Discover how to increase bat speed and improve hitting power with these tee drills for baseball and softball youth players as young as 8 years old.
“Blocking” Like Jose Bautista: A Baseball Hitting Drills For Bat Speed Experiment
Question: Does Landing Bent with the Front Knee & then Straightening it, Add Bat Speed?
Using the Zepp (Labs) Baseball app, I wanted to use the Scientific Method to analyze if“Blocking”, or using Ground Reaction Forces (GRF), produces a significant gain in bat speed.
Background Research
Check out this YouTube video from ZenoLink about “Blocking”, or GRF:
CLICK HERE for a Wikipedia article defining Ground Reaction Forces. Quote from post:
“The use of the word reaction derives from Newton’s third law, which essentially states that if a force, called action, acts upon a body, then an equal and opposite force, called reaction, must act upon another body. The force exerted by the ground is conventionally referred to as the reaction, although, since the distinction between action and reaction is completely arbitrary, the expression ground action would be, in principle, equally acceptable.”
CLICK HERE for another baseball hitting drills for bat speed post I did about Edwin Encarnacion: A How-To “Blocking” Guide.
SCIENCE-BASED TRAINING:
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Based on the above baseball hitting drills for bat speed research and study, I think “Bent Knee Blocking”will produce more bat speed than “Straight Knee Blocking”. For some of you, this may be obvious. But the data comparing the two is quite interesting to see.
Baseball Hitting Drills For Bat Speed Experiment: “Blocking”
Yellow dimple ball feedback markers = my bat length, plus two baseballs
Distance from plate = end of the bat touching inside corner of plate, and knob of bat touching my mid-thigh.
SwingAway was set slightly behind the front feedback marker, and ball height was about the hip.
First 101 baseballs were hit with a landing leg angle of about 170-degrees.
Second 101 baseballs were hit with a landing leg angle of about 146-degrees.
Data Collected (Zepp Baseball App Screenshots):
Check out the differences in average bat speed and hand speed (red arrows)…
Data Analysis & Conclusion
6-mph average bat speed difference between “Straight Knee Blocking” versus “Bent Knee Blocking”,
2-mph average hand speed difference between “Straight Knee Blocking” versus “Bent Knee Blocking”,
The Average Time to Impact was about the same,
The average Bat Vertical Angle at Impact had a 6-degree difference, and
There was only 1-degree of difference between the Attack Angles.
Notes
I broke my swing into two steps (stopping momentum), to make sure I could accurately isolate the difference in the front knee action.
The “Bent Knee Blocking” 6-mph average increase is equivalent to 24-48 feet of batted ball distance (depends on the speed of the pitch).
What was interesting was the huge shift in Bat Vertical Angle at Impact. I suspect it’s because of the higher landing position, and the barrel compensated down to accommodate hitting the sweet spot.
Looking at the nominal increase in Attack Angle and the wide degree shift in Bat Vertical Angle at Impact, it looks like “Straight Knee Blocking” would lead to more mishits.
Like in this “Blocking” Experiment, baseball hitting drills for bat speed need to be put to the test. We can’t just feel something will increase bat speed. We must look at what the data says.
In Conclusion
From the Baseball Hitting Drills for Bat Speed Experiment data, we can see that “Bent Knee Blocking” produces more average bat and hand speed than “Straight Knee Blocking”. The other thing that landing with a bent knee does (approx. 146-degrees), is shrink the strike-zone. Or at least create an illusion that it’s shrinking, to the umpire. I call this “Getting Shorter”.
Coupled with forward momentum, the hitter is making a “cut”, much like a wide receiver would on an “L” route. Except instead of the wide receiver changing from the Sagittal (forward/backward) to the Frontal (sideways) Plane of motion, the hitter changes from the Frontal to Transverse (twisting) Plane of motion. And in order to do this, the “plant leg” needs to be bent in order to transfer Ground Reaction Forces efficiently. You’ll NEVER see an NFL wide receiver “cut” with a straight plant leg…they plant bent, then push into the ground to change directions.
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Learn how Mike Trout uses his “golf” footwork to hit home-runs better and farther every time. Discover hitting drills to increase bat speed and power like Trout’s golf swing?
