https://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.png00Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2016-05-19 22:28:512018-09-22 05:19:20What Powers The Turn: It’s Not ALL About The Hips
https://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/free-webinar-image.jpg600550Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2016-05-19 22:21:262018-09-22 05:15:05What We’ll Be Covering In The Upcoming Webinar…
One Of The Best Baseball Hitting Drills For Little League Helping STOP “Racing Back Elbow” Bat Drag
Look at my 11u hitter Jace’s racing back elbow, and the fix a week later. On the left side, he weighed in at 68-lbs, and right before our session, hit his first official homer distancing 180-feet!
Question: Does ‘Top Hand Finger Pressure’ Effect Bat & Hand Speed, and Time To Impact versus Keeping the Hands Loose? (Pre-Turn Hand Tension Revisited)
Using the Zepp (Labs) Baseball app, I wanted to use the Scientific Method to revisit a past experiment I did titled “Babe Ruth Reveals Hand Tension?” And analyze whether having relaxed hands OR ‘finger pressure’ affects Zepp metrics.
Growing up, I was taught baseball hitting drills for Little League – which are still being taught, that loose hands are quick hands. Modern research REVEALS that may not be the WHOLE story.
I wanted to revisit the previous ‘Babe Ruth experiment’ because in that test, I wasn’t actively holding the finger pressure through impact. In this experiment, I will be.
In the Conclusion of this post, I’ll also give a couple examples of my hitters who were suffering from really stubborn bat drag (one for over 1.5 years), and how we used ‘finger pressure’ to correct it within 1-2 weeks.
Background Research
In the Babe Ruth Pre-Turn Hand Tension Zepp swing experiment, I used the following Research links:
Homer Kelly’s book The Golfing Machine went into describing one of the four power accumulators in the golf swing, and
Thomas Myers’s book Anatomy Trains, and how Front Arm Fascial Lines are responsible for connecting what an explosive rotational athlete is holding in their hand(s), with the other springy fascial lines inter-weaving throughout the rest of the torso and body.
I also wanted to point out that a few months after publishing the ‘Babe Ruth Pre-Turn Hand Tension’ experiment I met Lee Comeaux, now a good friend of mine, who is a professional golf instructor out in Texas. He’s been studying Thomas Myers’s book Anatomy Trains for over a decade now.
He simplifies the concept we now call top hand finger pressure. So THANK YOU Lee! CLICK HERE to visit Lee’s (Roy) YouTube channel. And by the way, Lee has a 13u daughter playing fastpitch softball in Texas, and last time I heard she was hitting .800 using the same principles we talk about here.
So yes, this works for both fastpitch and baseball hitters!
Please watch the following interview with Thomas Myers titled, “Tensegrity Applied To Human Biomechanics”:
Defining tension & compression Forces (0:10)
Applying tension to the structure makes it stronger and more stable (5:55)
Applying tensegrity to the human body and tightening up as a benefit to taking on impact (12:35)
I’ve also heard Thomas Myers talk about synovial fluid in our joints. It’s our lubrication system. And it’s liquid, between the joints, when we’re relaxed…in the above video, he called this “adaptability”.
However, when we catch a ball in a glove, for instance, we squeeze our hand around the ball turning the synovial fluid to a solid state. This concept becomes important when we’re talking about ‘finger pressure’ when hitting.
I tell my hitters it’s the difference between the ball feeling like it’s hitting a cinder block (the bat), or a wet pool noodle.
Hypothesis
This is my Sophomore in H.S. Zack and his racing back elbow BEFORE & AFTER. This was a 1 week fix employing ‘finger pressure’.
I’m a little biased in this experiment because I’ve seen the research AND how this has worked miracles with my own hitters employing ‘top hand finger pressure’. However, I wanted to conduct another formal experiment comparing the following Zepp metrics:
Bat Speed at Impact,
Hand Speed Max,
Time To Impact,
Barrel Vertical Angle at Impact, and
Attack Angle…
…between the two swings. Whereas the aforementioned ‘Babe Ruth Pre-Turn Hand Tension‘ experiment I held the hand tension before the turn, then let it go. This experiment I’ll be keeping top hand finger pressure from the moment I pick up my front foot to stride, to all the way through impact.
