Debating the intricacies of hitting a baseball (or softball) can be as bad as discussing religion or politics. This is why we look to proven human movement science first. Hitting a baseball NOT easy, but we can make it easier. It has a lot of failure built into the fabric. The objective of every coach, instructor, or parent should be to build as many “fail-safes” into the system as possible.
We’re going to explore the following, as they relate to impact:
Perry Husband & Effective Velocity,
90-Degree Angle to the Spine Rule NOT True?
University of Miami Study: The Biomechanics of the Baseball Swing
Conclusion…
First I want to start by setting the table…
Perry Husband & Effective Velocity
“Pluses” take-away from hitter’s reaction time, “minuses” add to hitter’s reaction time (images are pitcher’s POV). Photos courtesy: HittingIsAGuess.com
The one thing I like about Perry Husband’s contribution to hitting a baseball is he goes by “data, not feelings”.
He’s made a science out of a hitter’s reaction time. Perry Husband has accumulated, “Over 10 years of study and testing of amateur hitters and two years of intense study of major league at bats in a 4 million plus pitch database”. At his site Effective Velocity, Perry Husband explains his Effective Velocity system for pitchers:
“The Downright Filthy Pitching Series is a very in depth study of speed as it relates to the hitter’s reaction time. Initial velocity is the speed of the ball as the radar gun sees it, perceived velocity is the speed of the ball as the mind’s eye sees it and Effective Velocity is the speed it actually is. Effective Velocity (EV) is the initial velocity plus the location effects of the pitch due to different locations having different reaction times…A 90 MPH pitch can and does equal many different speeds, depending on where the pitch is located. “
His data (photo above) suggests that a hitter has to be quicker to pitches up in the zone, and in. And pitches down in the zone and away, give a hitter more time to adjust. Perry Husband reports from his findings:
“Did you know that the highest exit velocities off Major League hitters’ bats come off the pitches in the lowest part of the strike zone? How about that the most homeruns hit are off pitches at the very bottom of the strike zone as well?”
Over the past year, I’ve softened to some of Perry’s hitting a baseball mechanics. His information is vital to understanding if…
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.
90-Degree Barrel Angle to the Spine Rule NOT True?
Giancarlo Stanton: 90-degree barrel to spine rule. Note: outside pitch slightly up in zone. Photo courtesy: MLB.com
CLICK HERE for the post that explains this Rule. The preceding post link refers to the barrel, not the front arm to spine angle. There are FOUR ways a hitter gets to pitches at the top/bottom of the strike-zone, and/or inside/outside of the plate…
Tilting at the waist with the upper body (the lower the pitch, the more the tilt),
Another reader got upset saying that I’m teaching two different swings. And enlightened me about his extensive study into the brain, and that taking a bent arm from the initiation of the swing and changing the shape to straight is impossible for the brain to do. Click Here for a conversation Perry and I had on the arm bar.
Remember, Perry Husband said that the highest ball exit speeds and home-runs were off of lower pitches? Do you think it could be because the front arm was able to extend at impact? Creating a longer lever and allowing for a smooth transfer of bat speed (angular velocity) into ball exit speed (inertial force). These are fundamental rules in the Conservation of Angular Momentum.
Look, if our goal as coaches is to get hitters 100% on-time, 100% swing effective, then we must take a serious look at the front arm bar. High exit velocity is key to batted ball distance, and without it Launch Angles alone won’t score more runs. Besides, how many commercial and/or passenger airplanes get off the ground without high horizontal velocity? CLICK HERE for an interview we did with Perry Husband about his system.
One last thing to look into hitting a baseball…
University of Miami Study: The Biomechanics of the Baseball Swing
Josh Donaldson game winning dinger high inside pitch. Photo courtesy: MLB.com
Major shout out to one of my readers and local lesson parents, Nieszka, for bringing this to my attention. This study was done by Dr. David Fortenbaugh at the University of Miami (CLICK HERE if you want to download the 200+ page pdf). Here’s the gist of how the study was put together:
Study Objective: to compare swings against pitches thrown to different locations and at different speeds.
