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Unlocking Secrets Of Optimizing Launch Angle To Increase Your Ball Exit Speed & Hitting Distance

Ideal Line Drive Launch Angles & Ball Exit Speeds For Optimal Distance While Hitting A Baseball Or Softball

Discover the ideal line drive launch angles and ball exit speeds for optimal distance while hitting a baseball or softball.

Addressing The Biggest Lies In Hitting: Improve Line Drive Frequency In A Few Short Weeks

 

 

ABCA Hitting Think Tank: Matt Nokes, Taylor Gardner, Jarrett Gardner, & Joey Myers

This Hitting Think Tank will be doing more talks like this at the 2017 ABCA in Anaheim in our booth (from left to right: Matt Nokes, Taylor Gardner, Jarrett Gardner, & Joey Myers)

I have a confession to make…

But first, the context,

After driving 7 hours down to San Diego, I met up with a couple boss hitting/pitching dudes.

I had the privilege to sit down and talk hitting with the two co-founders of the Backspin Tee (brothers Taylor and Jarrett Gardner), and 1987 All-Star Silver Slugger Matt Nokes.

Now, the confession…

We only spent 15 minutes “sitting down” (for the above interview), the other time was spent talking hitting in:

  • Underground parking garages,
  • A library,
  • Down the streets of Padre’s Petco Park,
  • At a USSSA Pride professional fast-pitch softball game, and
  • In a Hilton Hotel lobby over beverages with USSSA Pride infielder Shelby Pendley….

SCIENCE-BASED TRAINING:

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Learn not only how and what to train but also the science behind the methods.

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Not to mention, Matt Lisle graced us with his presence to talk hitting for over an hour at the Pride game.

Also, we narrowly missed Ryan Lehr on account of him having to be home late night to be a good dad and husband 😉 lol j/k Lehr just busting your balls.

…By the way Lehr (if you’re reading this), Matt Lisle’s wife allowed him to attend the All Star festivities in San Diego (he’s from the Bay Area), for 4+days away from the her and their 4 kids!!

I told him, he must have a lot of money in the family’s ’emotional bank account’ to have the ability to do that.

So, there’s NO excuse Lehr 😛

Needless to say, my brain hurt on the 7-hour drive back home the next day (not a hangover, believe it or not, I only had one beer the night before)…

Moreover,

We’ll be sharing a booth at the 2017 American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) conference in Anaheim,

And will be doing more of these LIVE Hitting Think Tank Q&A’s during the conference, so if you find yourself out that way, at that time, then please stop by booth #383 and say hi.

In addition, there will be other mystery guests at the conference coming to our booth to talk about things like pitch tracking, recognition, bat lag, and distraction training.

So, DON’T MISS IT!!

Besides me, here are the cast of characters in the above video:

In this interview, we discuss the following:

  • Defining a line drive (Matt Nokes at 2:13 mark)
  • How to get a line drive? (Matt Nokes at 3:20 mark)
  • Making adjustments to get to the line drive (Matt Nokes at 4:20 mark)
  • The right swing path to get a line drive (Jarrett Gardner at 6:00 mark),
  • The idea of a “flat swing” (Matt Nokes at 7:37 mark),
  • The goods and bad of “Feel v. Real” & making bold adjustments (Joey Myers at 10:20 mark),
  • Correlation DOES NOT necessarily equal causation (Matt Nokes and Joey Myers at 13:31 mark).

We’d love to get YOUR take on what was discussed in the above video,

And, please respond below by letting us know what else you’d like us to discuss at the upcoming ABCA event…by the way, we may record these Q&A sessions and make them available to you at a later date.

THANKS in advance!

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

Best Launch Angles For Distance: How To Hit Line Drives & Square Up Baseball Instead Of Hitting Ground Balls

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Discover the best launch angles for batted ball distance, and learn how to hit more line drives and square up the baseball or softball instead of hitting too many ground balls. Check out this interview with EffectiveVelocity.com’s Perry Husband…

Why You SHOULD NOT Teach Hitters To Hit Homers?