Mike Trout Hitting Golf Ball: Same As Baseball Swing?
What we go over in this Mike Trout hitting golf ball video:
As Physicist, Electrical Engineer, and author of The Spinal Engine, Dr. Serge Gracovetsky says the arms and legs ARE NOT necessary for locomotion, they’re an enhancement. When it comes to spinal movement, hitting is basic locomotion. Fact.
Shifting Foot Pressure
A couple recent posts I’ve done complimenting the above video…
Very few are teaching this. This is at the heart of a stable swing. I see a lot of hitters over-rotating their lower half. Back foot heel moving closer to the the plate versus staying far away. When the hitter shifts pressure to pinky side of front foot, we should see them shift back foot pressure to the big toe side. If instead hitter shifts back foot pressure to outside (over-rotates), then hitter is unstable with low half.
The Big-3 are fundamental to building consistent power in hitters. They’re a combination of using springy fascia and the spinal engine. Responsible for 70-80% of consistent power. Legs contribute only 20-30% to power.
'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/2020/03/How-Mike-Trout-Uses-His-Golf-Footwork-To-Hit-Homeruns-Better-Farther-Every-Time.png423800Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2023-01-09 09:30:022023-01-10 06:21:18How Mike Trout Uses Golf Footwork To Hit Homeruns Better & Farther Every Time | Hitting Drills To Increase Bat Speed & Power
Learn how to increase your hitter’s bat speed, hitting power, and hit the baseball or softball harder every time like Javier Baez in this swing breakdown…
Javier Baez Swing Analysis: Why Inward Turn Of Hips Is Wasted Movement
Hey, what’s going on it’s Joey Myers from the Hitting Performance Lab, and in this Javier Baez swing analysis, we will cover:
Let’s get into the fan graph metrics. As you can see here, look at the six foot, hundred ninety-pound Javier Baez in the swing analysis we’ll be looking at in 2019. You can see his line right here. You can see a .281 batting average, 38 doubles, four triples, 29 homers, and you see a big giant balloon over here, one hundred fifty-six strikeouts and only twenty-eight walks.
Now, if we look at his line when it comes to ground ball, fly ball, line drive percentages, and his fly ball home run ratio and his pull and hard contact numbers, we look at his line drive rate being eighteen point one. You can see his averages over the amount of years he’s been in the Bigs is 19. So, a little bit down from his average.
You can see his ground ball percentage was up quite a bit, fifty point three, which was down in prior years as low as 44 percent and 37.3 percent.
You can see the average line drive rate is 20 percent or so. So as long as they’re around 18 to 22 percent, that tend to be about league average. The ground ball percentage, league average is about 43 percent or around 40 percent. You can see he’s well above average on the ground ball percentage and fly ball percentage typically floats around 37, 38 percent at league average.
So you can see he’s below well below average when it comes to the fly ball percentage homerun to fly ball ratio, the percentage at 24.4, league average is around 9 to 11 percent. So, if he gets the ball in the air or his fly balls, the percentages of his fly balls going out are almost 25 percent.
What’s also interesting to note is if you look over at his soft percentage contact medium and his hard contact percentages, you can see that his medium actually outweighs his hard percentage contact. Some interesting things going on from this Javier Baez swing analysis, might shed a little bit of light on that.
But I thought interesting to note that his hard ball contact percentage at 37.4, you can’t see it on the screen, hard contact percentage. And then you can see as medium here is 44.6.
Over-Rotation of Lower Half During Pre-Loading Phase
All right. Let’s get into the Javier Baez swing analysis, and the breakdown of his mechanics. Let’s give this a little context. This is a two thousand nineteen swing, I think, in May or so. And this pitch looks like a ninety-one mile an hour slider that ends up, as you can see in the K zone in that lower outside quadrant. And he hits this one out to right center a little bit more towards center but right center.
One thing I want you to take a look at is over rotation of the lower half. This is something I think Ted Williams said in The Science of Hitting. And a lot of instructors out there will take this to the extreme. And they think that by turning the pelvis in towards the catcher, so imagine a hitter’s belt buckle turning in to face the catcher. Like there was a flashlight coming out of the belt buckle and that you’re shining the flashlight at the catcher to get the hips some momentum.
