The Rope Bat Review: Training Aid Teaches Place Hitting Mechanics To Opposite Field Drills

The Rope Bat Review: Training Aid Teaches Place Hitting Mechanics To Opposite Field Drills

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Discover in the Rope Bat review how this training aid teaches hitters place hitting mechanical drills to consistently drive the ball to the opposite field.  Great to teach right handed pull hitters to hit to right field (and opposite for lefties)…

The Rope Bat: How To Take The Headache Out Of Barrel Path (A Case Study)

 

 

Ropebat: Liam Case Study

There are 10-days between these two videos.

(If you have a legit “down swinger”, then this Ropebat post will benefit them!)

Here’s what I have for you…

I was recently working on smoothing out the barrel path of one of my 15 year old local hitters Liam…

He had what I’ve heard called a Verizon check mark barrel path BEFORE.  We worked on smoothing out the check mark into more of a curved Nike Swoosh barrel path.

What’s amazing about Liam’s transformation was that:

  • It only took ten days,
  • It took two total 30-minute sessions (beginning of session three was when the AFTER video was taken), and
  • Liam only had access to the Ropebat during our sessions. After session number-three, his mom went ahead and purchased one for home use.*

*Results aren’t typical. Liam has a primary “feel” learning style, so the Ropebat worked well for him – and not to mention quickly with minimal use.

In the above video, we go over:

  • Question a High School coach had for me at 2017 ABCA conference about changing barrel path,
  • The Verizon check mark versus Nike Swoosh barrel path, and
  • The RopeBat cues I use in conjunction with the “feel” of the Ropebat.

CLICK HERE for the original full Ropebat post I did awhile back that shows the swing drill we used.  Or you can get it at our store here.  The Ropebat is my favorite hitting aid for helping hitters learn a solid middle away and middle down barrel path.  Great for hitting line drives to the opposite field!

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Discover how to hit more line drives using swing bat path mechanics science to hitting on the plane of the pitch like Joey Votto.

How To Hit More Line Drives Swing Bat Path Mechanics Science To Hitting On Plane Like Joey Votto

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Discover how to hit more line drives using swing bat path mechanics science to hitting on the plane of the pitch like Joey Votto.

Baseball Swing Slow Motion Analysis Of Joey Votto

 

 

This is Part-2 of a 3-part baseball swing slow motion analysis video series coming straight out of the Pitch-Plane Dominator online video mini-course…

Hitting Training - Pitch-Plane Dominator

Sick of struggling to reduce your hitters ground balls, swing and miss strikeouts, and non-productive weak fly balls?  This simple 4-Step online video mini-course (7-modules total) will help hitters weighing less than 100-pounds, barrel the ball more consistently.  Dramatically decrease ground balls, strikeouts, and weak fly balls (no matter the pitch location or speed) by applying human movement rules validated by science.

If you haven’t already, then CLICK the Link below to…

Get Access to The Pitch Plane Dominator Online Video Mini-Course

“If you want to be successful, find someone who has achieved the results you want and copy what they do and you’ll achieve the same results.” – Tony Robbins

I received the following reader question:

“If you could only teach one swing, whose would you teach?”

And what follows in this baseball swing slow motion analysis of Joey Votto video, is my answer, as it relates to getting the barrel on, and staying on the plane of the pitch for as long as possible.

We’ll discuss Joey Votto’s:

  • Pitch-Plane consistency metrics,
  • 2015 ESPN’s HitTracker spray chart, and
  • Mechanics as they apply to Pitch Plane Domination.

Let’s build Joey Votto’s case as the best to copy for Pitch-Plane Domination…

 

Joey Votto Pitch-Plane Consistency Metrics

According to Baseball-Reference.com, Joey Votto’s 162-game averages (over 9 years in the League) are as follows:

Baseball Swing Slow Motion Analysis: Joey Votto Metrics

Look at the “yellow” highlighted line…

Here are the Joey Votto Metrics to pay particular attention to (definitions are according to FanGraphs.com):

  • On-Base% (OBP) – measures the most important thing a batter can do at the plate: not make an out…Joey Votto: .423, League Average is: .320
  • Isolated Slugging% (ISO) – measure of a hitter’s raw power and tells you how often a player hits for extra bases…Joey Votto: .223, League Average is: .140
  • OBP + SLG (OPS) – the sum of a player’s on-base percentage and their slugging percentage…Joey Votto: .957, League Average is: .710
  • OPS+ – This statistic normalizes a player’s OPS — it adjusts for small variables that might affect OPS scores (e.g. park effects) and puts the statistic on an easy-to-understand scale…Joey Votto: 156, League Average: 100

As you can see, Joey Votto is well above average in “not making an out”,  and “raw power”.  What’s also interesting is Joey Votto’s strikeout and walk percentages (averaged over his career):

  • Strikeout% – Joey Votto: 18.6%, League Average: 18.5%, and
  • Walk% – Joey Votto: 15.9%, League Average: 8.5%.