 

 

Here’s the Hitting Jam Session Interview Collection with Perry Husband:

  1. [YOU ARE HERE] Why You Should Not Teach Hitters To Hit Homers?
  2. What’s The Biggest Mistake Coaches Make In Boosting Ball Exit Speeds
  3. How To Make Teaching Proper Weight Shift In Swing More Understandable To Hitter
  4. Teach: How To STOP Hitting Excess Of Ground-balls & Fly-balls
  5. 5,000 Swing Experiments Validate Locked Lead Arm Is Superior To Bent
  6. Overload Bat Training: Hitting Has To Work Butt Off To Resist “Casting”

Here’s what we discuss in Hitting Jam Session #1:

  • Formal Introductions
  • Carlos Pena and Boston Red Sox hitting coach phone conversation for segment on MLB Now Show,
  • Bro-Science v. REAL Science,
  • How to know who/what to follow,
  • Demystifying Launch Angles, and
  • Q&A…

You can also CLICK HERE to view the original video and comments from the Jam Session on Facebook.

 

Show Notes

  • At about the 3-minute mark, Perry Husband shares a phone conversation he had with Carlos Pena and Boston Red Sox hitting coach Tim Hyers about Effective Velocity (EV) tunnels from a hitter’s perspective (watch Liquid Analytic videos to MLB Now segments below)
  • At about 5-min, 30-secs mark, cool swing experiment Perry did with Tim Hyers in the past, showing how same speed pitch “appears” faster or slower depending on location in the zone, and how this disrupts a hitter’s reactionary timing (aka hitter’s “attention”).  Gear hitters to a speed, they focus on that speed – changing it causes hitters to be early or late.
  • At about 12-min, 30-min mark, the basic idea of Liquid Analytics, and how to look at pitchers through EV “eyes” we can get hitters to understand the best approach against certain pitchers.  How pitchers adapt to changes to hitter’s approach, it’s like a Chess game, approaches can shift and change multiple times throughout the game, and how to use Liquid Analytics to make these changes predictable.
  • At about 15-min mark, we talk about sabotaging hitting coaches who have no clue how to counter EV by releasing EV 101, 202, and 303 to pitchers.  This will take a couple years for younger pitchers to catch up.  Our hitters will have the anecdote.  2018 World Series was a great picture of a team using EV on both sides of the ball (Red Sox), and a team that really wasn’t (Dodgers).  Any hitting approach right now will get away with murder, but when pitchers get EV efficient, most approaches that don’t take EV into account will die off.
  • At about 20-min mark, Perry using the football cornerback analogy to explain EV tunnels and where hitters tend to stay when it comes to timing pitches.
  • At about 22-min mark, what is the main operating system you’re teaching your hitters? Decrease strikeouts? Hit homers?  Increase Batting Average?  Hard Hit Contact %?  Every drill, teach, hitting aid, etc. will lift up the main operating system, example of the early armbar teach in mechanics.
  • At about 25-min mark, these Jam Sessions are an experiment in themselves, what you’re doing right now may be working, but someone somewhere is doing it better, how to find out what “optimizing” hitters looks like, tinker and test, tinker and test, Growth Mindset v. Fixed Mindset, swing experimentation, REAL Science v. “bro-science”, Scientific Method: question, hypothesis, research & study, collect data (experiment), conclusion, is data Science? Jam Sessions going forward…
  • At about 31-min 30-sec mark, Perry starts talk on Launch Angles, Jay Bell experiment (at 10-degree Launch Angle), hit center of circular target at about 10-feet to measure Launch Angles, early or late hitter pulls or pushes the ball away from the center of the target, more ground-balls – hitting ball later in the swing arc, pop-fly – hitting ball earlier in the swing arc, comparing 9 possible golf shots to hitting, precision in golf.
  • At about 36-minute mark, ranking 10 swings off a tee using the circular target, how many times hit the target, measuring precision how often swing line is inline with pitch, hitter is going to miss more than they hit it good, Aaron Judge 75% of his one-rep swing max a majority of the time, it’s not about hitting it perfect, it’s the quality of your misses.
  • At about 41-min mark, are ALL ground-balls bad? 100-mph+ GB’s equals batting over .500 at the Big League levels, take out ground-ball hits and Donaldson hits .205, it’s about maxing out the Ground-balls, 90-mph fly-balls – how many guys hit .400? zero.  Did you know MLB skews data on fly-balls by adding line drives in the formula.
  • At about 45-min mark, I talk with my hitters about hitting the ball back through the “tube” that it came from, roughly misses are 40% up, 20% on a line, and 40% are down, trying to hit fly-balls causes more ground-balls?  Base your hitter’s operating system on the Jay Bell 10-degree Launch Angle, -5-degrees to 25-degrees highest exit velocities – keep misses within 10-degrees above or below the 10-degree line, extreme up Launch Angles will create a big hole in the swing for EV-minded pitchers to exploit, it’s about the “miss”
  • At about 50-min mark, we finish with Q&A…

