I do not stereotype I access ability as every coach does. I don't know how you could claim Manny or Dustin are even in the conversation since they have both been All-Stars at every level they ever played at. They were obvious talents and even thought they are not monsters in size they have abilities that many do not posess.
Jeff I am extremely confident in the fact that I teach an upper level swing lol. I have conversations with some of the best hitting coaches in the country on a regular basis and like anyone else we agree on things and disagree on things. There are some coaches I agree wiht more and some I agree with less but we all produce quality ballplayers. There are different theories in baseball in respect to different aspects of the game. A eprfect example is Bat Path tot he ball. Just because a credible coach tells me that we should teach our players to swing up to the ball does not mean I am going to change my opinion becuase I have factual information to the contrary. I have analyzed MLB swings on slow motion analysis as well and found MANY that swing down to the baseball so I am not swayed in my opinions in the least. I think it all depends on the player. Every player should be taught and approached differently based upon their particular skill set and abilities.
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Comment by Jeff Edwards on February 17, 2010 at 8:15pm
- Eugene...anyone must first understand how to apply in the teaching process the upper level swing...so I respectfully disagree. Most instructors (almost everyone of them) at the youth league and amatuer levels teach the swing they learned when they played or what they interpret. In good hitters the back elbow will do what it does in relation to what the front elbow does...the issue with the back elbow is not the hitters elbow its the coach and instructor saying keep it up or keep it down...the coach who wants it up wants the shoulders level through the swing...I have presented a number of swings in games to prove that the hitters do not keep the shoulders level...hitters also DO NOT drop the back elbow...its slop,its a wasted move and adds length to the swing...the elbow just does what it does because the elbows and shoulders lateral tilt all works as ONE UNIT....I say its a no teach because to teach up or down is to add a wasted move...you must teach the unit and the elbow will do what its suppose to do.....mush like the stride is a no teach...the swing takes care of the stride...its NOT stride and then swing..the stride foot plants where the swing plants it...in other words all good hitters hit with a weighted back leg and the swing weights the stride leg...as for the excuse of were not all 6"4 and athletic....I'm sure glad Dustin Pedroia wasn't listening! I'm glad Manny did listen either! It just floors me that you put so much power in your stable...how can you stereotype kids...some of the worst athletes and worst bodies are the best hitters on their teams....every kid in America can and should be taught to hit how the best in the world do it...let the kids ability to do it determine his destiny....not you or I!! They must learn to hit from their rear leg and with a hand pivot point where they turn the barrel rearward and how to sync that upper and lower together...kids can do more than you stereotype them to do and be.
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Comment by Eugene J Bleecker II on February 17, 2010 at 7:19pm
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Jeff,
I completely agree with you and it is my belief in teaching hitters to be COMPLETE HITTERS with the ability to drive all pitches in all zones efficiently. There is a certain swing that is more condusive to that and there is also a swing that gets the body/bat head in position in the most efficient way possible to provide for the best results for hard ground balls/line drives.
I believe in teaching what the best in the world do but certainly not all of them. As I said before some of those guys are able to make up for holes in their swing and a lack of doing certain things correctly because they do other things so unbelievably well. Most of us can't get away with those same mistakes because we aren't 6'4" 250lbs. There are however players in the Major Leagues that are absolute MODELS for what I teach.
Jeff you mention that things before the launch are "style" which I agree with, but don't you agree that some of those "stylistic" things can hurt/help the swing and getting into the quality launch position and PoC position???
I believe that it 100% can help/hurt the swing. Think about a player like Kevin Youkilis, Orlando Cabrera or Craig Counsell just to name a few off of the top of my head. Now they have different styles that they have made somewhat successful for them but dont you think those players specific stances/bat positionings/hand positionings make it more difficult on them to get to the same load/launch position every time??? Also, don't you think that becasue all of that extra movement it takes to get to that correct position will make it more difficult on said player to become consistent???? How is that a no teach if you have a 14 year old who is trying to replicate what someone they see on TV is doing but they just can't maintain it because they are not the same type of athlete/they are not as talented and strong and they don't practice NEARLY as much to maintain consistency????? Don't you want to provide that hitter with the tools for them to be the most consistent and successful hitter they can be???
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Comment by Kip Gross on February 17, 2010 at 11:36am
- This I can agree with.
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