Joey Votto 2015 ESPN’s HitTracker Spray Chart

Check out the HitTrackerOnline.com spray chart of Joey Votto’s 29 homers in 2015 (keep in mind he’s a left handed hitter):

Baseball Swing Slow Motion Analysis: Joey Votto spray chart

Joey Votto 2015 spray chart courtesy: HitTrackerOnline.com

CLICK HERE for a FanGraph.com article titled, “Joey Votto on Hitting”. It goes into how:

  • Cerebral a hitter he is about his mechanics,
  • He purposely tools his swing to limit defensive shifts, and
  • He’s given up some power (dingers in particular) to cover the Pitch-Plane more effectively.

The aforementioned link is a GREAT read.  From the above spray chart and metrics, I’d say he “NAILED IT!!”

 

Joey Votto Mechanics as They Relate to Pitch-Plane Domination

In the above 17:23-minute baseball swing slow motion analysis video of Joey Votto’s swing, we go into more detail about the following FIVE human movements rules for Pitch-Plane Domination:

  1. Front Knee bend before swing initiation, and during the Final Turn,
  2. Back Knee bend during the Final Turn,
  3. Back foot skip during the Final Turn,
  4. Barrel matching the plane of the pitch early, and
  5. Barrel ‘chasing the ball’ passed impact getting to ‘Power-V’ after impact.

As Tony Robbins said,

“If you want to be successful, find someone who has achieved the results you want and copy what they do and you’ll achieve the same results.” 

Joey Votto is your hitter to dominate the Pitch-Plane when looking at baseball swing slow motion analysis.

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Hitting Training For Baseball & Softball Swing Trainers | Hitting Performance Lab

Optimal Hit More Line Drives Launch Angle For Homerun Distance Like Joey Votto For Baseball & Softball Hitters

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Discover the optimal hit more line drives launch angle for home-run distance (25-30 degrees) like Joey Votto for baseball and softball hitters, and…

Joey Votto Explains Why Coaches SHOULD NOT Be Obsessed With Launch Angles

 

 

The Josh Donaldson interview last year was awesome, but I think THIS interview with Joey Votto may be better.  It doesn’t have the same let-the-beast-out-of-cage feeling that Donaldson contributed, but I feel Votto gives us more of a glimpse into the true art of hitting.  What Votto shares confirms what my hitters have been working on this past off season…line drive barrel control.  Precision.

Look, I love teaching my hitters the process of how to increase Ball Exit Speeds and to get the ball off the ground (optimal Line Drive Launch Angles), but as Joey Votto says, it’s not the whole story.  And this is where I’ve been lying to you for a couple years.  Actually, not lying, just not sharing the whole story. 😉

Let me explain…

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My friend and professional golf instructor Lee Comeaux knows golf, and brought this idea of “precision” to my attention a few years back.  He understands springy fascia and the spinal engine, which is a PLUS.  Also, over the past few years he’s mentored his teenage daughter to hit .600 in Texas fast-pitch softball leagues.  But most importantly, he comes from a sport where precision is king.  Ask any golfer if they’re as obsessed about Ball Exit Speeds and Launch Angles like we are, and they’ll look at you as if a third eye grew in the middle of your forehead overnight.

What good is Ball Exit Speed if the ball is not going towards the hole?  And Launch Angles matter depending on the distance to the target.  And by the way, the angled club face kind of takes care of Launch Angles for golfers anyway.

Put yourself in a golf mindset for a moment.  Imagine thinking about hitting, like you would golf?  Precision.  In the above interview, Joey Votto mentions the best hitters can hit the ball where they want, when they want.   This may not be 100% true in games, but during Batting Practice most surely.  How many of your hitters can do that?  Not many of mine, but we’re working on it.

