Batting Baseball: Discover 4-Secrets To Tracking & Timing
Bob Gibson photo courtesy: BleacherReport.com
Thank you Dr. Mitchell Fung for your questions during our hitting session this week. I also had a reader bring this up recently, so I figured the following Batting Baseball FAQ was worth doing (works for softball too):
Broad v. Fine Focus,
Fast v. Slow “Stuff”,
Fisherman OR Hunter? and
“Start slow and early”.
Broad v. Fine Focus
According to Wikipedia, Coach Bob Bennett retired with a 1,302-759-4 win-loss record. #26 was the first number ever retired by Fresno State. He was once president of the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) as well. He was inducted into the ABCA Hall of Fame and College Baseball Hall of Fame (2010).
I was lucky enough to learn batting baseball tips from Coach Bennett as a player for three years, and to have had multiple conversations over lunch, with him since.
When it comes to batting baseball vision and tracking, Coach Bennett talked about having Broad v. Fine Focus. Broad Focus would be looking at a spot on the pitcher’s chest, overall physique, or delivery. It’s basically a rest period for the eyes.
You see, the eyes are highly attracted to movement. They LOVE to dart and “space out”. And HATE to stop and stare at one object for any length of time. Broad Focus is good until after the pitcher breaks his or her’s hands.
Then…
A hitter uses Fine Focus by shifting the eyes to the pitcher’s release point window.
Fast v. Slow “Stuff”
I tell my lower level batting baseball hitters to look for either fast or “slow stuff”. 95+% of the time, at the Little League level, hitters should be looking for fast stuff. It’s rare getting a pitcher to throw slow stuff for consistent strikes.
I use the Batting Baseball Random Pitch Drill, where hitters:
Are to look for either fast OR slow stuff (they can’t tell me),
Have to stick to their “plan” through a 5-swing round (then evaluate after), and
Have to hold their “mechanical layers” together (whatever they’re working on).
CLICK HERE to read a Cal Poly baseball study as to why “massed practice” doesn’t develop good game hitters. The Random Pitch Drill is geared for zero-or-one-strike counts. Of course, with 2-strikes, the hitter has to cover ALL pitches.
Fisherman OR Hunter?
One of my friends and blog readers from Canada, Bob Hall, shared this batting baseball tip with me awhile back.
He took a “beast” of a hitter, his son Quin, to a showcase camp where a scout revealed a simplified hitting strategy. You’re either a:
Fisherman – throws bait out and waits for fish to bite, OR
Hunter – that stalks their prey…
I tell my hitters, when the pitcher is wild, then be a fisherman. When they’re throwing a lot of strikes, then become a hunter. I work this in with my hitters during the Random Pitch Drill…somedays I’m wild OR am trying to bait them in biting on slow stuff (when I know they’re looking for fast), and in these cases, they become a fisherman.
“Start Slow & Early”
This was the “magic pill” Jose Bautista swallowed (featured commentary in the video above) before the 2010 season. It’s a batting baseball glimpse into explaining how he changed his swing.
I explain this to my hitters in this way…imagine an Olympic archer looking to use precision to hit the bullseye of a target. He or she uses the bow string to load that arrow with potential energy. They start slow and early. Once the decision is made to release all that potential energy (the arrow/bow string), BOOM! The arrow explodes to its target.
The batting baseball hitter needs to think about preparing their swing the same way. Take it from Joey Bats, one of the smallest big hitters in baseball!
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https://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/batting-baseball-bob-gibson.png341500Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2022-12-19 10:00:142022-12-20 06:46:24Pitch Recognition Swing Timing Batting Drills To Keep Eye On & See Ball Better For Baseball Or Softball Hitting
7 reasons WHY we need a better standard of measure,
Who are you modeling? And WHY? And,
5 gold standard criteria keys for a high level swing…
This post started when I entered into a discussion with a gentleman on YouTube that asked me, “Who is your swing model?”
And I feel this is an outstanding question. Leading me to the success you experience is directly related to the quality of questions you ask. And, we must note that success leaves clues. So, if we ask better questions, then the answer to what swing to model will bubble to the top. And let me be clear, I don’t care if people disagree with me.
Quite the contrary. However, ‘willful ignorance’ among coaches debating which swing to model is a pandemic online, and most of the time, misguided – or unguided – thinking is the driver. The standard of measure hitting criteria I routinely read online is, “I only study elite hitters” (said in the most condescending tone you can imagine).
WTFudge does that mean!!!?
SCIENCE-BASED TRAINING:
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Define your criteria please. That statement is too subjective to be useful to ANYONE. I think this explains why so many confused online people online say, “You can’t teach hitters a cookie cutter system because every hitters is different.” This individual DOES NOT have a clue as to how human movement principles work…or that there are such things!!
Here’s a clue…ALL explosive human movements originate from a set of working principles that cannot be broken (as long as you’re on earth).
Whether you’re a hitter, pitcher, Hammer Thrower, Olympic Diver, or Acrobat.
Otherwise, we’re all just taking a stab in the dark at what we personally feel is a good swing. Picking out a good swing isn’t like what US Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart said about pornography in 1964, “I know it when I see it.”
Again, success leaves clues. There’s a recipe for optimal swing movement, and if you choose to be willfully ignorant about that fact, then consider this…
…quote by Atlas Shrugged author Ayn Rand (and thanks Bob Hall for sharing):
“You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality.”