AA-level Minor League Baseball players (n=43) took extended rounds of batting practice in an indoor laboratory against a pitcher throwing a mixture of fastballs and changeups.
An eight camera motion analysis system and two force plates recording at 300 Hz captured the biomechanical
data.
The swing was divided into six phases (stance, stride, coiling, swing initiation, swing acceleration, and follow-through) by five key events (lead foot off, lead foot down, weight shift commitment, maximum front foot vertical ground reaction force, and bat ball contact).
Twenty-eight kinematic measurements and six ground reaction force measurements were computed based on the marker and force plate data, and all were assessed throughout the phases.
The findings?
According to the Study:
“A large number of biomechanical differences were seen among the swings against various pitch locations. More fully rotated positions, particularly of the pelvis and bat were critical to the batters’ successes on inside pitches while less rotated positions keyed successes against outside pitches. The trail and lead arms worked together as part of a closed chain to drive the hand path. Successful swings had the trail elbow extended more for HIGH IN and flexed more for LOW OUT, though batters often struggled to execute this movement properly. A distinct pattern among successful swings against fastballs, successful swings against changeups, and unsuccessful swings against changeups was witnessed; namely a progressive delay in which the batter prematurely initiated the events of the kinetic chain, especially when unsuccessful in hitting a changeup.”
Hitting a Baseball Conclusion
Miguel Cabrera “power-V” post impact. Arms extended, high moment of inertia. Note catcher’s glove position. Photo courtesy: ToledoBlade.com
So, let’s tie up everything we talked about in hitting a baseball…
On pitches low and/or away, the hitter has more reaction time (Perry Husband research), so tilting at the waist (on lower pitches) and extending the front elbow to impact is key (90-degree barrel spine rule). And because the outside and lower pitches will be hit slightly deeper than inside and higher pitches, the trailing elbow will have more bend in it at impact (Miami Study).
There can be a harmonious relationship between an arm bar, and consistency getting to pitches up and in the zone. CLICK HERE for this post that gets into the different “catcher’s gloves” on how to do this. HINT: it has to do with the “belly button” catcher’s glove.
Readers, I want to hear your thoughts on hitting a baseball in the Comments below…
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Frustrated with fixing BAT DRAG? Beat it!
Swing Study reveals how majority of hitters are correcting 'racing back elbow' bat drag within 1-2 weeks WITHOUT overhauling swing mechanics OR buying fancy and expensive hitting aids.
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https://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/hitting-a-baseball-robinson-cano.jpg415525Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2022-07-11 09:15:432022-07-11 23:50:29How To Swing Bat And Hit Baseball Softball Faster, Farther, & Harder Every Time | Beginner Practice At Home Hitting To Increase Bat Speed, Power, Exit Velocity & In Certain Direction
Discover the best online pitch recognition hitting drills website game app for baseball and softball players. Tips to see the ball and pitch better, fix late swing timing, and help your batter that may be struggling to hit.
Get Rid of Pitch Recognition, Plate Discipline, & Timing Challenges Once and For All
Photo courtesy: News.Missouri.Edu
In this post,
I answer the following three fan questions:
How do you practice picking up the pitch early?
Do you have players swing at everything during batting practice or let them be selective? What drills are good for teaching a player to hit a ball where it is pitched? And,
Why is Timing not taught throughout majority instructors? Great mechanics are good but without Timing principles, you just look good going back to the dugout. What are some of the different ways you would teach/describe Timing?
The following is a compilation of resources I wish I had when I was still playing.
Coaches, if you aren’t taking full advantage of these, then you’ll be slowly losing ground in games over the next 5 years, that I can assure you. Get out ahead!
Onward…
How do you practice picking up the pitch early?