Precision.  This is not being talked about or taught in today’s baseball and softball circles.  How to control the line drive.  The height AND width of it.  Why are we so obsessed with the vertical aspect of the field and not the horizontal?  So many coaches out there believe a hitter can’t have power without sacrificing swing quality.  An increase in power doesn’t have to dampen Batting Average and/or increase a hitter’s Strikeouts.

Precision.  How to control the line drive.  It’s not easy, but it CAN be done.  Hitters CAN have a high Batting Average (even though BA isn’t a good indicator of value anymore, according to Sabermetrics), power numbers, and low strikeout totals.  And I think Joey Votto touched on what I feel is just the tip of the iceberg.  Here are the few key things to look out for in the above interview:

  • This idea of Precision. Controlling the line drive.
  • Setting hitting goals and reverse engineering purpose of the swing.
  • The idea of using a batted ball as feedback to make adjustments (not new for golfers btw).

Without further adieu, here are…

 

My Joey Votto Interview Notes on his 2018 Hitting Approach

  • About 0:20 second mark, Votto believes talking Launch Angles isn’t telling the whole story, how complete you are as a hitter, rebuts Josh Donaldson’s “ignore coach if he tells you to hit a ground-ball” comment, all fly-balls are not good fly-balls,
  • About 1:30 minute mark, Votto talks about how hitters like Donaldson, et al. can hit a ball with any trajectory to any part of the ballpark, he uses golfer with a bag of clubs metaphor, doing anything you want at anytime is the story we’re not telling, best hitters can do everything – he brings up Mike Trout (diverse array of skills),
  • About 3:00 minute mark, Eric Byrnes asked Votto how his approach has changed since coming into league in 2007, give away less pitches, anytime he takes a swing there’s intent or purpose to each swing (not being reckless), since he’s aging as a player, Votto isn’t able to make up for swing inefficiencies he could with a young athletic swing,
  • About 4:30 minute mark, Byrnes asks Votto how he is super-human with his walk to strikeout ratio when the league really doesn’t care about inflated K quantities, making a conscious effort to cut down on K’s, goals – looked to Sabermetrics to see how he could hit .340 or .350 last year and math said he had to strikeout a bit less, mentioned a few years prior his goal was to get on base half the time (OBP would = .500), chokes up, the “con” was it led to softer contact at times, ability to foul off tough pitches, buys a better pitch later in the AB, spreading out, seeing ball a little deeper,
  • About 6:50 minute mark, Votto was asked about how he has the highest batting average in his first AB, how important is starting game off with good momentum, separated each AB like it’s their own thing, focusing on one AB at a time, every single game over an entire season, sticking with plan in the long run, Jay Bruce “to hit homer, you have to miss homers”, focus on process,
  • About 8:40 minute mark, Byrnes asked Votto, “I have a 6yo boy at home, what’s the #1 thing you’d teach him about hitting?” Let the ball be your feedback.  Spending too much time on mechanics, ball is going straight in the air, ground-ball, in the air, is the ball coming off 4-seam, on a line with backspin, story about watching Albert Pujols with Cardinals on a line with backspin.
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Learn How To Correctly Position And Move Your Head To See The Ball Better

Correct Head Position And Movement, See Ball Better, & Keep Eye On Ball For Baseball And Softball Hitters 2023 | Keep Head Still Batting Swing Drills

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Discover correct head position, head movement, see the ball better, and how to keep your eye on the ball for baseball and softball hitters in 2023.  Learn how to keep head still with this batting swing drill.

You Too Can STOP Head Movement With The Snapping Towel Drill

 

 

 

Look, I’m not going to get into the specifics of head movement with the written part of this video post.  You can go to the following links for that:

But I WILL get into an outstanding drill that helps my hitters get rid of late head movement.  I get asked quite a bit on the ‘Socials’ about posting the “Snapping Towel Drill”.  I learned this drill from Chas Pippitt of BaseballRebellion.com, which he calls the Lean Drill.

Well, here you go!  This is one of my favorite go-to drills with most of my hitters.  It helps with lunging, which I define as when a hitter continues moving forward during the turn…NOT at stride landing.  It also helps a hitter cover more of the pitch plane with the barrel, which is why I promote it in the Pitch-Plane Dominator online video mini-course.

