Discover an online hitting lessons swing science program for baseball and softball players. Learn where to find a remote hitting instruction coach to teach kids how to increase bat speed and power.
Batting Cages May Be Dangerous To Repeatable Power
“Testimonial” from Kyle – Stephen’s dad – the same night (he’s in white, I’m in blue)
I know you what you’re thinking, “Okay, so what’s wrong with hitting at the batting cages?”
We’ll get to that, but before we do, let me set the stage for what I’m about to share with you. A glimpse into an online hitting lesson I gave to my hitter Stephen at The Feedback Lab.
I was granted permission from Kyle (Stephen’s dad), to share his 12-year-old son’s latest online hitting session with me. They’re out of New Jersey…
What Was To Be Corrected
Hiding his hands from the pitcher
“Downhill” shoulder angle pre-turn, and
Maintaining 90-degree back leg angle during turn and finish.
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In the above video, I mentioned the difference between comparing a swing off the tee versus at the batting cages. It’s not really an apples to apples comparison, BUT if they can repeat what we’re trying to get them to do off a tee, then the feeling to repeat it is there. Here’s what his analysis showed:
Great downhill shoulder angle,
Much better with hiding his hands from the pitcher (could polish a little here), and
Much better body angle on his finish.
3-Points Worth Noting…
Dad had mentioned to me, in the past 2-months, that they’ve been testing hand, butt, and hamstring tension, which might have also had an effect on Stephen’s outcomes.
Stephen will be working on a better barrel launch angle using variance training mentioned in the above video. Pay attention to the Bat Angle Experiment I referenced in the video.
I give feedback based on Tony LaRussa’s “Pat & Pop Method”. First give a “pat” on the back (what they did or are doing well), then reveal the “pop” (what they’ll be working to improve their swing).
Coaches, this is critical!! Athletes don’t just need to be broken down all the time. Build them up first, then offer up the constructive criticism.
The Danger in Batting Cages
And I’m not talking about Happy Gilmore style…
Someone smart once said:
“Practice like you play, so you play like you practice.”
Most coaches have their players do what’s referred to as “massed practice” versus “training ugly” at the batting cages. For example, if you needed work on hitting off speed and breaking pitches, a massed practice would look like the following scenario…a pitcher throws each hitter:
15 fastballs, then
15 curve-balls, and
Lastly 15 change-ups…
But this isn’t what it’s like in the game. The hitter rarely knows, with 100% certainty, which pitch, speed, and location they’re getting. So practice MUST reflect this dynamic in training. And hitting at the batting cages limits the amount of variance we can work into our practice.
I do a few things with my more advanced hitters (mechanically speaking), to mix things up:
We may not practice all these at once. Coaches, our objective with our hitters is to move them to the verge of “meltdown” with variance. Then bring them back. Then rebuild. The other thing is, during batting practice, the tendency is to take rounds of 10, 20, and 30+ to get a hitter’s timing and rhythm down. This IS NOT good. This is marathon training. Hitting is more like sprint training. Rounds of 3-6 swings is more like it – with 30+ seconds to rest between rounds.
I hope this helps!
Unlock Consistent Power: Tailored Feedback for Your Hitter
Get personalized, step-by-step feedback on your hitter’s swing with The Feedback Lab. Backed by science and tailored for fast improvements, watch your athlete hit harder and smarter in no time!
https://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Increase-Your-Bat-Speed-Power-with-Online-Hitting-Lessons-Swing-Science-Program-For-Baseball-2.png423800Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2022-11-28 09:15:002022-11-28 22:29:05Online Hitting Lessons Swing Science Program For Baseball Or Softball | Remote Instruction Coach To Teach How To Increase Bat Speed & Power
Learn about David Weck and the RMT Club youth power program in this interview review for baseball, softball, pitchers, golf, and runners. Discover the best in-season and off-season strength training exercise workout plan for 10 year olds up to college athletes.
David Weck Interview: More Speed, Control, & Power With LESS Wear And Tear On The Body
You asked for it!
I had quite a few of my readers ask me about the WeckMethod of training by David Weck. Btw, David is the inventor of the Bosu Ball, for those that train athletes for a living. And the readers who kept bringing up his training referred to his new product the RMT Club, which you’ll learn more about in the above interview.
If you’ve never heard about the WeckMethod of training, and want to know what sets it apart, please CLICK HERE to view the following 35-min video.