Where you can find more about Perry Husband:

  1. HittingIsAGuess.com (Effective Velocity) use discount code: EV25 for 25% OFF
  2. Twitter: @EVPerryHusband
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Discover how to hit more line drives using swing bat path mechanics science to hitting on the plane of the pitch like Joey Votto.

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

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

Baseball Swing Slow Motion Analysis Of Joey Votto

 

 

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

Hitting Training - Pitch-Plane Dominator

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

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

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

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

I received the following reader question:

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

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

We’ll discuss Joey Votto’s:

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

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

 

Joey Votto Pitch-Plane Consistency Metrics

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

Baseball Swing Slow Motion Analysis: Joey Votto Metrics

Look at the “yellow” highlighted line…

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

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

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

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

Joey Votto 2015 ESPN’s HitTracker Spray Chart

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

Baseball Swing Slow Motion Analysis: Joey Votto spray chart

Joey Votto 2015 spray chart courtesy: HitTrackerOnline.com

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

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

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

 

Joey Votto Mechanics as They Relate to Pitch-Plane Domination

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

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

As Tony Robbins said,

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

 

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

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

Let me explain…

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

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

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

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

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

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

Without further adieu, here are…

 

My Joey Votto Interview Notes on his 2018 Hitting Approach

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

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

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

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

 

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Anatomy Of A Game Winning Justin Turner Walk Off Homerun

 

 

To be honest with you…

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

My excuse…?

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

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

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

But I digress…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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What’s he IS NOT Doing

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

So let’s see…

 

What he IS Doing

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

 

The Catapult Loading System Kindle eBook Giveaway

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

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How To Increase Hitting Power, Bat, & Hand Speed Like Mookie Betts Using Catapult Loading System

Increase Hitting Power, Bat, & Hand Speed Like Mookie Betts Baseball Or Softball Swing | Square Ball Up & Hit Consistent Line Drives Instead Of Ground Balls

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Discover how to increase hitting power, bat, and hand speed like a Mookie Betts baseball or softball swing using the Catapult Loading System.  In addition, learn how to square the ball up and hit more consistent line drives instead of ground balls in this swing analysis…

Mookie Betts Swing Analysis: Build Massive Power For Small Sluggers Like Mookie Betts & Trea Turner…

 

 

What we’ll be contrasting in this Mookie Betts swing analysis compared with Trea Turner:

  • Mookie Betts stats on Fangraphs AND Trea Turner stats on Fangraphs
  • Catapult Loading System principles – CLICK HERE to watch this video post I did on taking slack out of the spine with the “wringing towel” metaphor…
  • Pitch-Plane Domination catcher’s glove barrel path principle – CLICK HERE to watch this video post on WHY we may have barrel path all wrong…

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.

Right Course For You? Take Quiz Now

Few out there think power comes from the snapping of the back hip and barrel.  These people are only one-third of the way there.  The pelvis (including hip), spine, and shoulders as a complete unit is where to find consistent power.

There are three pieces of our spine:

  1. Cervical (neck)
  2. Thoracic (shoulders and middle back), and
  3. Lumbar (lower back).

Imagine each section as a hand.  Now imagine three hands wringing a towel out.  The top (Cervical) and the bottom (Lumbar) are wringing in the same direction, while the middle (Thoracic) is wringing in the opposite direction of its “bookends”.  Mookie Betts does this just as well as anybody.