“I meet individuals who are eager to share their views on science despite the fact that they have never done an experiment. They have never tested an idea for themselves, using their own hands, or seen the results of that test, using their own eyes, and they have never thought carefully about what those results mean for the idea they are testing, using their own brain. To these people “science” is a monolith, a mystery, and an authority, rather than a method.”
7 Reasons WHY We NEED a Better Standard of Measure with Hitting…
Information Overload – where does one start their quest for hitting truth when everyone and their mother has a YouTube channel? In other words, how do we cut through the white noise?
Playing Experience Fallacy – do we listen to the ex-professional hitter because he/she played at a higher level? Let me give you a clue...“Doing a thing and understanding a thing do not automatically qualify you to teach a thing.” – Dan Farnsworth
OCD Analysis Fallacy – do we listen to the Obsessive Compulsive humanoid who studies ‘only the most elite hitters’ for 25 hours a day, everyday? Here’s another clue…it depends on who they’re studying because guess what, some elite hitters succeed despite ineffective mechanics, NOT because of them.
The 30+ Year Coach Fallacy – do we listen to the coach who makes it known they have over 30 years of coaching experience? Here’s even another clue…most likely this coach has the same year of coaching experience, repeated 29+ years.
Willful Ignorance – Old thought patterns die hard. Getting into it with these people is just mental gymnastics. Take it from me, take scissors and cut your loses. Nobody will ever change their mind. They’re bitter human beings who feel the need to gain significance from heated confrontation, and might I say, putting people and their ideas down – despite reality staring them in the face! (revisit Ayn Rand ‘avoiding reality’ quote above)
Upsetting the Church of Baseball/Softball – Debating the swing DOES NOT have to resemble discussing politics and religion. I mentioned this already.
The Sweet Spot – nowadays there’s so much quality information, easy expert access, and new technology that it makes cutting through the white noise so much easier. We just need a better standard of measure.
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Asking the ‘WHY’ is important, but a coach can still be misguided.
Here’s what I mean…
I had a Facebook reader tell me they modeled Miguel Cabrera’s closed landing foot because, as he somehow reasoned, is why Miggy gets outstanding plate coverage.
Wa??!
He also went on to name Barry Bonds, Tony Gwynn, and Pete Rose also landing closed and that’s why they had outstanding plate coverage.
Argument looks believable, right?
It’s a straw man argument though – let me tell you why…
This is a classic case of correlation not equalling causation.
Meaning, this reader believed a closed landing front foot EQUALS outstanding plate coverage…it’s misguided thinking. Looks good on paper, but doesn’t work on the battlefield.
I’d actually argue the opposite.
And don’t get me wrong, Miguel Cabrera is one of my favorite big slugger swing models, but as you’ve already heard me say, !!!BE CAREFUL!!! because bigger hitters tend to succeed despite ineffective mechanics, NOT because of them.
Landing closed WILL:
Inhibit the turn of the pelvis (CLICK HERE for this Zepp swing experiment),
Make hitters more susceptible to fastballs inside and high in the strike zone,
NOT be what a majority of professional hitters even do (CLICK HERE where Chris Welch at ZenoLink explains his research in this), and
NOT maximize a hitters springy fascia (CLICK HERE for this post).
Landing closed is definitely an inferior mechanic, and is not how my handful of 12 and under hitters, weighing around 100-lbs, are frequently hitting the ball the length of a football field, in games.
The fact Barry Bonds, Tony Gwynn, and Pete Rose landed closed is irrelevant to the plate coverage argument.
Again, it’s misguided thinking.
The bottom line is this,
…these hitters did A LOT of other things effectively that DID enable them better plate coverage.
But I can tell you, after looking at the research, testing this stuff out on myself, and on my hitters, landing with a closed front foot DOES NOT empower a hitter with better plate coverage.
What did Ayn Rand say about the consequences of avoiding reality? 😛 lol
So, what is the Gold Standard Criteria I use to define an elite level swing?
5 Gold Standard Criteria Keys for a High Level Swing
You don’t need to have 5/5, but at least 3/5:
Smaller sluggers NO bigger than 6-foot tall, and weighing NO more than 215-pounds,
Hits for both power AND average,
Above average in key Metrics like: OPS, OPS+, HR/FB ratio, Line Drive%, Ball Exit Speed, Attack Angles, etc.,
Minimal, if zero, injuries caused by the swing over career (in other words, the swing MUST be safe for the hitter – thank you Lee Comeaux for this one),
Understanding that big sluggers may succeed with ineffective mechanics, NOT because of them.
Why smaller sluggers?
Because they MUST be highly effective to compete with the bigger sluggers because they have less to work with.
You Little League coaches can agree with me on this one…
Think about how much of a power advantage a 6-foot hitter has on the Little League diamond? Can I get an Amen on that?!
What’s more…
There are smaller sluggers that made my list that hit more home-runs, have higher average Ball Exit Speeds, and have higher average home-run distances than some of the high level big sluggers!!
So, what hitters do I suggest a coach model? Here is a non-exhaustive list:
These are not in any particular order, and not all are without blemish. Hitters of yesteryear tend to be cleaner with their swing movements, but I wanted to give examples you could look up on YouTube in slow-mo.
My favorite swing model of all these is Sadaharu Oh, who hit 868 dingers over a 22-year span standing in at a mere 5’10”, and weighing 173-pounds (CLICK HERE for a post I did on him).
And by the way, I’m not against the big sluggers, I love and often cite the following swings with my hitters:
However, any of this doesn’t do any bit of good if we don’t have a grasp of human movement principles first, before analyzing. This is methods without principles, and you’ll surely be misguided.