Check out the feedback software you can use to work on getting GREAT at pitch recognition. Dr. Peter Fadde calls this ‘video occlusion’, which allows a hitter to focus on pattern recognition for the first 10-20 feet of ball flight. CLICK HERE for a blog interview I did with Dr. Fadde for more information on the benefits of his ‘video occlusion’ training.
The greatest thing about the GameSense software, is that coaches can keep track of their players’ use of the software with real numbers. What’s measurable is manageable.
As a player, I would’ve eaten this up when I was younger.
And yes, it requires a subscription, and the pricing plans differ depending on usage. On the homepage, GameSense is offering a free trial, so you can check it out and see if it’s right for you.
CLICK HERE to grab your FREE trial of the GameSense app that focuses on pitch recognition training…i.e. picking the ball up early out of the pitcher’s hand.
By the ways, gS Pitch-IQ was named one of the best products at the 2017 ABCA convention in Anaheim!
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.
Do you have players swing at everything during batting practice or let them be selective? What drills are good for teaching a player to hit a ball where it is pitched?
I’m not sure I’d ever let hitters swing at everything during batting practice. Everything we do at practice, as coaches, MUST have a purpose. And that purpose MUST prepare our players for the game environment.
CLICK HERE to watch YouTuber Trevor Ragan compare the benefits of training “ugly” in a post I did showing how to EFFECTIVELY transition grooved batting practice swings into game ones.
Here’s why swinging at everything in the cages DOES NOT translate into games…motor skill learning in a competitive environment MUST follow these three steps:
READ – i.e. pitch recognition and spin
PLAN – i.e. timing
DO – the swing
You see, when a hitter swings at everything in the cages, most of what they’re working on is in the “DO” portion. There’s very little READ or PLAN present, which is required in a game environment.
“Massed Training”, as defined by SchoolOfThinking.org, is said to be a far less effective strategy for retaining knowledge or developing skills. In other words, practicing the same thing over and over again WITHOUT a break and evaluation period is inferior to spaced and/or ugly training. CLICK HERE for my Hitting Outcomes Evaluation Checklist.
So what does being selective in the cages look like:
After every 5-swing round, the hitter is asked, “How many strikes did you swing at?”(and they’re affirmed or corrected based on their answer)
You can also do what I call is a Reverse Strike-Zone round. This is where they MUST swing at “balls” – within reason, you don’t want them throwing their bat in the cage – and taking “strikes”. WHY would you do this? It helps define a hitters strike-zone/hitting zone, and offers a better variety of body movement which the body’s springy fascia LOVES!! This will melt their brain by the way 😛 lol
CLICK HERE for this post I did on plate discipline – splitting the plate up into 2/3’s and 1/3 is another great way to teach your hitters to be more selective.
This answers the second part to the reader question above…you can also turn on READ, PLAN, DO by limiting what parts of the field you want the hitter to hit to, OR limit certain elevations you want the hitter to hit at, regardless of pitch type, location, and speed. Addressing the former…you can setup targets out in the field preferably in spots where you don’t find any fielders (gaps/down the lines), and hitter has to hit the target as hard as they can. Addressing the latter…I’ve seen some coaches place shagging screens about 30 to 50-feet from the batter’s box creating a barrier to hitting ground-balls, and the objective is to hit the ball hard over the screens.
Random pitch type rounds – an example of this is randomly throwing either a 2-seam fast-ball or a curve-ball, and having the hitter stick to seeking out one pitch over the other for one 5-swing round.
2 or 3-plate drill rounds – where the hitter moves from different plate distances between or during 5 swing rounds. The plates can be placed about 3 to 5 feet apart. This is a GREAT timing drill.
Doing situational hitting rounds…hit-and-runs, move runner over, and bunts/drags/pushes.
I’m sure other coaches have cool deviations of the above, so please SHARE in the comments section below.
The point is, hitters should have a purpose when taking batting practice, NOT just swinging at everything, IF they want to match the game environment.
Why is Timing not taught throughout majority instructors? Great mechanics are good but without Timing principles, you just look good going back to the dugout. What are some of the different ways you would teach/describe Timing?