If you’re short on time, then here’s a brief introduction to the WeckMethod of training from David Weck:
“What I do is more fundamental foundational work than specific hitting instruction. My focus is improving systemic strength and power concentrating on Tensional Balance and Rotational Power – as well as non-dominant side training to provide a stronger foundation for sport specific skill.”
I feel like he’s onto something that most trainers ARE NOT. And it’s because he understands the foundation of locomotion. He has a fantastic understanding of the human movement “rules”.
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In my research, I fell into the following David Weck Carpool Tunnel fix video that helped get rid of the pinching in my right wrist, at the bottom of a push-up position, in about a week (I haven’t been good lately with my gymnastics wrist stretches 🙁:
Another great article I ran into in my research – and posted to social media – was an interview that Chris Holder did at BreakingMuscle.com with David Weck titled, “The Key To Speed Is In Your Spine” There are great nuggets in there along with a few training videos. It’s definitely worth your time.
The main video above is a Skype interview I did with David Weck that’s about 45-minutes. A lot of great information in there that translates to hitters and HOW TO train power. What follows are some of those talking points…
The Show Notes
How would you explain to a complete stranger what it is that you do? (1-min, 22-seconds)
DW explains Tensional Balance – relationship between suspension and transmission throughout your body, requires perfect alignment of skeleton, muscles, and connective tissue (1-min, 48-secs)
When tensional balance & rotational power are dialed in, you can express more speed, control, power, etc. with LESS wear and tear on the body (3-mins, 10-secs)
Where did DW’s passionate curiosity into this realm of training come from? (4-mins, 20-secs)
DW discovered slow motion analysis while playing D3 college football – you cannot understand human movement with that slow frame by frame motion analysis, the eye in the sky does not lie…clock doesn’t lie…measuring tape doesn’t lie (6-mins, 0-secs)
Unmatched degree of intensity to enhancing human locomotion because of Bosu Ball success…was able to devote entire focus to seeking and finding answers. (7-mins, 23-secs)
Deep appreciate that locomotion is the key, developing straight ahead speed, is the key to developing the greatest rotational power (9-mins, 0-secs)
Human movement industry is about to be flipped on its head because of this breakthrough understand of “core” strength…the “Bracing Core” (weight room and picking up heavy objects) versus the “Coiling Core” (engaging in lateral movement – side bending and head over foot) (9-mins, 40-secs)
Real versus Feel coaching, “My athletes are doing something that I’m not coaching them to do”, high level athletes have an innate sense of speed and power, but coaches are trying to coach it out of them, elite athletes (like Olympic Gold Medal winning sprinter Michael Johnson) saying to do the exact opposite of what they’re doing on film! Experts are teaching on a faulty foundation (11-mins, 40-secs)
DW is meeting with Marlon Byrd on getting specific with the WeckMethod exercises (14-mins, 7-secs)
Quick movement experiment…stand up right now and going through a throwing motion WITHOUT any side bending…how did that feel? Without side bend you’ll destroy your spine. You can train side bend. Locomotion is your foundation. (17-mins, 50-secs)
DW responds to the reader comment, “Is it logical to say that average kids can perform at a tier-1 level?” In context, the reader comment was to the claim that my 100-lb hitters consistently driving the ball 300-feet are standouts athletically. Also, what makes a kid athletic? (20-mins, 10-secs)
DW explains how to train ipsilaterally (right shoulder-right hip) to get the “Serape Effect” or I like to call the “Springy X Pattern” (right shoulder-left hip) optimized for performance. Tighten the coil, time the sequence, and keep center of gravity to be neutral. Take clunky and make them fluid. (22-mins, 20-secs)
DW discusses the curse of moving the center of gravity during rotation. Learning the axis of rotation, front/back, and side. Central control. Create a late rotate, like a whip. (25-mins, 0-secs)
The evolution of the spine, side bending is crucial to an S-shaped spine curve. (27-mins, 30-secs)
DW responds to the question, “Does sprinting, throwing, hitting start from the ground up? Why or why not”. CLICK HERE for the HPL link I referred to in the video (33-mins, 30-secs)
DW talks about harmonizing the muscles with the connective tissue. Least muscular contraction compared to the connective tissue. Muscles that are bound up, cannot relax. Transmission of force, power equals speed. Muscle acts like a circuit breaker. (34-mins, 0-secs)
DW discusses having tensional integrity between the muscles on the inside, and fascia on the outside. How integrity and connected the fascia is to muscles. Bonds never lost body-weight transmission when he bulked up. Strong is great, but not at a sacrifice of speed. (37-mins, 0-secs)
We discuss Thomas Myers, Anatomy Trains, “finger flick” test to demonstrate the power of connective tissue over muscle contraction (38-mins, 44-secs)
DW responds to the question, “If you were going to prescribe 2 of your top RMT Club exercises to a baseball or softball player, what would they be?” Coiling Head Over Foot movement. Pulse of power. (39-mins, 30-secs)
Please let me know if you want me to do a Part-2 interview with David Weck, and what questions you have for him about this presentation by REPLYING in the comments below…
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Do You Recognize The 6 Early Warning Signs Of Hitters Dipping Their Bodies?