I use the analogy that human movement principles are like bumpers at the bowling alley. The path the ball takes down the lane, between the bumpers, MUST not concern us (the ‘path’ down the lane is what’s unique to a hitter). Just that the ball stays between them, and positive predictable results will come.
This is WHY we need a better standard of measure when choosing a swing model, not just saying “I know a good swing when I see one”.
Grab This FREE 'Timing Master Class' Video
Struggling to get your hitters ON-TIME in games? Discover HOW TO build effective laser-focused timing, so your hitters can be ON-TIME more often. These principles are validated by REAL science.
Click the button below to access the FREE video that has been downloaded over 6K times!
https://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/andrew-mccutchen-chin-in-chest-e1466735854812.jpg400500Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2022-12-13 09:30:412022-12-14 00:18:01Online Hitting Video Analysis Training Program For Baseball & Softball | Modeling Most Feared MLB Swings Of Modern Era
Discover how to get faster bat speed and increase power with science-based hitting drills for baseball and softball players. Learn how in this Bryce Harper swing breakdown.
What Can Bryce Harper Learn From Mike Trout?
(PLEASE NOTE: this video post was done in 2014, before Bryce Harper won the NL MVP in 2015. At the end of the post I give an UPDATE)
This article explains why Mike Trout will repeatedly out-slug Bryce Harper mechanically, unless Bam-Bam adds efficiency to his swing.
I picked this match-up because they have one year separating their experience in the Big Leagues, they’re similar physically, but Mike Trout slugs almost 100 points higher! According to Baseball-Reference.com:
Bryce Harper is 6’3″, 225 pounds,
Mike Trout is 6’2″, 230 pounds,
Harper’s 162-game average Slug% = .464, and
Trout’s 162-game average Slug% = .554.
In this video, we’ll compare Mike Trout, and look at how Bryce Harper DOES NOT:
Get a “head start” using Gravity,
Spring load his body, and
Follow the One-Joint Rule.
SCIENCE-BASED TRAINING:
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Mechanical Disadvantage #1: DOES NOT Get a “Head Start” Using Gravity
Bryce Harper starts from a dead stop. We know stop and go traffic burns fuel quicker than freeway driving. Because it’s inefficient. A “head start” is how we get more efficient during a swing. Think about receiving the baton in a 4X100 meter relay race. Throwing a 16-pound Shot Put over 70 feet. Or hitting a golf over 500 yards.
Effective hitters use Gravitational Forces to get their swing started and spice up their Final Turn. Mike Trout does this. Consider this Un-Weighting Principal test…
Imagine standing tall holding a forty-pound dumbbell in your hand hanging by your side. Now lift the weight up in front of your face. What muscles did you feel working? Shoulder? You’re right!
Now, get back to your standing position. Take a medium step forward and when your foot hits the ground, start to lift the dumbbell in front of your face. What muscles did you feel working? Would it be easier to lift that 40-pound dumbbell with the first or second scenario?
Mechanical Disadvantage #2: Minimal Spring Loading
Our body loads using springy fascial tissue. According to Thomas Myers in his book Anatomy Trains, fascia:
Is what the bones and muscles float in,
Gives muscles their shape,
Is a spider web or cotton candy-like material, and
Is made of mostly springy collagen fibers.
In comparing Adrian Gonzalez, Bryce Harper has an explosive swing, but in reality doesn’t engage his body’s own natural springy material as much as A-Gon.
Mechanical Disadvantage #3: DOES NOT Follow the One-Joint Rule
Dr. Kelly Starrett of MobilityWOD.com talks about this quite a bit. He’s referring to the head and spine position during dynamic movement. There are two types of vertebrae bending or flexing:
Local Flexion – would be dropping the chin to the chest or ear to the shoulder, and
Global Flexion – keeping the head and spine aligned as one unit, while bending forward or sideways.
In an efficient swing, number one is BAD, and number two is GOOD. Why? CLICK HERE and watch the next four minutes of this YouTube video (3:13-7:13) of Dr. Kelly Starrett demonstrating the One-Joint Rule. He doesn’t include flexing the head sideways (ear to shoulder). But you’d get the same ineffective force producing result as taking the chin to the chest.
As the above picture clearly shows, Bryce Harper actually goes ear to shoulder at and through contact. Unless something changes mechanically, “Bam-Bam” will continue to trail Mike Trout in repeatable power. However, with his body type, these changes can BOOST Harper into the 35+ homer per year category.
UPDATE: I wrote this article in 2014. Bryce Harper has made one big change to his mechanics…in this video, Carlos Pena and Shawn Casey points out some interesting points (not all I agree with):
Harper has changed some minor things. His leg kick isn’t quite so much of a kick anymore. He’s more grounded with his feet. He’s also tamed his head rolling sideways (breaking one-joint rule), but I still see it happen from time to time.
'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.
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https://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Faster-Bat-Speed-Increase-Power-With-Hitting-Drills-Like-Bryce-Harper.png423800Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2022-12-13 09:30:042022-12-13 19:15:38Faster Bat Speed & Increase Power With Hitting Drills For Baseball & Softball Players Like Bryce Harper
Baseball Bats MYTH Debunked: Discover The Back Foot Variance Drill Secret…
I wanted to share a couple things in this baseball bats myth debunked post…
An updated video of the Back Foot Variance Drill, and
A testimonial from one of my online lesson dads from Tennessee (I’m in California!).