Totally. I tell my hitters that the most effective mechanics in the world don’t mean a thing if they can’t get on-time.
Surprisingly, some hitting instructors don’t think timing can be taught? I disagree.
Now, let me clear up a common misconception…do you know the difference between timing and reaction time?
I got the following demonstration from my good friend Taylor Gardner, co-inventor of the Backspin Tee. Do this with your hitters…
Tell them to stand in front of you, and hold a baseball/softball an arm’s length away from you at about the height of their head.
Then tell them you’re going to drop the ball at a random time…try varying the times you drop the ball, and you’ll find it’ll be a challenge for them to catch it. Repeat two more times. This my friend is a demonstration of reaction time.
Then tell them you’re going to drop the ball after counting to 3 (no tricks here coaches)…count to three, then drop the ball. Repeat two more times. This my friend is a demonstration of timing. And as you may guess, this will be much easier to catch for your players.
Timing can be taught with the right methods. Here are my top three:
The TWO or THREE plate drill mentioned above,
Switching bat sizes and weights between or in the middle of 5-swing rounds, and
Switching ball types at random…using baseballs, softballs, whiffles, golf whiffles, racket balls, Smush balls, and tennis balls.
Thank you Mike Ryan from Fastball USA for the last two. A hitter will have to re-calibrate their timing between swinging a longer heavier bat than a lighter shorter one. The different balls mentioned will fly through the air at different speeds making for a perfect off speed practice environment. This can be really challenging for the hitter, and a lot of fun.
But be careful coaches, slowly layer in the difficulty, don’t do ALL three above at the start. Some hitters excel quickly, while others take more time.
Do you see how important training beneath the READ, PLAN, & DO umbrella is?
I hope this helps coaches!!
Please share any other effective methods you do with your hitters that improve what was talked about above. THANKS in advance!
Grab This FREE 'Timing Master Class' Video
Struggling to get your hitters ON-TIME in games? Discover HOW TO build effective laser-focused timing, so your hitters can be ON-TIME more often. These principles are validated by REAL science.
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https://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/pitch-recognition.jpg437340Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2022-06-13 09:15:182022-06-13 23:25:32Best Online Pitch Recognition Hitting Drills Website Game App For Baseball & Softball | Tips To See Ball And Pitch Better, Fix Late Swing Timing, & Help Batter Struggling To Hit
How To Turn Fastpitch Softball Hitting Mechanics Into A High Level Baseball Swing…Can It Be Done?
Can fastpitch softball hitting mechanics be equal to baseball?
Why is the fastpitch softball swing different than baseball? Or is it? How about vs slowpitch softball? Interesting discussion on swing plane, leg kick, launch and attack angle, ball exit velocity and bat speed. Check out this 2022 age chart for exit velocity recommendations. Quick bullets:
(WARNING: this fastpitch softball hitting mechanics post is a mini-RANT, about 2,000+ words, so please set aside about a 10-min reading time)…
I received this email the other day:
“I cringe when see hitting programs that are designed by baseball players and say they teach softball hitting as a 17 year fastpitch softball coach and 26 year slow pitch player the fundamental difference in the swing many programs ignore especially when teaching fastpitch the swing has to take the most direct path to the pitched generally released at 3 to 4 feet verse a baseball is released at roughly 7 such as right view pro I’ve seen many teams and worse players swings destroyed by coaches teaching baseball to softball players please take this in account, thanks”
Before addressing this reader’s email, I wanted to mention something for those who teach fastpitch softball hitting mechanics…
Later in the post, I want to make a BIG ASK to coaches and instructors currently working with fastpitch softball hitters that are using HPL hitting principles, to please share your triumphs and/or sticking points with us.
But before we get there,
I wanted to address a couple fastpitch softball hitting mechanics points from the email above:
Translating baseball into fastpitch softball hitting mechanics,
Differences between the two swings?