In the above video, we’ll discuss:

  • How the swing is a snapping towel,
  • And define Reactive Neuromuscular Training (or RNT),
  • How to BEWARE of the “C” Shape, and
  • How to setup the Snapping Towel Drill…

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The following video I did awhile back, which analyzes Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz’s swings to show the ‘snapping towel’ effect…

CLICK HERE for a post I did on how to fix stepping in the bucket using Reactive Neuromuscular Training (RNT).

The following image is Chase B., one of my hitters, that is working on fixing his Reverse ‘C’ shape (by the way, the same fault with a lefty will resemble a normal ‘C’)…
chaseb-reversec-shape

It’s not too bad, but I’ve seen worse.  Some of the things to look out for at and post impact:

  • Head floating out over “no man’s land”,
  • Over arching of the low back, and
  • The hitter complaining of low back ‘pinching’ or pain in the Up Dog Yoga Pose…

The latter can be because of tight hamstrings and hip flexors, in addition to glutes and low abdominals (psoas) not firing off.  However, please consult a Physical Therapist if there’s discomfort in the Up-Dog Pose.

What is this hitting position suppose to look like?

Check out Sierra Romero (one of my fav. fastpitch hitter’s to model)…

Sierra Romero Post Impact

Sierra Romero in a nice ‘stacked’ position, NO reverse ‘C’ here. Photo courtesy: MichiganDaily.com

Notice the stacking of her head over rib cage, and rib cage over pelvis.  In a perfect world, we’d like to see a slight slant back over the catcher with these three pieces of the body.

Think about three bricks stacked on top of each other, but being stacked slightly off center towards the left hand side (for a righty), and reverse for a lefty.

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How To Correctly Position Your Head When Batting To See the Ball Better

Correct Head Position While Batting To See Ball Better During Baseball & Softball Swing Drills

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Learn how to correctly position the head while batting to see the ball better during baseball and softball swing drills.

Baseball Hitting Mechanics: Snapping Towel

 

 

…I analyze one of my eighth graders Zack, and we uncover the #1 simple tip can overcome bad hitting technique:

  • “How to make your everyday stance your fight stance, and your fight stance your everyday stance” – Musashi, a famous Japanese Samurai swordsman
  • The Snapping Towel Effect: getting the body moving,
  • The Snapping Towel Effect: the snap back, and
  • How Zack can improve…

CLICK HERE for an MLB case study YouTube video I did on David Ortiz looking into how Big Papi used the same Snapping Towel Metaphor in the 2013 Playoffs.

I’ll be doing a lot of baseball hitting mechanics video case studies of my own hitting students.  Some where I do before and afters of their own swing.  And other times, comparing their swing to a small bopper I think is relevant to them.  I think these case studies help coaches and instructors eliminate the excuse of how young hitters can’t develop high level mechanics.

The main objective of the Hitting Performance Lab is to show we’re not arguing about linear versus rotational mechanics.  It’s that we’re discussing human movement.  It doesn’t matter whether you’re male or female.  Young or mature.  Baseball or softball.  We’re talking about how the human body is designed to efficiently move.

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Hit Line Drives Farther With Power And Square Ball Up Instead Of Hitting Ground Balls For Baseball

3 Tips To Hit Line Drives Farther With Power And Square Ball Up Instead Of Hitting Ground Balls For Baseball, Fastpitch, & Slow Pitch Softball

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Discover 3 tips to hit line drives farther with power and square the ball up instead of hitting ground balls for baseball, fast-pitch, and slow pitch slow pitch softball players.

Like Anthony Rizzo Swing Mechanics, You Too Can Optimize ‘Line-to-Line’ & Launch Angles By “Bending The Knee”? 

 

 

We’ll be chatting about the following 4 things in the above Anthony Rizzo swing mechanics video:

  • Anthony Rizzo quick stat chat,
  • Bent front knee,
  • Sideways back foot, and
  • Spinal engine – pelvis opens, shoulders block…

There is a lot of misinformation out there that in order to have power, a hitter must straighten the front knee.  When it comes to power, the causation-correlation of this is very vague.  I’ve seen Rizzo hit a ball 460+ feet during batting practice with a bent front knee.  He never straightened it.

Look, 70-80% of power is the spinal engine.  Click Here if you don’t believe me.  I go over a thought experiment where we look at a water polo athlete with the fastest throw in water, and compare him to fastest velo pitcher on the planet.  Remember, the water polo thrower doesn’t have the luxury of Gravitational Forces.