Now, I think this is wasted movement when it comes to function of the spinal engine. Not my opinion, but if we look at springy fascia, the spinal engine, what we want is we want to see this front shoulder … we’ll get a chest view here in a second … we want to get this front shoulder to go down in and towards the back hip. And we want this back shoulder to move away from this front hip.
When you move the pelvis in or you move the front hip bone in along with the shoulder, is that now the hip and the shoulder are chasing each other instead of doing the opposite in what we would find in a wringing towel type of scenario, whereas one hand being the shoulder, the other hand being the pelvis.
We’re seeing a lot of these coaches that will say if and when the pitcher shows you his back back pocket, then you show them yours. This is clearly what Javier Baez is doing in this swing analysis. You can see him really showing his back pocket versus this neutral position that he starts off in, really rolls in with that hip.
Now, if we take a look at another hitter, Khris Davis of the A’s, this is the 2018 swing of his. But he actually steps in the bucket a little bit. You’re going to see a little difference to the hip positioning. Khris Davis really doesn’t waste any motion pulling that belt buckle, this flashlight on the belt buckle, trying to shine it in the catcher’s eyes. He actually keeps it in a neutral position and steps out. Into the bucket.
What both of these players do really well, and I think, Khris actually does better than Baez is because of the lower half over rotation in the pre loading phase of the swing before stride touchdown, we see Khris will keep his hips in a neutral position … but will use this neck tension, which we’ll talk about here in a second to counteract. And he’s really good, Khris, at going the other way, where he hits this one. This is a 94 mile an hour fastball somewhat up in the zone. And he hits this to straight away center.
He does very well going to the opposite field, even though he’s stepping out now, I wouldn’t advise young hitters to do that. And we have a stride drill that fixes getting the stride more in line.
Khris makes this work because of the way he uses his spine. Here’s a chest view of Javier Baez swing analysis, it’s a little angled here, but you can see that kind of over rotation pre loading phase of the pelvis, the lower half versus what Khris Davis was doing.
You can see him really coiling up with the lower half, which he really doesn’t have to. And you’re seeing the what I was talking about is taking this front shoulder down and in towards a back hip and we should actually see this front hip move away from the back shoulder.
When you bring that front hip in, you’re chasing the back shoulder instead of moving away from it, which that’s how springy fascia works, how we load the body like a spring or a catapult. And we want to bring that front shoulder down and in which he is doing. But when you turn the pelvis, it’s almost like the corresponding shoulder is chasing the corresponding diagonal hip bone.
Now, if we look at Khris Davis on the same swing, you know, this view’s a little bit more chest view than the angled version we’re getting with Javier Baez. But you can see that that hip stays in neutral and then you’ll see him bring his front shoulder down and in towards the back hip and you’ll see this front hip move away from the back shoulder.
Some people might call this the scap load that is covering this line here, this diagonal line to scap load. But we also that’s a retraction of the back scap. What we should see is a protraction of the front scap or the front shoulder moving down and in. So, we’re going to see the hitter’s numbers when the hitter does that. We should see both moves, not just one. And you’re seeing Khris Davis do this very well because he keeps his pelvis in neutral.
You can see here and just lets his upper half preload and let his lower half just do what it does and let it open as it does to take the rest of the slack out of the spinal engine.
And one more quick thing before we move on from this in this Javier Baez swing analysis … as you can see, as he coils up him in Davis, pretty much end up in the same spot, at landing. Look at where his pelvis is at landing. So, it’s almost like he gets a running start with his pelvis. I don’t think it really relevant because we’re getting the same effect with the bounce effect with Davis as we are with Baez. It’s just I think Baez’s closing himself off more. And I wouldn’t teach this to young hitters.
I wouldn’t over rotate the pelvis or turn the pelvis inward towards the catcher to landing, because at landing, you see he’s in the same position. And as long as he’s getting his neck pressure, which will be transitioning to here, as long as you get into neck pressure, he’ll be wound up top. And then once the lower half starts to open, as he starts to swing that rest of that slack, will get taken out and then everything will go as it’s supposed to.
