Josh Bell: Improve Attack Angle And Ideal Home Run Launch Angle For Baseball & Softball | Building Faster, Flatter, & More Powerful Bat Path To Fix Choppy & Uppercut Swings
Josh Bell hitting analysis on how to improve attack angle and what is the ideal home run launch angle for baseball and softball players? What’s the difference? Discover how to build a faster, flatter, and more powerful bat path to fix choppy and uppercut swings.
Line Drive Hacking With Josh Bell Swing Breakdown
Photo courtesy: MLB.com
In this Josh Bell swing breakdown, we cover:
- Size,
- Interesting metrics
- DeRo analysis
- 2018 RCF Homer: 5/31 83-mph breaking ball/SL, down/away VERSUS 2019 LCF Homer: 7/3 96-mph FB, mid/up
- Some interesting things in swing analysis: Float, Fall, Barrel Path – CB down/away v. FB mid/up (and late), how well he matches plane of pitch (tube)
CLICK HERE to view the size and metrics data on FanGraphs.
In looking at the Josh Bell image, it’s interesting to note how Josh Bell’s barrel path line intersects the plane of the pitch line. Hitters that match the plane of the pitch line better will inevitably have higher batting averages and less strikeouts.
We teach our hitters to match the “tube”. Imagine the pitch being thrown through a tube, and the hitter’s goal should be to hit the ball back through the tube. Based on pitch height. If the pitch tube is set at four-feet off the ground, then the ball must come off the bat four-feet off the ground. If tube is set at one-inch off the ground, then ball comes off bat one-inch off ground.
If the hitter doesn’t hit it through the “tube”, which the best in the world miss the tube 80% of the time (league averages: 20% line drive rate, 38% fly-ball rate, and 43% ground-ball rate), then they make adjustments using the principle of paradoxical intention.
Consider the following…
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Joey,
Great job as always. DeRo always tells you what a player is doing but never explains why. Thanks for doing that. One other thing, DeRo talked of Albert Pujols’ wide, no-stride approach. The only problem is, Pujols’ doesn’t hit like that any more. He uses a stride, a somewhat long one at that, to utilize forward momentum. Don’t think that DeRo would offer an explanation for that either.
Haha, yes I’d agree with you. Timing is much more difficult with a wide no-stride approach. That’s why you don’t see that in elite swings that often.
dont you feel
like he was arm barring in the before but barrell adjustability triangle in the second clip? i know your pro arm bar but i think the adjustability makes u a better all around hitter.once pitchers make adjustments of course .
i know the first one was a breaking pitch and the second one was a heater in a little but are you totally against the adjustability triangle?
Yes I am because the adjustability of the front arm (bent) comes at a cost. To Mike Trout, down and away (front arm straight) his avg. ball exit speed is 101-mph. Up and in (front arm bent at 90-degrees) his avg. ball exit speed is 80-mph…he’s giving up 21-mph of ball exit speed using the “adjustable” swing!!! On avg. he’s literally giving up 84-feet of distance! That’s giving away the farm, the wife, AND the kids!! Gotta swing smarter.
I agree with you Kory, in this day and age of pitchers literally throwing into barrels, any hitter can get away with the adjustable swing. When hitters smarter up however, look out…the adjustable swing will become extinct. It will require smarter hitting.
Kory,
Bell’s swing looks a little loopy because of that. Perry Husband has the analytics to back up the arm bar devotees but the jury is still out, I guess. I dont think you can hit a high inside fastball with a barred front arm. The triangle was evident in the swings of Pete Alonso and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the HR Derby. That 500+ foot HR hit by Nomar Mazara of the Texas Rangers a few weeks ago? Well, his front arm was bent. So, I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
But Joe, can bent arm guys like Vlad and Judge hit the ball further with a straighter front arm? Like I said to Kory…
Perry and I talk about how to keep the front arm straight and hit plus velocity in at this link: https://hittingperformancelab.com/5000-swing-experiments-validate-locked-out-lead-arm-is-superior-to-bent/
Joey,
But could they get to it? Can you get to that high pitch with a barred front arm? A bent front arm worked for Nomar Mazzara in hitting his 500+ foot bomb.
Joe, yes my hitters get to an elevated fastball consistently with a barred front arm). Getting to it has to do with barrel path, NOT the barred front arm. I haven’t seen the swing, but Mazzara probably could have hit that ball significantly further with a longer lever. That’s a common law of engineering.
Joey,
What speed is the pitches that they are doing that on?
Joey,
I posted this on the VGJ article too. Took time to watch you and Perry’s convo. I get what you are saying. You said to watch how you explained “HOW to get to a pitch middle up or middle in with an arm bar.”. You showed how to do it but is that faster to the ball up and in? Can you prove that? More BES but do you get there faster. You still have to get there. My experience has taught me that you can beat someone who bars the front arm on a pitch up (yes, I know about the guys who use the many lessons and hours of watching video reasoning. Not one of those guys). Just the same, please check out Gleyber Torres’ HRs vs the Red Sox this weekend. You got to get to the pitch first. Deep barrel dumping is not a good thing. A hitter can’t just dump the barrel. Hand pressure needed to keep the bat on plane.
Starting around the 50 minute mark Perry goes in to the bent front arm example. But, does anyone keep that much bend in the arms, having them so close to their body? That’s not what I’m talking about either. Perry’s example is too restricting. A hitter would do that if he is beat/late.
I get Dr. Nathan’s contention/findings and don’t dispute that. I don’t think that Ruth and Williams, as physically constituted back then, would hit 98 – 104 mph.
Head over front leg in stride is still Lau/Hriniak to me – too far for the head to go. Lunging. Head at the top of your triangle of the legs in the stride.
You still have the best stuff out there and I enjoy the conversations.