Now, it can be argued the lower half (including and mostly because of the pelvis) is responsible for 20-30% of the power equation.  Since the lower half rotates the least, I say the it’s priority is setting the direction of the hitter’s force.  We achieve this through keeping the back foot sideways.

The spinal engine is at the heart of consistent power.  The Thoracic and Cervical vertebrae act against each other like a wringing towel to pre-load the torso before stride landing.  Then as the lower back and pelvis begin their limited rotation, they will complete the wringing towel effect on the lower half of the spinal engine – Lumbar and Thoracic.

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Learn Correct Head Position, Keeping It Still, & Seeing Ball Better While Hitting A Baseball

Learn Correct Head Position, Keeping It Still, & Seeing Ball Better While Hitting Baseball Or Softball

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Learn the correct head position, keeping the head still, and seeing the ball better while hitting a baseball or softball.  Discover how in this Albert Pujols swing breakdown.

Albert Pujols Swing Breakdown: A Big Misunderstanding

 

 

People always want to know how to hit the ball harder, with more consistency.  And it all starts with how the head moves during the swing.  Who better to look at for consistency than Albert Pujols, AKA “The Machine”…

According to Baseball-Reference.com, a few key offensive stats based on his 162-game average are:

  • On-Base + Slug% (OPS) – .991…league average is .730
  • Batting Average on Balls In Play (BABIP) – .303 (Fangraphs.com)…league average is .300
  • Homers – 40
  • Doubles – 43

Albert Pujols may not be the same hitter he was with the Cardinals…BUT…what he has working for him is friction-free head movement during the swing.  An oftentimes, misunderstood topic.

In this video post, we’ll hold head movement during the swing to the fire of science:

  • Albert Pujols: understanding the 1/3 Vision Rule,
  • Why breaking the One-Joint Rule bleeds force at impact, and
  • Two most common head position mistakes & how to fix…

SCIENCE-BASED TRAINING:

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Albert Pujols: Understanding the 1/3 Vision-Rule

One of my readers, Blake Blackwell, took his son to a Tom House pitching camp.  For those who don’t know Tom House, he’s the founder of the National Pitching Association.  Blake said that Tom House was teaching his pitchers to gear pitch movement for the last 1/3 of the distance to home-plate.

Why?

Studies show that Professional hitters lose sight of the ball within the last 5-7 feet of ball flight.  Consider the 1/3 Vision-Rule…

  • First 1/3 Distance to Plate – hitter sees the pitcher’s release point out of the corner of the front eye,
  • Middle 1/3 Distance to Plate – hitter sees the ball with both eyes, and
  • Last 1/3 Distance to Plate – hitter sees the ball with the corner of the back eye.

Late breaking movement adds to the pitcher’s deception because a hitter like Albert Pujols isn’t picking up pitch detail during the last 1/3 of ball flight.  You see, peripheral vision (out of the corner of the eye) is about picking up motion, not detail.

Understanding this is important to hitting because you’ll learn…

 

Why Breaking the One-Joint Rule Bleeds Force at Impact

And upsets vision…

CLICK HERE to watch a demonstration of the One-Joint Rule I did with Shak, a Kansas University Jay-hawks wide receiver.  Dr. Kelly Starrett from TheReadyState.com says this about the One-Joint Rule:

“The musculature [in the spine] is designed to create stiffness so that you can effectively transmit energy to the primary engines of your hips and shoulders.  If you don’t preserve trunk stiffness while moving from your hips and shoulders, you will lose power and force.    The is the basis for the one-joint rule: you should see flexion and extension movement happen at the hips and shoulders, not your spine.”

He then adds…

“Hinging at one of the segments [vertebrae in the neck]…when we put a hinge across the central nervous system, the body recognizes that as a primary insult, or threat to the body, because you’re basically guillotining or kinking the nervous system.  You’ve kinked ‘the tube’, so it [force production] just drops off.”

 

Two Most Common Head Position Mistakes & How-to Fix…

Here they are:

  1. Chin to chest (a la Andrew McCutchen), AND
  2. Ear to rear shoulder (a la Bryce Harper).

How do we fix these?

First you have to understand the spine can move Globally or Locally…CLICK HERE to watch this demonstration.