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Now, let’s talk about creating neck pressure. The idea of this is like wringing a towel out except for one hand represents the head, the other hand represents the shoulder. So, the hand’s turn in opposite directions. And what we’re trying to do is it’s not so much about how much of the numbers the hitter shows, although Javier Baez in the swing analysis, you can see you can see everything. If he had a triple digit number, you could see three digits on his back. You can see his back elbow. You can see all the way across the shoulders. If he had a 20-word last name, you could see it from armpit to armpit. You can see pretty much everything, almost his rear oblique. You can see because he’s shown his numbers so much.
Whereas we look at a Khris Davis on this one. Similar, but not quite as turned in because he’s not turning the pelvis in. He doesn’t have to. He can create this Catapult Loading System just by keeping the pelvis in neutral and let the pelvis open when it does. He needs to create that bounce with the lower half, create that neck pressure up top.
You can see that he’s locked in, his head is anchoring a tracking position so he can track the ball and keep vision on the ball. It’s not this idea of what some of these coaches call “false separation”, which when these coaches show on video, what false separation is there over rotating the upper half. Now, we don’t want to over rotate. We can’t lose sight with the back eye. And that’s not Davis here. Maybe he is. He is clearly along with Baez. They are clearly showing their numbers, showing their last name. You can see that is clear as day.
There is a pro attraction of the front scap. There’s a retraction to the back scap. You’re seeing both of those things happen in two different hitters on two different teams. And what both of them do are doing and having common is they are wringing the towel out head and shoulders. The head creates an anchor point. Their shoulders rotate under the chin as far as they can while creating this neck pressure in the T1 (Thoracic section of spine, vertebrae-1) and C7 (Cervical section of spine, vertebrae-7) area.
So there’s like a two, three-inch area that if the hitter does this right, they create that pressure there with the head anchored with the shoulder pulled under as far as it can do. And they’ll feel this pressure up until the turn and they can go from there. That’s taking slack out of this system early. If this doesn’t happen, there is going to be compensation somehow in that there may be a front shoulder pulling out early. There might be a barrel that’s dumping deep and early into the zone to try and hurry up, get the barrel to the ball.
But above all, hitters must, even hitters as young as eight, nine, 10 years old need to feel that pressure if there is going to be power the minute that pressure is taken off between the head and the shoulders, that is when we’ll be letting air out of the balloon.
The reason that I’ve moved to more of a neck pressure, creating neck pressure versus showing numbers is that every hitter is going to be different when it comes to their mobility in their neck and their thoracic spine or their shoulders being able to turn the head this much as much as Baez or Davis. Davis isn’t quite as much there. Maybe it’s just with Baez because he’s inward rotating his lower half. It’s allowing him to turn more.
I think that again, hinders it can take our vision and tracking off the ball if we do this with younger hitters, what Baez is doing. So, I would recommend more of what Davis is doing, albeit without the stepping out part of it. But we want to create the neck pressure. That is the rule. That is the principle, the movement principle, the wringing towel principle to the Catapult Loading Systemin spinal engine, springy fascia.
It is not so much to show both numbers. The numbers will probably show, but it will depend on the hitter’s mobility in their neck. So, every hitter might be different.
Barrel Tilt
One last thing in this Javier Baez swing analysis is the barrel tilt. There are some coaches out there that like this barrel till where you can see where Baez tilts the barrel towards the opposing batter’s box or kind of off towards first base and to get the barrel momentum going into the swing.
Now, this might be something that Baez needs to do because he is rotating that lower half inward towards the catcher. And to get some barrel momentum is going to help him to get around, especially on pitches in pitches up in the zone.
I don’t teach this per se. I don’t think it’s a bad or good thing it can be a bad thing. If they tilt too much and I think Baez in the past has tilted too much and it’s got him in trouble, it causes more of an uppercut type of swing. I’ve had hitters that do this and they hit the ball in the air more often than the hitter that doesn’t tilt the barrel this much.