Back Foot Variance Drill UPDATED
Since putting this baseball bats myth debunked drill together a few years ago, I’ve improved on it to reflect what the best are really doing. Here’s an outline of what we talk about in the above video:
Objective: to shift body-weight into ball and un-weight the back foot,
Squishing bug?
Variance Drill – fix hitters who skip too much v. not skipping, and
Options: skip backwards (scissoring).
SCIENCE-BASED TRAINING:
Improve your hitting strategy dramatically by applying human movement principles.
Learn not only how and what to train but also the science behind the methods.
I prescribed the Back Foot Variance Drill to Lawrence (Jr.) back on July 9th, along with the Babe Ruth Drill (forward momentum), and the Snapping Towel Drill (angling the body back over the catcher during turn).
Before I show you a couple BEFORE/AFTER images of his swing, please read what dad emailed me…
“Joey
Wanted to sit down and let you and your readers know how much of an impact you make on players lives. The key is to listen and follow what you say.
First my background. I played at the Juco level, independent ball and amateur ball until i was 39. I pride myself on knowing the game and thought I was a pretty good hitter and taught hitting. I walked away with three amateur world series rings and no regrets on my playing career.
I have taught my son hitting since he was 4. As any parent has, I am proud of my son with probably some dad goggles on. But fact is he is a gifted physical specimen at 15, he is 6’1 and 175-lbs.
For this I’m just going to focus on the facts. He ran into some hitting issues I was having trouble correcting this Spring. But I know hitting, right? And my son still listens to me so I should be able to help him. But it was not happening, we both were getting frustrated. As a freshman he still hit over .300 in varsity. But something was off.
Then while researching, (yes people if you or your coach does not have a growth mindset do yourself a favor and go do something else.) I ran across you this Spring. After studying what you were saying and swallowing my pride I decided to have you give my son video lessons online.
Best thing I ever did for my son. We are only half way through the lessons taking our time to digest and work on what you have suggested, but here are the results. This after 3 months and 2 lessons…
My son exit velocity before you was 86-mph it now sits at 91-mph. He recently did a show case with perfect game. On the hitting metrics they use he is between the 93-98 percentile on all players they have seen. In batting practice he would routinely hit the ball 325-350 feet using wood or bbcore. He is now hitting balls in excess of 400 feet.
While taking batting practice on a high school field yesterday dimensions of 320 down the line and 370 to center he hit 16 out of 45 pitches out including 3 in excess of 400 feet. I sent you video of a game he played last night. To have you evaluate, that home-run was to dead center which was 360 feet. The ball was a line drive and landed in the road over 40 feet behind the fence.
Yes the catapult loading system works. He is hitting baseballs with a wood or bbcore bat at 2.5x his body weight. Using those bats and at his age is just as impressive as 3x body weight.
I mentioned before he is a big kid at 15. But he is still a kid, he has not begun to physically mature yet. He does not shave, no hair on chest, no definition of muscles. I fully expect to see within the year as he starts maturing he will be hitting baseballs over 500-ft. In three months working with you he has gained over 50 feet consistently. It now looks like he is on the little fields again taking bp.
Thank you for what you do and giving my son confidence moving forward, you helped a young man more than words I’m writing will ever be expressed.
Here is what he accomplished since we started using you. Named all world series team for the 15u babe ruth world series where his team finished second. Playing for 15u south east team Rawlings led team in batting average for the summer. That team went 6-1 in the wwba perfect game world series where he was named to the all tourney team.
Named all tourney to perfect game summer showdown as well. Before you he had played in three events with perfect game with no all tourney nominations. He has also been approached as a rising sophomore by a high level D1 head coach that is interested in him.
Thanks Joey for everything, and for not only being a great person to get to know, but being so knowledgeable on the scientific metrics on hitting.
All the best Lawrence Sutton”
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Thank YOU Lawrence for such a glowing baseball bats myth debunked testimonial. And thank you Junior for being such a respectful and coach-able student of the game. By the way, originally Lawrence (dad) left this as an UNSOLICITED message on my phone, and I asked him to put it down on virtual paper, so I could share it with you.
“In High School homers virtually disappear because of BBCor bats”,
“15yo High School hitters can’t hit balls in excess of 400-feet at 175-pounds”,
“Sure, your system may increase power, but it will be at the cost of Batting Average and Strikeouts”, and
“This kid is just a freak [or they may use the word ‘mutant’]”
All this is FAKE NEWS Coaches!!
The last one always makes me laugh…I say take me to VEGAS then, because I’m running into A LOT of mutants!! Buahahaha
And you know why homers “virtually disappear” with BBCor bats in High School?
Because many of these coaches are teaching their hitters to HIT THE BALL ON THE GROUND! Please STOP! It’s insane these coaches don’t want their offense to score more runs and win more games. Ground-balls SUCK for hitters! The reverse is true for pitchers by the way 😉
I have faith, “winners” will make the adjustment and not whine, complain, and come up with every excuse in the book as to why hitting the ball HARD IN THE AIR doesn’t work. Sad.
Boosting Ball Exit Speed and Launch Angles is a formula folks. With hard work, attention to detail, and dedication, more hitters can achieve what we’re sharing. The Catapult Loading System takes care of the former, and Pitch-Plane Domination the latter.
Here’s a BEFORE/AFTER image of Lawrence’s back foot skip (too much) on July 9th…
Lawrence’s feet are too close together in these swings…
Here’s a BEFORE/AFTER image of his August 25th 360-foot dinger…
This angle is a challenge, but use the catcher’s belt as a reference point to the back foot in both images. In addition, look at the gap between his feet.