I predict, by using ‘top hand finger pressure’ longer, we’ll see an effective jump in all metrics rather than the conventional of ‘loose hands are fast hands’. I also predict holding finger pressure longer will be more effective than the previously mentioned experiment metrics for Pre-Turn Hand Tension.
At the end, I’ll show how ‘finger pressure’ has STOPPED bat drag in two of my hitters at the Conclusion of the experiment.
Baseball Hitting Drills For Little League: ‘Finger Pressure’ Experiment
I stayed as consistent as I could with keeping the ball height and depth the same for most swings.
I used two yellow dimple ball markers to make my stance setup consistent…one was placed inside my back foot, close to the plate. The other was placed one bat’s length plus two baseballs in front of the back marker.
The two tests in the baseball hitting drills for Little League ‘finger pressure’ experiment were counter-balanced. Which consisted of eight blocks of 25-swings done in the following order ABBA BAAB. ‘Finger pressure’ was letter ‘A’, and ‘loose hands’ was letter ‘B’. 200 total swings were completed in the experiment, 100 per test. Counter-balancing helps remove the “getting tired” and “not being sufficiently warmed up” factors.
On the finger pressure swings, I used top hand bottom three finger pressure only, which consisted of tightening up the top hand bottom three fingers (pinky, ring, & middle) from the time I picked my stride foot up, to all the way through impact. The bottom hand was doing what I call the ‘butterfly grip’…tight enough to keep a butterfly from getting away but not too tight to crush it.
Loose hands consisted of trying to maintain a ‘butterfly grip’ throughout the whole swing.
Throughout the baseball hitting drills for Little League swing experiment, I was drinking a Lime Cucumber flavored “Pepino” Gatorade (very good btw) and a chocolate milk to replenish my body’s protein, sugars, and electrolytes during the 2-hour experiment.
I did an 8 exercise dynamic warm up in this baseball hitting drills for Little League experiment before taking about 15-20 practice swings off the tee.
Data Collected (Zepp App Screenshot)
Notice the slight change in bat and hand speed metrics, AND the difference in Time To Impact…
Data Analysis & Conclusion
You can clearly see the negative Attack Angle. This was a finger pressure swing.
Using ‘Finger Pressure’ gained an average of 1-mph Bat Speed at Impact
Using ‘Finger Pressure’ gained an average of 1-mph Hand Speed Max
Using ‘Loose Hands’ decreased Time To Impact by a whopping 0.017 (17/100th’s of a second)
Bat Vertical Angle & Attack Angle showed no differences between the two swings.
These were interesting findings in this baseball hitting drills for Little League finger pressure Zepp swing experiment.
My Hypothesis proved correct in that we saw an increase in average Bat Speed at Impact and Hand Speed Max employing ‘finger pressure’, however it wasn’t a huge change.
Also in my Hypothesis, this experiment didn’t turn out more effective for finger pressure than it did for Pre-Turn Hand Tension (PTHT) in the Babe Ruth Experiment, where I gained an average of 3-mph Bat Speed at Impact using PTHT.
You’ll notice the major decrease in Time To Impact using the ‘loose hands’ method. Excluding the racing back elbow bat drag hitter, from these results and the Thomas Myers research, we can say using a hybrid of the two methods…loose hands at the start of the turn, and finger pressure slightly pre-, at-, and post- impact would be more effective than not.
On the contrary, for the bat drag hitter with a racing back elbow issue, I think finger pressure MUST be used before the turn happens because these hitters evidently have a ‘fascial connection’ issue between what they’re holding in their hand, and their turning torso.
In other words, they may not intuitively use finger pressure like other hitters without the racing back elbow issue.
Besides, according to the Zepp app Time To Impact Goals for Pro hitters are right around .140 anyway, so my .131 with finger pressure is still more effective.
One last thing to note, coming from my experiential knowledge in working with my hitters, I consistently see a 2-3-mph boost in Ball Exit Speed when using finger pressure versus NOT in one 45-minute session.
This just means I’ll have to REVISIT this baseball hitting drills for Little League finger pressure Zepp swing experiment again, but collecting and comparing Ball Exit Speed data.
If you have any other thoughts or questions about this baseball hitting drills for Little League Zepp swing experiment, please respond below in the comments…THANKS in advance!