We’ve seen Donaldson from I think it was 2013 to 14. He was tilting too much and we saw his fly ball percentage go up and his batting average go down. So, I would not really mess with this too much as long as we are creating that wringing towel effect between the head and the shoulders, creating the neck pressure.
And we are what I like to tell my hitters is to act like there’s a skewer going through their hip bones that is keeping him on a straight line, keeping hip bones on a straight line towards the catcher. And they just slide along that skewer until the front foot hits the ground and they can turn out of it, but they can’t turn into the skewer up until landing … has to stay in a neutral position and they manipulate the neck pressure at the top to create the tension that we need to be able to instantaneously swing the bat and increase our ball exit speeds.
The barrel tilt is just not something that I would teach my hitters. I would let my hitters do it. But if it’s affecting their fly ball, line drive, ground-ball ratios and we would definitely change it. Now, I hope you like this Javier Baez swing analysis. Make sure that you’re swinging smarter by moving better.
And before I let you go…
'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 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:
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:
Cervical (neck)
Thoracic (shoulders and middle back), and
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.
'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!!
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Discover how to teach a kid how to increase hitting power, improve bat and hand speed, hit the ball better and farther every time for baseball and softball beginners.
How To Turn A Beach Towel Into A Hitting Demonstration
Here’s a great way to help coaches and players understand taking slack out of the system, demonstrating the power of the spinal engine.
We call it the “coiling” core, NOT the “braced” core most teach their hitters. A braced core is fantastic in the weight room, but NOT in the batter’s box. CLICK HERE for an interview I did with Bosu Ball inventor David Weck, where he takes a deeper dive into this.
Some understand the importance of shoulder-hip separation, but what most don’t know is that we MUST create tension in the neck – where the ‘C’ and ‘T’ sections of the spine connect, as well.
And here’s what most ARE NOT saying…an inward turn of the hips is not important, if not detrimental, to the beach towel effect of the spinal engine.
Many say the swing of Ted Williams resembled the twisting of a Barber Pole. The above video clearly demonstrates what was happening in his swing that some observed. CLICK HERE for a post I did on the swing of Ted Williams.
'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!!
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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
Grab 'Finger Pressure' Video
Frustrated with fixing BAT DRAG? Beat it!
Swing Study reveals how majority of hitters are correcting 'racing back elbow' bat drag within 1-2 weeks WITHOUT overhauling swing mechanics OR buying fancy and expensive hitting aids.
Click button below to access FREE video that has been downloaded over 20K times!
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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:
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.
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
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.
Click the button below to access the FREE video that's been downloaded over 30K times!!
https://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/How-To-Improve-Bat-Speed-Increase-Power-Using-Drills-Like-Lou-Gehrig.png423800Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2022-11-28 09:30:532022-11-29 01:10:44Improve Bat Speed & Increase Hitting Power Using Drills For Baseball Or Softball Like Lou Gehrig On YouTube
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.
Add 32-Feet With 'Weighted Bat Training'
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https://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Overload-Bat-Training_-e1553833548923.png281500Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2022-11-14 10:00:342023-01-05 20:52:05Overload Underload Increase Bat Speed Training For Baseball & Softball | Heavy Light Wood Trainer For Sale
Learn how to get faster bat speed with these hitting training drills for more youth baseball and softball power. Discover the increase bat speed secret in this Ted Williams and Matt Kemp swing analysis breakdown.
Matt Kemp: Unique Ted Williams Power Secret
Imagine if I asked you to take a ride in my 2-year-old son’s favorite sports car and ultimate luxury vehicle, the Lamborghini Aventador…cherry red.
Costs about $400K, has 720 horse-power, and goes zero to sixty-mph in 2.8 seconds. I’m drooling just thinking about it. What if I also told you it had no brakes. The manufacturer just “forgot” to install them. If you know I have a lead foot, then would you still want a ride?
I tell my hitters that someone like Matt Kemp or Ted Williams are using both rotational and anti-rotational systems during the swing.
Think of them as acceleration and braking systems, and both are important to a friction-free swing. Our focus today will be optimizing these systems during the stroke. We’re going to highlight:
The science of accelerating & braking systems,
Matt Kemp & Ted Williams (who has the more efficient braking system?)