Now, as you remember, we made three changes to Lawrence’s swing back in early July:
Increase forward momentum,
Create more space between his feet, and
Increase spinal tilt during the turn…
…so it’s hard to tell which one of these was THE ONE thing that made the biggest difference. My argument for the Back Foot Variance is this:
In past swing experiments, Forward Momentum hasn’t been shown to increase Bat Speed at Impact significantly.
Increasing spinal tilt is great, but doesn’t work if the hitter’s feet are close together – like a golfers.
The greater the distance between the feet (although not too much), the more consistent the hitter can get to the bottom half of the ball.
“Glenn Fleisig, an expert in the field of biomechanics, said the majority of hitters he’s studied transferred 90 percent of their weight to their front foot and kept 10 percent on their back leg at contact. Harper, of course, would move 100 percent of his weight forward at contact when his back leg lifts. That, Fleisig said, would enable him to generate a ground rotational force equal to 150 percent of his body weight.”
At Bryce Harper’s current weight of 215-lbs, that would be 322.5-lbs of force transferred at impact! Any weight transfer less than 100% would be an inferior model, so that’s why ‘squishing bugs’ isn’t optimized.
Coaches, be careful who you’re following. Make sure they’re sticking close to the human movement principles that are validated by science. If not, then quickly abandon ship.
Baseball bats myth debunked!
Please keep me updated on your hitters’ progress using the Back Foot Variance Drill below…
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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!
Discover the secret to swing weight on the back foot, weight transfer, distribution, and stance footwork hitting drills for baseball and softball batting.
Baseball Hitting Drills For Youth: DO NOT Be “That Guy”
So, this is what I have to deal with on a weekly basis. I also want to apologize in advance, this is a little bit of a rant. Before going into the baseball hitting drills for youth, here’s some context, it all started when I posted this image of Buster Posey in his ‘Float’ position on Twitter (CLICK HERE for Twitter thread):
The caption I put over the Twitter image stated: “Hitting Misconception: ‘Keep the back knee inside the foot’. Buster Posey is ‘floating’ with his knee over ankle…”
FIRST of all, if spending years in the cages AND analyzing video of the best hitters ever, magically made you know EVERYTHING you need to know about effective hitting, then we wouldn’t have the problem we do today with guys like this, coming up with effective baseball hitting drills for youth hitters.
“That guy” is a soaked sponge, and has reached his ceiling of knowledge when it comes to hitting.
If experience, cage work, and analysis were the only standard of learning the swing, then we’d all have to accept what Alex Rodriguez shared about the secret to his swing during the 2015 World Series FOX Sports broadcast…
How he talked about keeping the barrel above his hands when hitting. And we ALL know how well that little tip would help our hitters 😛
And SECOND, this “talking down to you” TWEETitude, is a sure sign of an inferior coach, nevertheless, a knucklehead for a human being.
Guess which one of the ‘4 horsemen of the apocalypse’ is the worst offender in marriages…
CONTEMPT (aka, the “talking down to you” attitude).
Okay, back on topic…
Look, if we as coaches don’t have a solid foundation in human movement principles, validated by science, then we’re pissing in the wind! Without this foundation, conversations about hitting would model a Merry-Go-Round. Many of you have experienced this ridiculous insanity in popular online hitting forums.
Look at this slow motion video of Buster Posey. Look at the difference of the back knee position (over the ankle, slightly off center) at the 0:03 video mark, versus at the 0:09 video mark during the fall forward…
Here’s the holdup with hitting coaches, even ones I agree with on a majority of things,
They think that the back knee MUST stay inside the foot at ALL times. So, they teach ALL their hitters to do this, often putting the hitter’s back knee in an unnatural and awkward position before Forward Momentum.
If you think this knee position is healthy, then CLICK HERE to learn how bad putting the knee into a ‘knee valgus’ position is to our youth athletes from FunctionalMovement.com.
In addition,
These same instructors may also suggest and teach there hitters that when the back knee gets over the ankle, that it’s a BAD thing.
This couldn’t be further from the truth.
The shifting of the knee back over the ankle should have a purpose. A couple baseball hitting drills for youth concepts:
A timing mechanism that I like to call the ‘Float’, AND
Creating torque, or stability, in the back hip.
Baseball Hitting Drills for Youth #1: Using the ‘Float’
A ‘Float’ is a timing mechanism the hitter uses just before falling forward. It generally can be observed as a slight weight shift back towards the catcher before falling forward.
With the ‘Float’, the severity of the knee shift will depend on the leg kick. The higher the leg kick, the more the shifting of the knee over the ankle may have to happen.
For example, Willie Mays didn’t have much of a weight shift (or Float) back, he just fell forward with a slide step:
However, watch slow motion video of Josh Donaldson, who has a high leg kick, and you’ll see him virtually ‘pause’ on one leg, before his fall forward:
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Baseball Hitting Drills for Youth #2: Creating Hip Torque & Stability
Okay, so what is creating torque to stabilize the back hip mean? Let Dr. Kelly Starrett, Physical Therapist and owner of San Francisco CrossFit, at MobilityWOD.com explain its importance:
Here’s a baseball hitting drills for youth coaching cue that I use…
Borrowed from Dr. Kelly Starrett, I say to my hitters “screw the back ankle into the foot”. I also advise them to point the back toe slightly inward towards the pitcher at setup, and to keep it there while screwing the ankle in. The keyword is slight, not a lot.