Introducing The Pitch-Plane Dominator Online Video Mini-Course
Sick of struggling to reduce your hitter’s 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…
https://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/baseball-hitting-drills-for-little-league-bat-path.png436590Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2016-05-10 21:59:432018-10-08 20:26:22Baseball Hitting Drills For Little League: How To Fix Bat Drag In 2-Weeks [Zepp Swing Experiment]
Discover how to teach a kid to increase baseball or softball (fast-pitch and slow-pitch) hitting power and bat speed with LESS hip rotation batting drills. PLEASE NOTE: power isn’t ALL in the hips as some may say. After exploring this post, you’ll see why we feel ‘load and explode the hips’ or ‘fire the hips’ cues are overplayed, doing more harm than good.
“What Baseball Batting Drills Work To Stop Dipping Back Shoulder?”
Fascia is like a cotton candy or spider webby like material that our bones and muscles float in. Photo courtesy: Thomas Myers in his book Anatomy Trains
PLEASE NOTE: this baseball batting drills post presupposes the hitter is getting an extreme barrel vertical angle at impact. In other words, they’re intersecting the pitch plane from down to up. Dipping the back shoulder is inevitable…this blog post goes into fixing extreme uppercut cases.
In this baseball batting drills video, we answer the reader question above. We go over:
Watch Josh Donaldson drop hands, then bring back up. Also, notice downhill shoulder angle, and him leading with back armpit in the last frame. Photo courtesy: YouTube users PicPlayHost & PastimeAthletics
Here is a baseball batting drills list of faults I find that CAN contribute to upper cutting:
Swing Study reveals how tens of thousands of hitters are adding 40-feet to batted ball distance by using one simple strategy.
Click the button below to access the FREE video that's been downloaded over 30K times!!
#1 would be a hitter having a flat bat, or close to flat, at stride landing. This shifts the bat’s center of mass behind the hitter (instead of above).
#2 can exist on any pitch height or just pitches down in the zone. The hands don’t travel down, then forward. They travel down AND forward. Think of hand path like a right triangle – we want hypotenuse. The higher the pitch, the flatter the hypotenuse. The lower the pitch, the steeper the hypotenuse.
An upward shoulder angle at landing, #3, will most likely result in uppercutting and/or a collapsing of the backside.
#4, racing back elbow causes the barrel to get really steep early in the hitting zone, which leads to a lot of weak fly balls to the opposite field. AND, because of the steep vertical angle of the barrel, a significant roll over correction will happen later in the barrel’s path, resulting in grounders to the hitter’s pull side.
About #5, if the front elbow gets caught ‘tucked in’ at landing (elbow pointing down at the ground), then an uppercut will most likely happen. And this ‘tucking’ will happen most likely because of #6, too steep of a shoulder angle.
Swing Study reveals how tens of thousands of hitters are adding 40-feet to batted ball distance by using one simple strategy.
Click the button below to access the FREE video that's been downloaded over 30K times!!
https://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/How-To-Increase-Baseball-Softball-Hitting-Power-Bat-Speed.png423800Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2016-03-25 03:40:472023-05-06 02:50:35How To Teach A Kid To Increase Baseball Or Softball Hitting Power & Bat Speed With LESS Hip Rotation Batting Drills
Wilin Rosario Baseball Batting Tips: Big Power Without Being, Ahem, BIG…
David v. Goliath photo courtesy: Blog.HeatSpring.com
Question…
How do you defeat a man who stands 9-feet, 9-inches tall? What if this man had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing 125-pounds;on his legs he wears bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin is slung on his back.His spear shaft is like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighs 15-pounds.
I’ve just described Goliath from 1 Samuel 17. So how does David, a boy shepherd, defeat this huge man with one blow?
Besides young David being a man of God, he was an expert marksman with the sling shot…
“Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.” – 1 Samuel 49
3-times NY Bestselling author Tim Ferriss said that being effective is doing the right things. And being efficient is doing things right.
Unmatched physically, and standing up to Goliath, David was “effective” by using a slingshot. And being an expert marksman (efficient) with the weapon, made Goliath look like he brought a knife to a gun fight!