The BIG ASK…
Translating Baseball into Fastpitch Softball Hitting Mechanics
Who can we trust to give effective information when searching “fastpitch softball hitting mechanics” on YouTube?
The BIGGEST problem with most self-proclaimed “baseball hitting experts” online is…
They promote a hitting ‘philosophy’ or ‘theory’.
Their theories are a mish-mash of popular hitting programs, books, websites, YouTube channels, etc.
Did you know…
There’s a more certain standard – or measuring stick – that most hitting experts ignore, or just plain don’t understand?
Hitting MUST be based off human movement principles, or rules, that are validated by science…NOT philosophy or theory.
We’ve reverse engineered the hitting system promoted at the Hitting Performance Lab.
What does that mean?
Good news for coaches teaching fastpitch softball hitting mechanics…
You can bring a certain and more effective hitting standard to teaching your athletes how to hit.
And it WORKS a majority of the time!!
Beautifully.
Do you remember the first time you stumbled into an online hitting forum, discovering how much of a pissing contest it was?
The people who “seemed” to have authority on the subject of fastpitch softball hitting mechanics were coaches who:
Had coached the longest,
Had played the longest OR had the biggest collection of trophies at the highest level, or
Had watched a million hours of slow motion video of ONLY ‘the best’ hitters.
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Someone belligerently throwing 30+ years of coaching experience in your face, most likely has the same one year of coaching experience repeated each year for 30+ years. If you’re not growing, you’re dying. And if you have to talk about how many years you’ve been coaching to desperately seek significance, then most likely your teaching has been obsolete for some time now.
You don’t hear Coaches Augie Garrido, Gordie Gillespie, or Bob Bennett lurching around online forums shoving their weight around demanding that people listen and respect them.
Note to thosewho’ve played the longest or have the biggest collection of trophies at the highest level…
The same lurching ego behavior can be seen, and is being used by you too.
As a matter of fact,
I just ran into an ex-pro guy last night on Facebook (I assume he was because he said he has a helluva playing resume, lol).
Brother, I hate to tell you, but…
Playing and teaching are totally different skills sets. I don’t care what your playing resume is, because you’re starting over as a coach.
Furthermore, you MUST teach the RIGHT things. The right fastpitch softball hitting mechanics.
Just because you ‘swung down on the ball’ to create backspin, DOES NOT mean that’s what actually happened if we looked at your swing using slow motion video.
I’m sorry, but what’s ‘feel’ and what’s ‘real’ are two totally different things.
Note to those coacheswho accumulated a million hours watching slow motion video of ONLY ‘the best’ hitters…
Although these hitters are and were effective in their swings, they also have, and had, ineffective human movement. I’m sorry, but what’s ‘feel’ and what’s ‘real’ are two totally different things. that MUST not be repeated by younger and/or smaller hitters.
Not just because younger hitters don’t have the capability of doing them, but because THEY SHOULD NOT be doing them, PERIOD.
In other words, they succeed, and succeeded, DESPITE elements of ineffective mechanics, NOT because of them.
Who you study is VERY important.
Big sluggers can get away with murder because of their body mass. Think of some of the BIGGER hitters you’ve come across, swimming in the fishbowl that is a Little League baseball field.
You’ll learn more of what effective fastpitch softball hitting mechanics look like from smaller sluggers like (6-feet on down):
Sierra Romero
Lauren Chamberlain
Sadaharu Oh (if you don’t know who this is, you need to study up!!),
Hank Aaron,
Pete Rose,
Ty Cobb,
Josh Donaldson,
Dustin Pedroia,
Jose Bautista,
Andrew McCutchen, and
Robinson Cano.
AND by the way, video analysis is important,
Sierra Romero is a great model for the Catapult Loading System. Photo courtesy: fastpitchnews.org
But MUST come SECOND ONLY to the human movement “rules”.