Take a look at this video of Jose Bautista fouling a ball off, and watch how he ‘bows’ his back knee in, but at about the 0:06 second mark (when he begins his fall forward), the back knee starts to shift back towards the catcher…his back hip and thigh bone are searching for stability after being put in an unstable internally rotated (knee valgus) position at setup:
Now, CLICK HERE to watch this video clip of Ted Williams, and keep an eye on the back knee action between the 0:06-0:15 video mark. Sorry, this YouTuber disabled the embed code so I couldn’t embed the video here.
What did arguably one of the best hitters of all time do with his back knee prior to Forward Momentum. Boy, didn’t it shift back over the ankle?!
How about this homerun hit by Asdrubal Cabrera (watch the slow motion chest view at the 0:41 second mark)…
One more video…
Check out Matt Kemp. As you can see, he starts with his back knee inside his foot, then watch for his back knee action prior to Forward Momentum:
Now, is this making baseball hitting drills for youth more complicated, like Mr. @13tys said?
Heck no! It takes about 5 to 10-mins to explain to my 7-year-old hitters, and they begin applying it in their swings. Easy peasy.
So after looking at all this, here’s the point of my baseball hitting drills for youth rant…
Don’t get caught up drinking the cool-aid of other hitting experts, blowhards, or “That Guy” without questioning what they’re saying. Remember, we aren’t just observers. We’re amateur scientists in a way.
I don’t claim to know it all. And am still learning. But I know for a fact, I’m on a better road than “That Guy”.
Look, I don’t mind being challenged, but if you don’t back up what you’re saying with human movement principles, that are validated by science, then you’ll lose. We aren’t debating baseball hitting drills for youth philosophies or theories…we analyze through the lens of validated science. Physics, Engineering, Bodywork, Biology, Chemistry, and Biomechanics.
I DO NOT care what level you played or coached at.
I DO NOT care if you’ve digested a million hours of slow motion video footage of only the BEST hitters.
I also DO NOT care if you’ve logged more hitting lesson hours than it takes to fly to Mars!!
If you don’t understand the human movement “rules”, then you DO NOT understand high level hitting, or better yet, high level human performance.
I know this may upset some of you out there. But I don’t care. The days of being “That Guy” are numbered. If you aren’t moving with us, then you’ll be left behind. And that’s the truth.
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Learn how to improve bat speed and increase hitting power using baseball or softball drills to look like Lou Gehrig on YouTube.
Here Is A Predictable Swing Method That Helped Lou Gehrig Hit For Both Power & Average…
You coaches (and Lou Gehrig or “vintage swing” fans) are in for a treat. I wanted to REVISIT a video I published on YouTube on Jun 11, 2013 for SwingSmarter.com, that broke down the swing of Lou Gehrig,
And compared his swing to the Olympic World Record Holder of the Hammer Throw Yuriy Sedykh, from the Soviet Union, who threw 86.74 m (284 ft 63⁄4 in) at the 1986 European Athletics Championships in Stuttgart, West Germany on 30 August…according to Wikipedia.
Specifically in the video, I compare the following human movement principles between the two explosive athletes:
I’ve gone into these at length in the linked to HPL posts, so you can click on those to get up to speed. But, what I wanted to do in this post was add a couple things I’ve stumbled on since doing the Lou Gehrig video in 2013. I want you to look out for the following things in the ‘no-shirt’ swing section of the above Lou Gehrig video:
Does the Head Follow the Body or the Other Way Around?
What Yuriy is doing during his throw is VERY similar to how competitive freestyle Motocross bikers get their body to do what they want it to do, while flying through mid-air:
When they do a back-flip, they initiate by rocking their head back…
When they do a front flip, they initiate by tucking their chin to their chest…and
When they do a twist, they initiate by looking in the direction they want to go.
What are you Seeing in Lou Gehrig’s Swing that Allows him to Hit for both Power and Average?
'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.
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Discover an online hitting lessons swing science program for baseball and softball players. Learn where to find a remote hitting instruction coach to teach kids how to increase bat speed and power.
Batting Cages May Be Dangerous To Repeatable Power
“Testimonial” from Kyle – Stephen’s dad – the same night (he’s in white, I’m in blue)
I know you what you’re thinking, “Okay, so what’s wrong with hitting at the batting cages?”
We’ll get to that, but before we do, let me set the stage for what I’m about to share with you. A glimpse into an online hitting lesson I gave to my hitter Stephen at The Feedback Lab.
I was granted permission from Kyle (Stephen’s dad), to share his 12-year-old son’s latest online hitting session with me. They’re out of New Jersey…
What Was To Be Corrected
Hiding his hands from the pitcher
“Downhill” shoulder angle pre-turn, and
Maintaining 90-degree back leg angle during turn and finish.
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In the above video, I mentioned the difference between comparing a swing off the tee versus at the batting cages. It’s not really an apples to apples comparison, BUT if they can repeat what we’re trying to get them to do off a tee, then the feeling to repeat it is there. Here’s what his analysis showed:
Great downhill shoulder angle,
Much better with hiding his hands from the pitcher (could polish a little here), and
Much better body angle on his finish.
3-Points Worth Noting…
Dad had mentioned to me, in the past 2-months, that they’ve been testing hand, butt, and hamstring tension, which might have also had an effect on Stephen’s outcomes.
Stephen will be working on a better barrel launch angle using variance training mentioned in the above video. Pay attention to the Bat Angle Experiment I referenced in the video.
I give feedback based on Tony LaRussa’s “Pat & Pop Method”. First give a “pat” on the back (what they did or are doing well), then reveal the “pop” (what they’ll be working to improve their swing).
