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Learn how to cut down on and strikeout never again baseball and softball perfect swing path breakdown hitting drill to STOP striking out and struggling at the plate.

Baseball Swing Path: How-To Increase A Hitter’s Strikeouts?

Baseball Swing Plane: Chris Davis

Notice the Chris Davis baseball swing plane is up, up, UP. Mandatory Credit: Debby Wong-USA TODAY Sports

Is Chris Davis taking more of an extreme uppercut on the baseball swing plane?

Is he not cutting down on his swing with 2-strikes?

Is he using an excessive barrel tilt, before he launches into the turn, much like Josh Donaldson did between the 2013 and 2014 seasons?  CLICK HERE for this Athletics Nation post titled, “Josh Donaldson: Changes in Approach & Mechanics”.

Is he more susceptible to swinging at pitches out of the strike zone than say a Joey Votto?  CLICK HERE for this great “Joey Votto on Hitting” FanGraphs.com article about the changes he made to his baseball swing path in 2013.

Or, is his baseball swing plane so stubborn as to not adjust to higher Effective Velocities (EV), according to this fantastic analysis by Perry Husband…

 

 

Also, CLICK HERE for a Joey Votto video analysis I recently did.  He is the ultimate Pitch-Plane Dominator!

Here’s another perspective, from a guy I admire because he will readily admit he was wrong – on national television!!

Check out the following video of Carlos Pena offering an explanation to the increase in MLB hitter strikeouts…

 

 

Look, hitter’s are dealing with hitting a pitch that, beforehand, they DO NOT know what:

  • Pitch it is,
  • Speed it is, and
  • Location it is.

Sure, there are probabilities, but they’re almost NEVER 100% sure (stealing signs and/or a pitcher’s ‘tells’ aside).

Baseball Swing Path: Ted Williams The Science Of Hitting

Illustration from Ted Williams’s The Science Of Hitting book on matching the plane of the pitch. The bottom image can even serve as the extreme uppercut if flipped upwards.

Hitters have to build a large margin for error into their swings, if they want to succeed.

Then it got me thinking…

Sometimes we can learn more from what not to do, than what to do.

Coaches & instructors, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Please ‘Leave a REPLY’ in the comments section below to the following question…

What are the 2 biggest baseball swing path mistakes you think hitters make that lead to higher strikeouts?

Learn how to fix loop in swing, dropping barrel, and pulling vs hitting opposite field with power for baseball, softball, and slow pitch players.  Do stay or keep the hands inside the ball cues still work?  Discover the overload/underload bat training workout in this Freddie Freeman and Ronald Acuna Jr. swing analysis.

Freddie Freeman & Ronald Acuna Jr. Swing Analysis

 

 

Here’s a Freddie Freeman swing analysis compare and contrast video between him and Ronald Acuna Jr.:

Freddie Freeman Swing Analysis

Freddie Freeman photo courtesy: MLB.com

  • Freddie Freeman (6-foot, 5-inches, 220-pounds) & Ronald Acuna Jr. (6-foot, 180-pounds) offensive stats at BaseballReference.com,
  • Discuss critical “line-to-line” principles Freddie Freeman talks about in Fox Sports South interview video below,
  • Best time to use “hands inside ball” cues with youth hitters,
  • Freddie Freeman using rounded back, showing numbers, staying sideways, and longer front arm shape,
  • Explanation of a long swing (not in long lead arm), but having to do with hitting the “different catcher’s gloves”,
  • Overload training to help young hitters to control their barrel, and
  • Ronald Acuna Jr. not using rounded back (neutral), showing numbers a little, and longer front arm shape…

“Braves star Freddie Freeman gives in-depth tutorial on how to hit off a tee” Video

If you liked this Freddie Freeman swing analysis, then you may want to take a look at this…