Now listen close, because this is IMPORTANT to translating fastpitch softball hitting mechanics into baseball…
Once we strip away a coach/player’s elevated credentials and/or experience, then look at their analysis through the lens of human movements “rules”, that are validated by science, and it’s revealed how inconsistently ineffective their teachings really are.
They soften their system’s ineffectiveness by saying,
“Well, every hitter is different and what works for one hitter may not work for another”…OR,
“You can’t teach young hitters to do what MLB hitters are doing.”
BULL.
They’re copping-out.
But it’s not their fault.
They just don’t know any better.
They’re not growing, they’re dying.
And if you believe that what works for one hitter may not work for another, then CLICK HERE to read about the HPL One-Swing-Fits-All system. It’s not what you think it is.
The HPL hitting system works…consistently, no matter if we’re talking fastpitch softball hitting mechanics or baseball…7yo or 24yo…male or female…big or small.
We have literally thousands of coaches and parents across the nation putting into practice the HPL hitting principles, and get this…THEY ACTUALLY WORK!!
I get a steady stream of weekly emails, from coaches, sharing their success stories with the system from both the baseball and softball worlds.
(If you go to the HPL homepage, scroll all the way down to the bottom, and you’ll find over 45 rotating testimonials from these coaches and players under “Customer Testimonials”. It rotates through 5 of them at a time, then if you refresh the screen, then it’ll rotate through another 5).
The good news for the fastpitch softball hitting mechanics coach, is that credentials don’t mean a thing.
It’s outcomes.
Does your system consistently work?
Do you have a:
98-lb 11yo hitting the ball 300-feet, multiple times?
95-pounder hitting their first dinger over 270-feet? (this is actually the brother of the above hitter but 2 years younger)
115-lb 11yo not only hitting the ball 300-feet multiple times, but hitting over 40 homers in one season…to ALL fields?
66-lb 11yo hitting the ball over 180-feet? OR,
a 115-lb 13yo hitting the ball 330-feet?
The video below is of my hitter #1 above hitting his 300-foot monster shot. Please note, he was playing on a field in Manteca, CA that had 315-foot fences, so the ‘shot’ was a long double, not a homerun. Dad played baseball at Division-1 Chico State in the late-90’s, and shared the batted ball’s estimated distance, in the following text message to me:
“This is Orin hitting the farthest ball he’s ever hit. It landed a couple feet short of the warning track in Manteca, which is right around 300-feet away”.
If you aren’t achieving these types of outcomes with your hitters, then I fear that you should rethink the effectiveness of YOUR hitting system.
Grab This FREE 'Timing Master Class' Video
Struggling to get your hitters ON-TIME in games? Discover HOW TO build effective laser-focused timing, so your hitters can be ON-TIME more often. These principles are validated by REAL science.
Click the button below to access the FREE video that has been downloaded over 6K times!
Now, before getting into the differences between fastpitch softball hitting mechanics and baseball…
It should be pointed out,
That I’ve spent 10+ years in the corrective fitness industry with too many certifications to count. I’m self taught and have a passionate curiosity for the science of human movement, by people such as:
Dr. Kelly Starrett,
Thomas Myers,
Ida Rolf,
Dr. Erik Dalton,
Dr. Serge Gracovetsky, and
Many others…
And it’s interesting to note, that I learned more about the swing from the aforementioned people, than in all 17 years of my baseball playing career, the last four of those playing at Division-1 Fresno State!!
The bottom line is this,
There are certain ‘rules’ to human movement that are validated by science. These “rules” don’t care if you’re male or female…black or white…7 yo or 24 yo…big or small.
THEY WORK FOR ALL HUMANS!!!
The ‘rules’ are like bumpers at a bowling alley. They’re guidelines to an effective swing. What happens inside the bumpers doesn’t matter, just as long as you work within them.
Now, on the differences between the two swings…
A friend of mine since High School, made this comment on a Facebook Post of mine:
“As a former baseball player and current fastpitch softball coach. I think hitting a softball at 43ft is harder than hitting a baseball from 60ft. I’m talking about straight fastballs too, special pitches would be difficult for anyone. My first year coaching softball I had a hard time hitting a pitch. Had to adjust everything I learned from my baseball swing and vision.”