When it comes to barrel path, these same “snapper” hitting instructors promote a one path fits all barrel path.  And they claim teaching a high level pattern.  This is the exact opposite of what a higher level pattern is.  The best hitters’ barrel enters the hitting zone at different points depending on pitch depth.  You don’t see Mookie Betts knocking off the “real” catcher’s glove when hitting 97-mph inside.  If he did, he’d be picking up his thumbs.  Or he’d have to bend his front elbow so significantly that it would drop his average ball exit speeds by 20-mph, which equals at least 80-feet of batted ball distance.

Shorten the lever, you shorten power amplification.  The “snappy” pattern has its consequences.

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Hit Consistent Line Drives How Christian Yelich Is Doing It Better Than Everyone Else

Hit Consistent Line Drives Instead Of Ground Balls & Square Up Baseball Or Softball Using Rope Bat?

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In this Christian Yelich tongue-in-cheek swing analysis, can we discover how to hit more consistent line drives instead of ground balls and square up a baseball or softball better using a Rope Bat?

Here Are 6 Christian Yelich Swing Analysis Hitting Mechanic Strategies Helping Him Dominate (or Not? 🤔)

 

 

WARNING!  This Christian Yelich swing analysis video has been done tongue-and-cheek…sarcastic…mocking…joking…so please don’t send me HATE email because of this cheeky Christian Yelich hitting mechanics video.

Here are some of the topics we cover…

  1. Head movement,
  2. Back knee inside back foot,
  3. Over rotating back foot,
  4. Getting taller,
  5. “Launch angle” swing!
  6. Keep shoulders square (no counter rotation!!!)

By the way, at the beginning of the video, we look at the following Forbes article titled: “NL MVP Christian Yelich, Bucking The Launch Angle Trend”.

We teach our hitters to hit the ball back through the “tube”.  Imagine the pitcher throwing the ball through a tube.  Our hitters must hit the ball back through the tube.  For example is the pitch comes in hitting zone at 4-feet from the ground, then ball comes off bat four-feet off the ground.  If ball comes in two-inches off ground, then ball comes off bat two-inches off ground.

Consider this…

Major League average batted ball type percentages:

  • Line Drives = 20%
  • Ground-balls = 43%
  • Fly-balls = 38%

20% of the time the best in the world are hitting a line drive, and 80% of the time they’re miss hitting a line drive.  By hitting the ball back through the tube, the hitter matches the plane of the pitch better.  If ball is hit above or below the tube, then we use the adjustment principle paradoxical intention to get back to the tube.

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Swing Bat Path To Hit More Line Drives, Square Up The Ball, & Gain Faster Bat Speed!

Swing Bat Path To Hit Line Drives, Square Up Ball, Increase Hitting Power, & Faster Bat Speed Drills For Baseball Or Softball

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Discover swing bat path to hit more line drives, square the ball up more, increase hitting power, and gain faster bat speed using principle drills for baseball or softball hitters.

How To Consistently Crush The Ball Using Geometry & Springy Forces

 

 

The objective of this presentation was to give a technical speech to a non-technical audience.  Sorry, the video and audio aren’t the best, but I think you’ll get the overall message.  Also, I’ve provided the power-point slides I used for this presentation (CLICK HERE to download from Google Drive).

You may find it quite helpful to follow along with the slides during the presentation.  PLEASE NOTE: in each section, I do skip to the images in that section to help illustrate a point.  We discussed the following:

  • Move better, perform better,
  • Use movement tests,
  • Match the Pitch-Plane with Geometry, and
  • Knock snot out of the ball with Springy Fascia.

Below is the basic outline of the speech…

ENJOY!