Then, the hitter must understand that their head can ONLY move like it’s rotating on a “spit” (the spine), from side to side.  Unless we’re talking about Global Extending or Flexing.  In other words, the spine can Globally Flex towards the plate – say on a low pitch – but the head MUST stay in line with the spine as it turns towards contact.

At lastly, train this head movement with variance:

  • Setup up five swing rounds,
  • On swings 1-3-5, practice keeping the head on a “spit”, turning the head to get the nose behind the barrel (the right way), and
  • On swings 2-4, practice moving the chin to chest OR ear to rear shoulder (the wrong way).

Note the difference.  I guarantee Albert Pujols makes a conscious effort to keep efficient head movement during his swing.  Can you see why pitchers armed with the 1/3 Vision-Rule, and hitters getting excessive head movement by breaking the One-Joint Rule can really affect repeatable power?

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STOP: Hitting Pop-ups, Swinging And Missing, & Uppercutting Swing - Stay On Top Baseball Drills

Stop Hitting Pop-ups, Why Swinging Under And Missing, & Fix Uppercut Swing By Staying On Top Of Baseball Or Softball Drills

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Learn how to STOP hitting pop-ups, why are you swinging under and missing, and drills on how to fix an uppercut swing by staying on top of the baseball or softball.

Paul Goldschmidt: Can a Bleeding Barrel Kill Hitting Potential?

 

 

Paul Goldschmidt Youth Hitting Case Study

My 9yo hitter Collin bleeding his barrel. Swings are synced, before (on the left) & after (on the right)

In this video, we’ll look at 2013 National League MVP runner up Paul Goldschmidt’s swing and relate it to one of my younger hitters.  We’ll talk about:

  • What is a bleeding barrel (1-week before & after case study),
  • The “Goldy” standard, and
  • How-to fix a bleeding barrel at home.

 

What is a “Bleeding Barrel” (1-week before & after case study)

I’ve been working on this with one of my young hitters, Collin.  Bleeding the barrel is when the barrel starts to launch (turn into the hitting zone) before the hitter’s front foot touches down.

It’s caused by a premature turning of the shoulders, and is very inefficient when it comes to transferring energy.  In order to load powerful springy fascia and connective tissue in the torso, the front shoulder must stay in and down towards the back hip, at front foot touch down.  CLICK HERE for similar analysis comparing Josh Donaldson (Oakland A’s) to Jose Bautista (Toronto Blue Jays).

The week following my young hitter Collin’s AFTER video, he was bleeding his barrel again.  The cause?  His dad said a coach was doing rapid-fire soft toss before games.  Needless to say, Collin’s dad had a talk with the coach.

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The “Goldy” Standard

Notice Paul Goldschmidt (pictured to the right) at front foot touch down:

  • His barrel angle is up (70-degree angle), and
  • He’s showing his numbers to the pitcher  (see video above).

Most importantly, taking care of point #2 above will stop the bleeding barrel.

Can Paul Goldschmidt do better?  According to Baseball-Reference.com, he stands at 6’3″, and weighs 245 lbs.  With this line, he can get away with inefficient mechanics and still hit for decent power.  His average home-run total per 162-game season is only 29.  For how big he is, he can average over 40 homers per season.

Here are a couple things I’d love to see change in Goldy’s swing:

  1. More forward momentum,
  2. Better down shoulder angle (side bending in the spine),
  3. Hide his hands a little more from the pitcher, and
  4. Extend up and back over the catcher more (he was a little out front on this pitch).

 

How-To Fix a Bleeding Barrel at Home

Remember to use Variance in the following scenario.  Three steps to stop the bleeding barrel:

  1. Break Swing into 2-Steps (1-2 second pause between): 1) Fight Position (landing), and 2) Final Turn – focus on showing the hitter’s numbers to the pitcher at the Fight Position, and keep a barrel angle around 45-55 degrees.
  2. Check-Swing Drill – get hitter to show they can keep from bleeding the barrel to impact.
  3. Put Swing Together – once they get here, then progress them from tee, to soft toss, to LIVE batting practice.  If they can hold together their mechanics, then the brain has ingrained the movement.

CLICK HERE to get more information on my online hitting lessons program The Feedback Lab.