I told him, if he grew up playing fastpitch softball and hitting from the closer distances, he’d be a much better fastpitch softball hitter today!
It’s about collecting data.
The main differences in the two swings are:
Reaction Time (or timing), and
Knee Action.
Reaction Time (or timing)
Getting back to the original reader email, two differences they mentioned:
“…the swing has to take the most direct path to the pitch”,
“…the pitch is generally released at 3 to 4 feet verse a baseball is released at roughly 7″…
Look, the first issue is about reaction time.
Fast-pitch softball hitting mechanics DO NOT call for ‘shorter swings’ than a baseball player. They have to start their swings sooner!
If we start teaching hitters to ‘swing down on the ball’, be ‘short to it’, or an A to B barrel path, then we set the hitter up for inconsistent productive outcomes.
Why inconsistent productive outcomes?
Because an A to B barrel path is ineffective when looking at it through the lens of validated science:
Centripetal v. Centrifugal Forces,
Transferring Linear into Angular Momentum, and
Inertial Forces changing directions.
Two priority hitting objectives, for ALL hitters, MUST be to:
Get the barrel on the plane of the pitch as early as possible, and
Keep the barrel on plane for as long as possible.
We coaches have to build a large margin for error into the swing, not shorten it.
WHY?
Because of a major dose of uncertainty, hitters don’t know what type of pitch is coming, its speed, or its location beforehand.
By the way, swings can still be compact without an A –> B barrel path. We MUST be teaching both hitters, more of an A –> B –> C path. My readers call the latter, the Nike Swoosh barrel path.
The second reader issue above has to do with the angle of the downward traveling pitch.
And YES, even a softball is traveling down by the time it reaches the hitter, thanks to Gravitational Forces and air density.
As soon as the ball leaves the pitcher’s hand (both fastpitch and baseball), the ball begins slowing down, rotating less, and ultimately falls towards the earth.
What is clear though, is the down angle of a fastpitch fastball isn’t quite as drastic as a baseball fastball. A fastpitch fastball just isn’t exposed to Gravitational Forces long enough.
Which is also to say, evidenced in the Sports Science video above, since there’s less distance for the softball to travel, it loses less energy than a baseball will. So that’s why we see Jennie Finch put a hurtin’ on that force plate!!
If you had the baseball pitcher throw from a distance of 43-foot, I think he’d crush the force plate as well. Just my thoughts…
So reaction time and the hitter’s barrel attack angle being different,
How does a fastpitch softball hitter manage her barrel attack angle differently than a baseball hitter?
With…
Knee Action
Lauren Chamberlain wide stance, but uses shifting foot pressure and HER KNEES to hit. Photo courtesy: YouTube user Paul Arebalo
In order to compensate for the slight difference in the downward angle of the pitched ball, a hitter should adjust the bending of their knees as follows…
Fastpitch hitter:
Front knee at landing should be bent between 160 and 170-degrees (at 180-degrees, the leg is straight) to optimize Ground Reaction Forces, build in margin for error on off-speed and breaking balls, while also not giving up too much on Time To Impact.
Back knee at impact should be bent between 105 and 115-degrees to get on path to the bottom half of the ball.
Baseball hitter:
Front knee at landing should be bent between 150 and 165-degrees for the same reasons above, but with more access to a longer Time To Impact,
Back knee at impact should be bent between 90 and 105-degrees to get on-path to the bottom half of the ball.
Grab This FREE 'Timing Master Class' Video
Struggling to get your hitters ON-TIME in games? Discover HOW TO build effective laser-focused timing, so your hitters can be ON-TIME more often. These principles are validated by REAL science.
Click the button below to access the FREE video that has been downloaded over 6K times!