 

Move Better, Perform Better

  • ‘Governor’ truck engine story
  • Repetitive movements/position shape your body
  • “You can’t fire a cannon from a canoe” Mobilize & Stabilize

 

Use Movement Tests

  • Following “rules” to human movement – GRF, FoMo, Ang Mom, Centrip/Centrif, springy forces
  • Gorilla Grip
  • One-Joint Rule
  • Un-Weighting

 

Match Pitch-Plane with Geometry

  • Define Pitch-Plane
  • Importance of Back Leg Angle
  • Attack Angle + Ball Exit Speed

 

Knock Snot Out of Ball with Springy Fascia

  • Define springy fascia – tension/compression forces
  • Seen the biggest jumps in average Bat Speed with spinal engine experiments
  • Showing numbers – 6-mph
  • Downhill shoulder angle – 4-mph
  • Finger Pressure – 3-mph
  • Hunched Posture – +4 Attack Angle
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Teach Perfect Science Swing Mechanics To Baseball & Softball Beginners At Hitting Performance Lab

Teach Perfect Line Drive Swing Mechanic Science To Baseball & Softball Beginners At Hitting Performance Lab

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Learn how to teach perfect line drive science-based swing mechanics to baseball and softball beginners at the Hitting Performance Lab…

Baseball Hitting Tips For Youth: Can We Teach One Swing To ALL Hitters?

 

 

This is Part-3 of a 3-part baseball hitting tips for youth video series coming straight out of the Pitch-Plane Dominator online video mini-course…

Hitting Training - Pitch-Plane Dominator

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

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

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

 

“The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

I received the following reader question:

“Do you believe in one swing fits all hitters?”

In this baseball hitting tips for youth video post, we’ll:

  • Define ‘one-swing-fits-all’,
  • Reveal a human movement formula, and
  • Talk about how Principles are like bowling “bumpers”.

Before you get your panties in a bunch, let’s…

 

Define ‘One-Swing-Fits-All’

Is there truly a ‘one-swing-fits-all’ baseball hitting tips for youth hitting approach?

Most baseball or softball hitting savants will tell you that you can’t mold every hitter into cookie cutter mechanics.

But I’m here to tell those people,

You’re WRONG.

DEAD wrong.

Look, I know this will piss some people off.

And it may sound like I’m setting the hitting community back 4-decades for saying it.

But hear me out,

I’m not talking about messing with a hitter’s “style”…

  • Babe Ruth’s unique feet together position pre-pitch….OR
  • Joe Morgan’s ‘chicken-wing’ back elbow…OR
  • The patented Kevin Youkilis dainty hand grip position pre-swing (pictured above).

Here’s what I’m saying,

Hitting is quite frankly…

A Human Movement Formula

Like Tony Robbins always says, success leaves clues.

And there are certain players that dominate the Pitch-Plane, like I covered in this Joey Votto baseball swing slow motion analysis video.

What are the baseball hitting tips for youth clues hitters like Joey Votto are leaving behind for us to model?

Or better yet, what natural forces on the planet empower him to be such a tough out, while also hitting the ball consistently harder than others?

Let’s revisit the Ralph Waldo Emerson quote from above:

“The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble.”

A ‘one-swing-fits-all’ hitting approach has to do with, “The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods”.

Think of ‘methods’ as the hitting drill or movement being practiced.  And the ‘principle’ as the objective that that hitting drill is based upon.

What baseball hitting tips for youth principles govern human movement, are validated by science, and are clues that are left behind by hitters, like Joey Votto, who effectively dominate the Pitch-Plane?

What’s more…

Principles are like ‘Bowling Bumpers’

Think of these baseball hitting tips for youth human movement principles, or “rules”, as bowling bumpers.

Whenever we teach a ‘one-swing-fits-all’ approach, be careful that you’re not to mess with a hitter’s style.

HOWEVER, what does NEED to be analyzed is whether the hitter is using the myriad of principles mentioned above.  These are the “bumpers”.

When analyzing any hitter…male OR female…Little Leaguer OR professional,

We need to know whether Johnny or Sally are applying Ground Reaction Forces (or GRF’s) properly.  Are they loading and unloading their body correctly?  Are they using rotation and anti-rotation forces effectively?  Are they moving their spine in a way that’s safe, but also optimizes the body’s energy transfer?

This is where I believe in a ‘One-Swing-Fits-All’ hitters.  It has NOTHING to do with a hitter’s style, and MORE to do with a hitter’s use of naturally occurring forces on the planet.

If you aren’t teaching the swing between these ‘bumpers’, then you’ll be left far behind.  And most certainly will your hitters.

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