How to tune-up your acceleration & braking system.
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.
Thomas Myers in his book Anatomy Trains talks about 9 different fascial lines found throughout the body that inter-weave and inter-relate during human movement. We’ll be highlighting one in particular called the Functional Lines (pictured right). CLICK HERE for a brief background on springy fascia.
Thomas Myers says that Functional Lines mainly come into play in the following athletic events:
Shot Put, Javelin, Discus, and Hammer Throws,
Tennis,
Golf, and of course
For hitters like Matt Kemp & Ted Williams
Thomas Myers says,
“These lines enable us to give extra power and precision to the movements of the limbs by lengthening their lever arm through linking them across the body to the opposite limb in the other girdle.”
Imagine a big “X” painted on your chest and back, connecting the right shoulder to the left hip, and vice versa. Thomas Myers refers to them as Front Functional Lines (FFL) & Back Functional Lines (BFL). He uses a couple different examples to illustrate the braking system in action:
“Pitching a baseball or bowling a cricket are perfect ways to engage these lines: the wind-up involves a shortening of the BFL and a stretching of the FFL, while the pitch itself reverses that process, shortening the FFL and stretching the BFL. In the final act, the BFL acts as a brake to keep the strong contraction along the FFL and the momentum of the arm from going too far and damaging joints involved in the movement.”
You still following me? It’s okay if not. We’ll simplify in the next section…
Matt Kemp & Ted Williams (who has the more effective braking system?)
I want to compare Matt Kemp to Ted Williams because they have similar body types, according to Baseball-Reference.com:
Simplifying the acceleration/braking systems, we can just follow the front shoulder to see who is being more efficient with their Functional Lines. Consider Ted Williams:
Follow yellow arrows tracking Ted Williams’s front (right) shoulder path…photo left to right: 1) Down, 2) Up, and 3) Down again.
Now, check out the difference with Matt Kemp:
Follow yellow arrows tracking Matt Kemp’s front (left) shoulder path…photo left to right: 1) Slightly Down, 2) Up, and 3) Up again.
That’s right, Matt Kemp finishes with his left shoulder up! Not convinced? Check out the photo of his finish at the beginning of this post. He’s not being very efficient with his braking system. Matt Kemp is leaving repeatable power on the table (which is scary!)…to polish, he’d have to:
Get more downhill shoulder angle before landing,
Show more of his numbers to the pitcher, and
Focus on finishing “barrel down” with his top hand release.
How-to Tune-Up Your Acceleration & Braking Systems
There are a couple quick exercises and stretches that Thomas Myers recommends to tune-up both Functional Lines:
Engage BFL (Alternating Supermans) – 2 sets X 12 reps each side. Focus on moving the body as a whole. Arm and leg are to be lifted at exactly same time. Head stays in line with spine. Don’t arch head back like in video.
Engage FFL (Alternating Supermans) – same as #1, but do Alternating Supermans on your back.
Stretch BFL (Triangle Yoga Pose) – Hold position on each side for a deep breath count of 5-10.
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/2014/12/How-to-Increase-Bat-Speed-Hitting-Power-Like-Ted-Williams-and-Matt-Kemp.png423800Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2022-11-14 09:45:482022-11-14 22:11:56Faster Bat Speed Hitting Training Drills For Youth Baseball & Softball Power | Ted Williams & Matt Kemp Swing Analysis Breakdown
, I wanted to use the Scientific Method to analyze if “Blocking”, or using Ground Reaction Forces (GRF), produces a significant gain in bat speed.
and Tripod, and
– BIG-3.
. And a lot of instructors out there will take this to the extreme. And they think that by turning the pelvis in towards the catcher, so imagine a hitter’s belt buckle turning in to face the catcher. Like there was a flashlight coming out of the belt buckle and that you’re shining the flashlight at the catcher to get the hips some momentum.
just by keeping the pelvis in neutral and let the pelvis open when it does. He needs to create that bounce with the lower half, create that neck pressure up top.
in spinal engine, springy fascia.
inventor David Weck, where he takes a deeper dive into this.
, fascia:
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,
, 