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Justin Turner Swing Analysis: Hit Line Drives Instead Of Ground Balls & WHY Squishing The Bug Is Bad

Hit Line Drives Instead Of Ground Balls, Why Squishing Bug Is Bad, & Keep Head Still While Batting: Justin Turner Baseball & Softball Swing Analysis

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Discover how to hit more line drives instead of ground balls, why squishing the bug is bad, and learn how to keep the head still while batting in this Justin Turner baseball and softball swing breakdown.

The Anatomy Of A Game Winning Justin Turner Walk Off Homerun

 

 

To be honest with you…

I MISSED watching the Justin Turner walk off homerun LIVE!!

My excuse…?

For those of you who can remember when your kids were 2-5 years old, you might recall the Disney channel being on almost constantly in your household.

When I turn on baseball, I get “Why are we watching this…?” from my 5yo.  And not after 30-mins of it being on…no…RIGHT AWAY!

He could be drawing, watching a kid’s show on his Kindle, or playing with his NERF gun, and he knows when the channel is changed.  It’s like he knows it’s going to happen before it does.  That’s another talk for another day.

But I digress…

I did get to see the replay of the game winning dinger via Twitter…

And, I DO know this, Justin Turner’s walk off homerun was a thing of beauty.

As many of you know, I get a lot of Fixed Mindset knuckleheads claiming this system doesn’t work at the higher level on the socials…in baseball and softball circles.

I blame the lenses they look at hitting through, which – let me tell you – are far less effective than picking up a bar fly with “beer goggles”.

Seriously though, here’s some context to put the dinger in perspective, before getting to the info in the video above…

In this Justin Turn walk off homerun swing analysis, we’ll go over…

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What’s he IS NOT Doing

I know, shocker for a select few out there.  I do define some of the above terms in the video, so make sure you watch that before commenting.  I know some of the cues can be used with the right framing of it.

So let’s see…

 

What he IS Doing

  • Catapult Loading System principles: globally flexed spine, hiding hands, showing numbers, and
  • Pitch Plane Domination: knee action, back foot skip, early barrel on pitch plane, barrel stays on plane for long time, great spine angle at impact.

 

The Catapult Loading System Kindle eBook Giveaway

Just FYI, on this Friday, October 20th, I’m giving away free Kindle versions of my new book The Catapult Loading System: How To Teach 100-Pound Hitters To Consistently Drive The Ball 300-Feet…but here’s the catch, this giveaway is for 5-days ONLY!  Last time I did this, over 1,300 coaches and parents downloaded the ebook.  And you don’t have to have a Kindle to read the book, just download the Kindle app on your mobile device.  If you’ve already downloaded it, then I’d appreciate it if you could let a friend know.  Literally hundreds of coaches across the States are getting the same results – if not better – with their hitters (literally THOUSANDS of them!!) using this system, than I am with mine.  I’ll make the announcement over email and Facebook, so please look out for that in a couple days…

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How Mike Trout Uses His Golf Footwork To Hit Homeruns Better & Farther Every Time

How Mike Trout Uses Golf Footwork To Hit Homeruns Better & Farther Every Time | Hitting Drills To Increase Bat Speed & Power

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Learn how Mike Trout uses his “golf” footwork to hit home-runs better and farther every time.  Discover hitting drills to increase bat speed and power like Trout’s golf swing?

Mike Trout Hitting Golf Ball: Same As Baseball Swing?

 

 

What we go over in this Mike Trout hitting golf ball video:

Let’s get started…

 

“…rear leg is slave to middle of body” Quote

As Physicist, Electrical Engineer, and author of The Spinal Engine, Dr. Serge Gracovetsky says the arms and legs ARE NOT necessary for locomotion, they’re an enhancement.  When it comes to spinal movement, hitting is basic locomotion.  Fact.

Shifting Foot Pressure

A couple recent posts I’ve done complimenting the above video…

Very few are teaching this.  This is at the heart of a stable swing.  I see a lot of hitters over-rotating their lower half.  Back foot heel moving closer to the the plate versus staying far away.  When the hitter shifts pressure to pinky side of front foot, we should see them shift back foot pressure to the big toe side.  If instead hitter shifts back foot pressure to outside (over-rotates), then hitter is unstable with low half.

 

Catapult Loading System – BIG-3

Recent posts I’ve done on this topic…

The Big-3 are fundamental to building consistent power in hitters.  They’re a combination of using springy fascia and the spinal engine.  Responsible for 70-80% of consistent power.  Legs contribute only 20-30% to power.

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