So what do baseball batting tips and Wilin Rosario from the Colorado Rockies have to do with the story of David & Goliath?
'Add 40-Feet' To Batted Ball Distance
Swing Study reveals how tens of thousands of hitters are adding 40-feet to batted ball distance by using one simple strategy.
Click the button below to access the FREE video that's been downloaded over 30K times!!
Wilin (pronounced Wil-een) “Baby Bull” Rosario is a small hitter compared to behemoths like Albert Pujols (6’3″, 230-pounds), Giancarlo Stanton (6’6″, 240-pounds), and Miguel Cabrera (6’4″, 255-pounds).
Rosario stands 5-foot, 11-inches, and weighs in at 220-pounds, according to FanGraphs.com.
Sure, 220-pounds isn’t tiny by any stretch. But 5-foot, 11-inches sure is, especially by today’s standards…hence the nickname “Baby Bull”.
Just for fun, let’s compare specific offensive metrics between Wilin Rosario to Miguel Cabrera. Metrics are according to ESPN’s HitTracker.com…
Look at the difference between their average True Distance and Ball Exit Speed homers in 2012…
A couple things to note:
Wilin Rosario had 426 plate appearances to Miguel Cabrera’s 697. Rosario hit a home-run every 15.2 plate appearances, while Miggy hit one every 15.9.
Miggy’s 16 extra dingers may have brought down his average True Distance and Ball Exit Speed numbers.
By the way, 2012 was when Miguel Cabrera won baseball’s heralded Triple Crown.
But surprisingly, on paper, Wilin Rosario shouldn’t even be in the same room with Miguel Cabrera! So what is empowering a small slugger like Rosario to compete with the Goliaths of baseball?
Proven human movement science.
Baseball Batting Tips #1: Stop Standing Still!
Look at the vertical yellow line, and how far forward Wilin Rosario gets before he makes his turn…
One thing Wilin Rosario does really well is he “un-weights” the bat.
There are two ways he does this:
With forward momentum, and
Slight barrel tilt toward the pitcher just before the fall.
CLICK HERE to see the results of a Zepp swing experiment when I tested a longer stride against a wide no-stride approach.
Baseball Batting Tips #2: BIG Power in Using the Skeleton
Watch how Wilin Rosario: 1) Shows his numbers to the pitcher, 2) Hides his hands from the pitcher, and 3) Creates a downhill shoulder angle before front foot hits the ground.
Spinal engine mechanics are key!
Here’s how Wilin Rosario uses his skeleton, by:
Showing the pitcher his numbers,
Hiding his hands, and
A downhill shoulder angle.
I call this the Catapult Loading System. CLICK HERE to see the results of another Zepp swing experiment when I tested showing the numbers versus NOT showing the numbers.
So how does a small slugger compete with a big one?
Being effective is strictly following human movement rules proven by science. And then being efficient within those guidelines.
Just like David was effective using the sling shot against a foe twice his size. And, only needed one shot (efficient) to take the BIG guy down.
The problem for us small hitters (I’m 5’10”, 175-pounds) would be when the big sluggers start doing this stuff 😉 lol
'Add 40-Feet' To Batted Ball Distance
Swing Study reveals how tens of thousands of hitters are adding 40-feet to batted ball distance by using one simple strategy.
Click the button below to access the FREE video that's been downloaded over 30K times!!
https://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/baseball-batting-tips-wilin-rosario-fomo.jpg240700Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2015-05-29 05:10:342019-02-04 05:24:18Baseball Batting Tips: Small Hitter’s Way To Power (featuring Wilin Rosario)
Well, I’m here to say I’ve fallen for the same misleading claims that the hips hold the secret to repeatable power. After digging into the science of human movement, reading books like:
I found out how wrong I was listening to the “old guard”. In this video, I’ll reveal:
The shocking study showing thatit’s NOT all in the hips,
Where does power come from? And,
The Do’s & Don’ts
See what we did with a group of hitters recently teaching this very thing, that got HPL some press time:
The Shocking Study Showing that It’s NOT All in the Hips
This particular test looked at how spinal engine mechanics, timing of torque, and how natural springy material in our body can produce consistently higher bat speeds, without getting stronger.