Coaches, this is critical!! Athletes don’t just need to be broken down all the time. Build them up first, then offer up the constructive criticism.
The Danger in Batting Cages
And I’m not talking about Happy Gilmore style…
Someone smart once said:
“Practice like you play, so you play like you practice.”
Most coaches have their players do what’s referred to as “massed practice” versus “training ugly” at the batting cages. For example, if you needed work on hitting off speed and breaking pitches, a massed practice would look like the following scenario…a pitcher throws each hitter:
15 fastballs, then
15 curve-balls, and
Lastly 15 change-ups…
But this isn’t what it’s like in the game. The hitter rarely knows, with 100% certainty, which pitch, speed, and location they’re getting. So practice MUST reflect this dynamic in training. And hitting at the batting cages limits the amount of variance we can work into our practice.
I do a few things with my more advanced hitters (mechanically speaking), to mix things up:
We may not practice all these at once. Coaches, our objective with our hitters is to move them to the verge of “meltdown” with variance. Then bring them back. Then rebuild. The other thing is, during batting practice, the tendency is to take rounds of 10, 20, and 30+ to get a hitter’s timing and rhythm down. This IS NOT good. This is marathon training. Hitting is more like sprint training. Rounds of 3-6 swings is more like it – with 30+ seconds to rest between rounds.
I hope this helps!
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Discover how to see the ball better with batting examples from this Mike Trout swing analysis. Learn keep eye on the ball drills and head position in and still baseball or softball hitting tips for kids.
Mike Trout Video: Why Consistency Won’t Improve
Posted to Hitting Performance Lab’s Facebook page…
…This three-part video series will analyze how to optimize vision, tracking, and timing. This Part-1 video, featuring Mike Trout, will be unwrapping how the best mechanics in the world mean nothing without proper vision. In this game, we live and die by how consistent we are.
In this post, we’ll go over:
Physically impossible to keep eyes on the ball,
How much and when head movement is okay, and
Building consistency with vision.
CLICK HERE for an interesting academic study on six elite female shot putters. Results found head movement during rotation can influence the movements of the limbs and trunk.
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“We have shown that no one could keep his eye continuously on the ball as it flies from the pitcher to the plate. For our professional athlete, the ball was always more than 2-degrees off his fovea before it came within 5-ft of the plate. However, when the ball is off your fovea, you can still see with peripheral vision. However, with peripheral vision, the ball would only appear as a white blur, you would not see details.”
The finding that was most interesting in the study, using University students as a control for the study, was:
“Most of our student subjects tracked the ball with either head movements alone or eye movements alone, but not both…After the ball crossed the plate, the students usually made large eye or head movements, whereas the gaze of the professional athlete was quite steady…The stance of our professional athlete was very repeatable. At the beginning of the pitch, his head position was the same (within 1-degree) for each of the three experimental pitches we recorded. When he was looking at the ball in the beginning of the experiment, his eyes were rotated 22-degrees to the left; his head was rotated left 65-degrees (yaw), was bowed down 23-degrees (pitch), and was tilted right 12-degrees (roll).”
The professional hitter in the study was right handed.
What’s interesting with hitters like Mike Trout, is that they have to use a bit of head and eye movement when tracking the incoming pitch. Not one or the other. However, nobody on earth, EVER, has been proven to keep both eyes on a pitched ball continuously to home plate.
In the study, A. Terry Bahill said, in order to do that, the ball would have to be traveling at around 25-mph, in which case, it would NEVER reach home plate in softball or baseball.
How Much and When Head Movement is Okay
Olympic throwers move their heads forward (including Javelin, Discus, and Hammer). Lacrosse players do too. And so do Pitchers!
For a hitter like Mike Trout, forward head movement, dropping the “eye-line”, are okay…until landing. I say, get head movement out of the way early. Mike Trout does strikeout quite a bit, which may be attributed to the dropping eye line.
The hitter told to “Sit back”, keeps the head still early, but moves it after the landing position and during the Final Turn. This is not good for improving consistency.
Building Vision Consistency like Mike Trout
How-to improve consistency with vision:
Understand the swing is a “snapping towel” (forward first, then back),
Keep head in-line with spine,
Use the study finding parameters above, to know how much head and eye movement keeps consistency, and
Maintain a moderate swing tempo and relax the jaw (not over-swinging).
CLICK HERE for the Josh Hamilton Part-2 Video: Coaches Don’t Tell You This (About Timing)…
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At about the 2-minute mark, Perry and I discuss putting together a subscription based coaching program for coaches which would have access to our courses and have weekly coaching calls to mentor coaches, Twitter bantar…pitching philosophy used to be 70% fastballs, mixed up/down & inside/outside, then moved to away/away and down/down because hitting was hard to lift far away, then hitters started lifting those pitches – Moneyball & analytics, hitters focus now on swinging up and everyone on the field can go oppo bomb, teams will start elevating fastballs which will set in motion more stuff, odds of “up swings” getting to high heat will be more challenging, is the idea of throwing fastballs down “stupid”? Perry did micro study…MLB – RHP v. RHH: FB up/in = 84.6-mph BES, SL down/away = 82.2-mph BES, CB down/away = 80.1-mph BES, & CH down/in = 86.5-mph BES (chose pitches that would be in that FB tunnel), a hanging FB (located down/away) is more likely to get hit harder than any other hanging off speed or breaker because every hitter is focused on the FB.