Top-10 Most Popular Hitting Performance Lab Blog Posts Of 2019 (both Facebook & Twitter)…
#10:Teach: How To STOP Hitting Excess Of Ground-balls & Fly-balls – Perry Husband long form video interview discusses: “How do I get my son to stop hitting an excess of ground-balls (or fly-balls)?”, How swing intention is great, but its benefits can be suppressed by physical limitations, The key ‘tinker & test’ learning principle helping hitters learn faster, Why a hitting coach’s job is to eliminate their job, And much more!
#8:Why You SHOULD NOT Teach Hitters To Hit Homers? – Perry Husband long form video interview discusses: Formal Introductions, Perry Husband & Joey Myers FB Jam Session #1 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…
#6:Discover Where An Elite Hitter’s Secret Weapon Is Found – short video discusses how most coaches understand the function of bones and muscles in the body, but don’t understand springy fascia. Simple demo you can use with hitters to help them understand the role of springy fascia…
#5:How To Make Teaching Proper Weight Shift In Swing More Understandable To Hitter – Perry Husband long form video interview answering: “Making teaching of proper weight shift in your swing and more understandable to the hitter?”Perry Husband & Joey Myers Hitting Jam Session #3, 1000’s of swing experiments confirm benefits of releasing backside: higher Ball Exit velocity, better ball flight, and swing consistency, How to fix hitters that over stride, Why ‘force plate’ studies DO NOT mean a darn thing, unless they correlate these two critical metrics, And much more!
#4:5,000 Swing Experiments Validate Locked Out Lead Arm Is Superior To Bent – Perry Husband long form video interview discussing: Instructors confusing what “casting” is and is not, What if only fastball Mike Trout gets is what produces the 80.8-mph avg. BES, would that change his offensive stats? Hitter using bent lead arm comes at a cost, “Deep barrel dump” – great barrel path for down/away pitches, but TERRIBLE for up/inside pitches, And much more!
#2:Belly Buttons, Center Of Gravity, & Quick Way To Solve A Flat Bat – One of my favorite 3.5 minute hitting demonstrations helping hitters understand the need to stack the bat’s “belly button” above theirs. A flat bat at landing can cause 3 negative swing flaws, and how to fix…
#1:Is “Swinging Down” Okay Since Alex Rodriguez Said So? – Perry Husband and I do a hitting analysis of Alex Rodriguez’s hitting hitting analysis, and did he come off disconnected from describing the elite swing?
Top-13 Most Popular Non-Hitting Performance Lab Sticky Coaching Links From Our Facebook Fan Page…
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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!
And before I let you go, please take 1-minute to enter for a chance to win an autographed copy of our Amazon Bestselling hitting book…
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HOT Giveaway: Signed print copy of our Amazon Bestselling book: "The Catapult Loading System: How To Teach 100-Pound Hitters To Consistently Drive The Ball 300-Feet"Click the Button Below To See How You Can Win...
https://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/23-Of-Our-Most-Popular-Hitting-Sticky-Coaching-Social-Media-Links-In-2019-e1577131676908.png500500Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2019-12-23 20:24:112019-12-26 16:03:0223 Of Our Most Popular Hitting & Sticky Coaching Social Media Links In 2019
Here’s A Quick Way To Demonstrate Reaction Time Versus Timing…
A special THANK YOU to Taylor Gardner for this reaction time versus timing demonstration. Above is a quick 4-minute demo video coaches can use to teach their hitters the difference between reaction time and timing.
Can timing be taught?
Is the Pope Catholic?!
Of course it can…
Grab This FREE 'Timing Master Class' Video
Struggling to get your hitters ON-TIME in games? Discover HOW TO build effective laser-focused timing, so your hitters can be ON-TIME more often. These principles are validated by REAL science.
Click the button below to access the FREE video that has been downloaded over 6K times!
https://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/reaction-time-versus-timingyt-e1547831906121.png280500Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2019-01-18 17:20:462019-01-18 17:50:31Reaction Time Versus Timing (What’s The Difference)?