Check out the 3-shocking experiment findings below:
Here are two hitters that “show their numbers” to the pitcher very well:
Andrew McCutchen (5’10”, 190-pounds, 2013 NL MVP)
AND,
Mike Trout (6’2″, 230-pounds, 2014 AL MVP)
The Do’s & Don’ts
I’ve found with my local and online hitters that the cue “Show your numbers to the pitcher” works very well. Here are some commonly asked questions to its application with both baseball and softball hitters…
When to show the numbers?
Here are the options:
A hitter can either show them from the start, like Hunter Pence of the San Francisco Giants and Josh Donaldson of the Oakland A’s.
They can show them as soon as they pick up the front foot like Andrew McCutchen, Buster Posey (photo above), and Mike Trout, OR
Show them as soon as they fall forward into the stride like Dustin Pedroia.
My recommendation is either option 1 or 2.
Lose Vision with the eyes?
When the hitter shows their numbers, make sure they don’t lose eyesight with the back eye. If they do, then their showing too much of their numbers. For other explosive rotational athletes, like a Shot Putter, losing sight of the target isn’t as big a deal. But a batter is hitting an unknown pitch, so vision with both eyes is critical.
Landing Closed & Front Shoulder Flies Open?
This is because the hitter is landing with a closed front leg and toe. CLICK HERE for a similar Alex Gordon (of the Kansas City Royals) Experiment I did using the Zepp Baseball app. Landing with an open front leg and foot allowed me to maintain higher levels of bat speed and increase top out bat speed by 2-mph.
Basically, land closed with the shoulders (“block” them from opening), and land open with the front leg and foot, and by George, you’ve got it!
Introducing the Catapult Loading System Online Video Mini-Course
Sick of struggling with getting your hitters to hit the ball hard with more consistency?This is a simple 7-module online video mini-course that will help hitters weighing less than 100-pounds, hit the ball consistently over 300-feet in 60 days. You’ll be able to dramatically increase power without sacrificing swing quality.
https://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.png00Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2015-04-14 16:01:362018-05-17 18:00:45NEW Zepp Swing Study Reveals How Some Hitters Are Adding 48 Feet To Batted Ball Distance (HINT: and it’s Not ALL in the Hips)
Pitching Instruction: 3 Simple Factors to Great Hitting (Madison Bumgarner Approved)
Madison Bumgarner using human movement science in the 2014 World Series. What can hitters learn from him?
I want to focus on Madison Bumgarner of the San Francisco Giants, and how the pitching instruction he’s received may help hitters develop repeatable power. Pitching instruction for hitters!
I read somewhere that when Ted Williams was asked how a hitter could get more efficient with their swing. He responded by saying to study a pitcher’s delivery. In this pitching instruction for hitters post, we’ll look at 3 human movement laws, the:
Head start,
Spinning ice skater, and
Compressed spring.
The Head Start
Madison Bumgarner “falling” photo courtesy: HNGN.com
Known to proven movement science as the Conservation of Linear Momentum, aka Forward Momentum (FoMo) or the Un-Weighting Principle. Madison Bumgarner employs Gravitational Forces with a nice easy fall down the mound. Gravity doesn’t care if you’re a Shot Putter…Trapeze Artist…Lacrosse player…or a hitter. As sure as the sun rises and sets, Gravity will be there to flow-with OR fight a hitter’s movements. Here’s what happens when we:
FIGHT Gravitational Forces (wide no-stride, sit back) – Reciprocal Inhibition occurs. Muscles and connective tissues typically used to accelerate movements will reverse, slowing them down.
FLOW-with Gravitational Forces (FoMo) – Free ride. Makes the Final Turn seem easier. Increases max bat speed. And turns a hitter’s body into a projectile missile. Thanks Bob Hall from Canada for the latter metaphor!
Madison Bumgarner Pitching Instruction for Hitters Factor #1: Mad-Bum has a nice easy fall down the mound with minimal push with the back leg. Too much push activates Reciprocal Inhibition. Hitters employ a fall by committing the body-weight to the stride leg at landing, or the Fight Position.
The Spinning Ice Skater
Known to proven movement science as the Conservation of Angular Momentum. Madison Bumgarner is also known as the Candor. As you can see from the photo of him above, his arms are stretched completely away from his body. Imagine an ice skater who jumps off the ice, bringing her arms in, and spinning really fast. She’s increasing what’s called her angular momentum, or rotational speed.