At about 12-minute mark, Perry study comparing middle three, upper three, and above three part of the zone with off speed and breaking (hanging stuff) versus the bottom three parts of the zone with fastballs…he counted number of hitters that averaged 90-mph BES…12 to 1 hitters favoring fastball down versus changeup up (12X more likely to avg. 90-mph BES), not a fair study, just a ballpark, today more likely to hit a fastball down than a hanging changeup up,
At about 14-minute mark, locked lead arm follow up, reader saying not many hitters using locked lead arm…Williams and Choo both lock lead arm and pull the ball – can locked lead arm help going to opposite field, every Major League hitter locks lead arm, may not talk about it, may not practice it, but when they hit their hardest bolt – they’re doing it, Perry talks about one of elite Fastpitch Softball hitters in the country Todd Budke locked lead arm(YouTube video of him hitting oppo dinger) – facing guys that made Randy Johnson look like a thumber 80-86-mph velo from 46-feet, bent front arm results in more balls fouled back, evidence of what happens when guys hit up/in pitch – they’re doing it with bent lead arm, can we do better than that with locked lead arm? What happens when all fastballs go away EXCEPT the up/in fastball? The “adjustable” hitting mindset isn’t going to work anymore when pitchers get more EV efficient
At about 23-minute mark, do young hitters from High School on down learn how to “hunt” pitches or wait till pitchers get better? Thank God pitchers still make mistakes, but what pitchers are being taught right now is to stay down with fastballs, sliders, etc. It’s predictable. When pitchers TRY to be EV efficient, things will be troublesome for hitters, the basic hitting approach of today is like a 2-strike approach (the “adjustable” swing), the adjustment will be much harder for hitters when EV tunnels are enforced, will happen at Big League level first, Greinke example using certain pitches to take hitter’s attention away from where hitter’s strength is, creating shiny objects, get swing down right, then figure out how to apply it,
At about 33-minute mark, I ask Perry his advice on how to teach 6-8yo to get more on time, Inner Game of Tennis book drills – 100% on-time 100% effective with swing mechanics (not about swinging as hard as you can), take and control “A” swing – best swing, being on-time to that pitch,
At about 38-minute, 30-sec mark, Perry talks about over under load training, we talk about Axe Bat and DriveLine 20% over/under $600 system, Perry asked Gray Cook’s advice about over/under load training in 1992, Babe Ruth did overload training, end loaded is key, does Axe bat’s 20% over/under go far enough? No. Is it effective? Yes, but it doesn’t go far enough, would you get stronger with light weight in gym? Heavier weight is better, especially end loaded, hitter has to work their butt off with end loaded +10 and control line drives, hitters will “cast” with an end loaded bat – but hitter MUST keep that from happening, Perry over/under load study +10 and -10 results were astounding looking at video of players and data – consistency numbers went up and recruitment of lower half, fastpitch softball Frosh case study 6-weeks no change in mechanics went from 55-mph to 62 or 63-mph BES, Reactive Neuromuscular Training (RNT) – this is what overload training is doing, feeding the “mistake”, Cook bands, TheStartingLineupStore.com Anchor Bat +4 to +6 and -5 wood bats over/under load system, locked lead arm, end loaded bat, and releasing barrel into “belly button” catcher’s glove,
At about 58-minute mark, Perry’s effective velocity timing sticks, change length of bat and weight – hitter is learning to adjust timing, training body to be more sensitive to timing, using different size, color, weight balls, “Riiiiight Now” Drill for 6-8yos to train timing, keep conscious mind busy, so unconscious mind can get to work,
You can find Perry Husband at EffectiveVelocity.com, use EV25 coupon code for any of the online courses. @EVPerryHusband on Twitter, and @PerryHusband on Facebook.
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“Shorten Swing” Like An Elite Hitter (Not What You Think)
Ask any “self-proclaimed” hitting coach what a “short swing” is, and you’ll get many differing interpretations. I think the problem is found in the debate of feel versus real. If you ask professional and MLB hitters what they’re trying to do, and they’ll use phrases like:
“I’m trying to stay short to the ball”, or
“I’m trying to be compact”...
The challenge is these examples are so vague, they’re widely open to interpretation. And give coaches that kind of slack, and they tend to “hang” their hitters. For instance, take the following swing example of Kris Bryant:
Some coaches will say his swing is too long, and that ONLY Big Leaguers can have swings like this. This is an EXCUSE. Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez, and Mark McGwire have been quoted as saying they swing/swung down on the ball.
You see, what elite hitters are feeling, and what we’re actually seeing on slow motion video (what’s real) can be two totally different things. So how do we get our hitters to “swing shorter”, like Kris Bryant…?
…without using hitting aids, and using effective external coaching cues, which science says are far superior than internal ones (CLICK HERE to read this post about that). Without further adieu, here’s the…
SCIENCE-BASED TRAINING:
Improve your hitting strategy dramatically by applying human movement principles.
Learn not only how and what to train but also the science behind the methods.
The following is the NEW Improved and Updated version of the video above…
'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/2022/07/How-To-Stop-Missing-Under-Ball-Hitting-Popups-Late-Batting-Timing-For-Baseball-And-Softball.png423800Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2022-11-08 09:00:232022-12-20 05:33:33Stop AND Fix Missing Under Ball, Hitting Popups, & Late Batting Timing For Baseball & Softball | Hit More Line Drives, Swing Bat Faster & For Power
, fascia:
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by Thomas Myers.
book drills – 100% on-time 100% effective with swing mechanics (not about swinging as hard as you can), take and control “A” swing – best swing, being on-time to that pitch,
, 