Now, imagine the same ice skater as she’s falling back to the ice from her jump, and she lengthens out her arms and one of her legs to slow down her body’s rotation.
This is referred to as increasing her moment of inertia, or inertial force. You can’t maximize both rotational speed and inertial force at the same time. They have an inverse relationship. When one is up, the other is down. Although, we can optimize both…
Madison Bumgarner Pitching Instruction for Hitters Factor #2: Mad-Bum opens his “wings” like a condor right before his torso begins rotation. As his torso starts rotating, he bends at the elbows and cuts his inertial force in half. This gives his turning speed a boost. Hitters like Hunter Pence, can do this by keeping a slight bend in the front arm at the initiation of the Final Turn. Once the barrel’s on the plane of the pitch, then it becomes more important to increase inertial force (extending the front arm) rather than turning speed.
The Compressed Spring
Madison Bumgarner showing his numbers photo courtesy: MLB.com
According to Thomas Myers (no relation) from AnatomyTrains.com, fascia is:
“Fascia is the biological fabric that holds us together. Fascia is the 3-D spider web of fibrous, gluey, and wet proteins that hold them all together in their proper placement. Understanding fascia is essential to the dance between stability and movement – crucial in high performance, central in recovery from injury and disability, and ever-present in our daily life from our embryological beginnings to the last breath we take.”
Fascia is to the human body like steel is to the building industry. It’s very stiff and resist immediate change in shape. CLICK HERE to see if Andrew McCutchen loads this springy connective tissue.
Madison Bumgarner Pitching Instruction for Hitters Factor #3:
Mad-Bum compresses the spring in two ways:
Slight uphill shoulder angle, and
Shows hitter his numbers.
A hitter like Hunter Pence will do this slightly different in three ways:
Slight downhill shoulder angle,
Shows pitcher his numbers, and
Hides the hands from the pitcher.
'Add 40-Feet' To Batted Ball Distance
Swing Study reveals how tens of thousands of hitters are adding 40-feet to batted ball distance by using one simple strategy.
Click the button below to access the FREE video that's been downloaded over 30K times!!
Adam Jones: TWO Actionable Tactics To Decrease Strikeouts
Adam Jones “stay through” photo courtesy: MLB.com
I wanted to compare two hitters who have reversed walk and strikeout percentages. Adam Jones and Victor Martinez. Can efficient OR inefficient mechanics have an effect on a hitter’s strikeout rate? In this post we’ll:
Compare & contrast key offensive statistics,
Actionable tactic #1: how low can you go?
Actionable tactic #2: bringing sexy back…
The clip I used of Adam Jones is him hitting an outside 90-mph fastball to center-field. According to FanGraphs.com Jones is 6’3″, 225 pounds. A BEAST! Whereas Victor Martinez is hitting an inside 93-mph fastball to right-center-field. FanGraphs.com lists V-Mart at 6’2″, 210 pounds.
Compare & Contrast Key Offensive Statistics
In this article I used Michael Brantley’s example, of how to boost Batting Average, or Batting Average on Balls In Play (BABIP). Although Adam Jones is a BEAST and does a lot right statistically speaking, there’s two mechanical elements that may lend themselves to improvement. In the following stat table I want to pay particular attention to:
How virtually non-existent Adam Jones’s walk percentage is,
How Jones’s Strikeout% fairs to V-Mart and the League Average, and
The difference between both hitters’ Ground-ball% (GB%).
I’m using Victor Martinez’s mechanics as a model for Adam Jones. Why? When you want to reduce strikeouts, look to the guy who is the best in the game. Victor Martinez has hit 30 homers, as of this writing, and only struck-out a “lean” 39 times…ALL season. There are two key mechanical differences that I feel may be contributing to these numbers…
Actionable Tactic #1: How Low Can You Go?
Victor Martinez pitch plane photo courtesy: MLB.com
In baseball, the mound lifts a pitcher’s release point by 10-inches. On top of that, the pitcher has to throw the ball to a squatting catcher. To increase margin for error, and cut down on strikeouts, a hitter’s body has to get low on the pitch plane early. THEN, stay on the pitch plane at least six to twelve inches passed impact. In other words, get shorter, and stay shorter.
Getting low isn’t as important with fast-pitch softball. The pitcher’s release point (mid thigh to hip) is almost on line with the catcher’s glove. The pitching rubber will remain on flat ground and same distance from the plate, so hitters will experience less pitch plane arc at the higher levels.
As you see in the video, Adam Jones gets low but doesn’t stay low on the pitch plane like Victor Martinez does. V-Mart starts low, glides forward, then stays low through his Final Turn. This mechanical inefficiency – of Adam Jones – may contribute to his higher than average GB%, Strikeout%, and virtually non-existent Walk%.
Actionable Tactic #2: Bringing Sexy Back
Adam Jones “taller” Fight Position photo courtesy: MLB.com
The Catapult Loading System NEEDS the following three ingredients, up to the Final Turn…hitter:
Victor Martinez shows his numbers longer than Adam Jones does. I showed in this Tony Gwynn video that Gwynn keyed in on keeping his front shoulder in, which allowed him to stay on the ball longer. Keeping the “spring” loaded longer may explain the difference in the GB% above. Jones starts on plane, but finishes off (he “stands” up).
The key to efficient mechanics on a downward pitch plane is to get low. Evidenced in the video, also showing the hitter’s numbers longer can have a reducing effect on higher than average strikeout and ground-ball percentages.
Grab 'Finger Pressure' Video
Frustrated with fixing BAT DRAG? Beat it!
Swing Study reveals how majority of hitters are correcting 'racing back elbow' bat drag within 1-2 weeks WITHOUT overhauling swing mechanics OR buying fancy and expensive hitting aids.
Click button below to access FREE video that has been downloaded over 20K times!
https://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/adam-jones-follow-through.png408642Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2014-09-12 04:21:012019-01-21 05:23:41Adam Jones VIDEO: High K%? Do These 2 Things…
Corey Dickerson: 3 Human Movement Laws That Dominate
I wanted to analyze a young lefty slugging Colorado Rockies outfielder by the name of Corey Dickerson. Standing and weighing in at 6-foot, 1 inch, and 205 pounds, Dickerson isn’t a big guy by today’s standards. And comparing key offensive indicators (photo on right), puts him in decent company…
“OPS is the widely used metric measuring a hitter’s contact, patience, and and power. Since OPS+ adjusts for league and park effects, it’s possible to use OPS+ to compare players from different years and on different teams.”
Corey Dickerson photo courtesy: MLB.com
How efficiently a hitter gets into their Fight (landing) Position can dramatically effect their OPS and OPS+. In analyzing Corey Dickerson swing, we’ll see how he uses THREE scientifically proven human movement laws to dominate his Fight Position:
Gravitational Forces,
Transferring Forward Momentum, and
Spine engine mechanics.
We’ll also look at what repeatable power elements are missing in his swing…
Laws That Dominate #1: Gravitational Forces
Imagine standing in the middle of a trampoline. Push your body weight into the canvas by bending your knees slightly, and jump 2-inches off the surface. Now, use all your body weight, squatting down like your butt’s going to touch the canvas, and jump 2-feet in the air. Notice how pushing harder into the surface, gave you a higher jumping result?
These are Gravitational Forces at work. By pushing into the ground (trampoline canvas), the surface pushes back with an equal and opposite force. Corey Dickerson amplifies Gravitational Forces by “getting shorter” and dropping his body-weight into the earth when he lands into his Fight Position. The ground gives thanks by giving him a push back!
Following…
Laws that Dominate #2: Transferring Forward Momentum
Corey Dickerson “Float” photo courtesy: MLB.com
In science, this is commonly referred to as the Conservation of Linear Momentum. In Corey Dickerson’s case, here’s how it works:
First, he transfers his weight back and Floats (timing) before falling forward,
He gets a swing “head start” by moving his body-weight towards the pitcher, and
Then commits to weighting his front leg before transferring Forward into Angular (rotating) Momentum at the Final Turn.
Corey Dickerson lands with an open hip-knee-toe to set up the turning of the pelvis. His front knee is bent and stacked almost over his ankle allowing him to push into the ground (Gravitational Forces). This will make way for what’s called “Blocking” during the Final Turn. Next…
Blocking the shoulders from opening too soon is critical to repeatable power. Tony Gwynn calls this “staying on the ball”. And Corey Dickerson does the basics (a la Gwynn). He’s not loading his torso’s springy material optimally. I believe he’s leaving 10% of his repeatable power on the table. Here’s how he can improve his Fight Position:
Raise back elbow above top hand during fall, to get a more downward shoulder angle,
Show his number to the pitcher more clearly, and
Hide his hands from the pitcher a little better.
The Fight Position is one of THE most critical points in the swing. As you can see, Corey Dickerson uses THREE (2.5, lol) scientifically proven human movement laws before he lands his Fight Position. To me, at least 70% of hitting faults can be fixed here. Make sure you’re swinging smarter by moving better!
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Shin Soo Choo is well-above average when it comes to On-Base Percentage, .389 over a ten-year span.
He also averages 37 doubles per season over the same career span. However, his 162-game average for home-runs is ONLY 19.
Keep in mind that Shin Soo Choo is 5’11”, 205 lbs. (all stats are according to Baseball-Reference.com). Let’s look at:
When to bend, when not to bend (rotating speed v. moment of inertia),
How Shin Soo Choo may be dumping bat speed pre-impact, and
How-to increase rotational speed at home.
When to Bend, When NOT to Bend (rotating speed v. moment of inertia)
We’re talking about the Conservation of Angular Momentum. Take Olympic ice skater Adelina Sotnikova, who won gold in the 2014 Winter Olympics for instance. Here’s how she increases her rotational speed:
Adelina Sotnikova photo courtesy: NBC Sports
She moves her arms into her center of rotation (Rotating speed increases, moment of inertia decreases).
To go slower, she moves her arms and a leg away from her center of rotation (Rotating speed decreases, moment of inertia increases).
Moment of Inertia (or MOI) just means a body’s tendency to resist angular (rotating) acceleration. Rotating speed and the moment of inertia have an inverse relationship.
How Shin Soo Choo May Be Dumping Bat Speed Pre-Impact?
Let’s apply the answer of “when to bend” to hitting…in hitting a pitched ball, we don’t know what:
Location,
Speed, or
Plane the pitch is arriving on beforehand.
Shin-Soo Choo photo courtesy: MLB.com
Unlike golf, hitters have a split second to commit and accelerate their barrel. So in the first part of the Final Turn, a hitter MUST accelerate the barrel quickly with the torso using a bent front arm.
The second part of the Final Turn – when the barrel gets on plane of the pitch – the front arm begins to straighten to increase the moment of inertia (resisting rotational acceleration).
And of course, the front arm straightening at impact will depend on pitch location…lower or outside the zone, more straight at impact…versus, inside or higher, more bent at impact.
A hitter’s post-impact objective, MUST be to get both arms extended. This would ensure proper transition of Centripetal (center-seeking) v. Centrifugal (center-fleeing) Forces.
Therefore, keeping the front elbow bent from the start of the Final Turn is critical to increasing turning speed and barreling the ball, particularly in high EV zones (Effective Velocity – Perry Husband).
How-To Increase Rotational Speed at Home
Here are a couple spine engine mechanics we could work on at home that would give us a repeatable power advantage at the plate (and what Shin Soo Choo isn’t doing). Before the stride foot touches down, we need to:
Have a downward shoulder angle,
Show the numbers better, and
Keep a slight bend in the front arm.
Fixing this can take Shin Soo Choo’s 162-game average of 19 homers to over 30 for sure. Basically, it makes his swing more adjustable to higher perceived velocities, if we’re talking about Perry Husband’s EV system.
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https://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/shin-soo-choo-arm-barring.png417371Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2014-06-20 04:09:132018-12-24 04:45:53Shin Soo Choo VIDEO: Can Front Arm KILL Bat Speed?
, I wanted to use the Scientific Method to revisit a past experiment I did titled “
went into describing one of the four power accumulators in the golf swing, and
, and how Front Arm Fascial Lines are responsible for connecting what an explosive rotational athlete is holding in their hand(s), with the other springy fascial lines inter-weaving throughout the rest of the torso and body.
for over a decade now.
,
by Thomas Myers,