In the above video, we’ll be discussing:
Relationship between spinal engine and shoulder behavior in healthy effective swing,
Causes of unhealthy “dipping” of body in swing,
Head stability,
Arching low back,
Straightening out back leg,
Over-rotating upper half,
Over-rotating lower half, and
Core instability.
Hey, what’s going on. It’s Joey Myers again from the “Hitting Performance Lab. In this video, we’re gonna answer a reader question, this one is asking for advice to:
“Helping get youth players to stay on plane, and not dip their bodies when they swing”.
Now a couple things we have to define here, what ‘dipping’ is…
Relationship between Spinal Engine and Shoulder Behavior in Healthy Effective Swing
This is important to cover. Because there is some dipping that goes on, but I want to define what’s good versus what’s bad. What we should see with hitters, and good healthy spinal engine mechanics is, say with the righty, the shoulders will start in somewhat of a slightly down position, we call this the ‘Downhill shoulder’, and it’s just a side bend.
David Weck, founder of the BOSU ball, the RMT Club, and a lot of other cool stuff. He talks about this idea of the head over foot technique. The head shifts slightly over towards the front stride landing foot. The side bend is crucial to the actual opposite action that’s gonna happen during the swing.
We’re gonna see the teeter totter effect of the shoulders starting down, and then they’re gonna flip up as I start my turn. Then what we should see is this shoulder, if we track the left one for a righty starts down, pops up. As we finish, should be back down again. Think about those beautiful images of Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, in their finish, and the righties are kind of in this position. The lefties are in the opposite position.
We want to see a healthy accelerating-decelerating spinal engine, that is the healthy dipping that we should see if the shoulders or side bending.
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I call it a ‘Collapsing backside’, so one of the causes of this is head stability. We’ll see a hitter will go chin to chest, when they’re at impact, going right into their sternum with their chin. Sometimes we’ll see the head go up (like looking up into the sky), we’ll see the bill of the cap go this way, and we’ll see the rear ear going to the rear shoulder, so for righties, right ear to the right shoulder. For lefties, left ear to the left shoulder.
There are some hitters in the big leagues that do this a little bit, they used to do this actually more in the past, they’ve been cleaning it up. But Andrew McCutchen used to go chin to chest, Bryce Harper would go rear ear to shoulder, Prince Fielder did what Harper did. You even see Nolan Arenado more chin to chest. Because he tries to leave his head at impact, which I don’t recommend for younger hitters. When the head is in an unstable position, this creates a threat to the central nervous system. Wherever the head goes, the body follows.
If the head “rolls” (like Harper/Fielder)…when we’re rolling the head this way, you’ll see a collapsing of the backside, you see the whole body will dip, and it’s not a very strong position. Head stability is one of them, one of the causes of an unhealthy dipping of the body in the swing.
2. Arching low back
Arching the lower back, kind of similar to the neck, the C-spine. When we start arching the lower lumbar during rotation, which isn’t very good because you’re pushing the vertebrae together, and then rotating them, so you’re basically grinding. So, we don’t want to do that, and if we’re doing that, sometimes we’ll see this collapsing to the backside as well. You want to do it what’s called a ‘Hollow position’, or a ‘Hollow hold’, you can go on YouTube, and search “hollow hold gymnastics”, and you can find a video on how to practice this. It’s basically taking the curve out of our lower lumbar, or lower back.
Imagine you’re lying on your back, on the ground, like you’re gonna do a crunch, you got your feet on the ground, your knees are up, and you go to do a crunch. What you have to do first is push your lower back into the ground, just want to push hard in the ground, create some pressure into the ground through your lower back. That’s taking the curve out of your lower back, and doing what we call a hollow position. It’s a posterior tilting of the pelvis for those kinetic nerd jockeys like me.
3. Straightening out Back Leg
The other thing that could be causing dipping of the body in the swing is straightening out the back leg. This tends to follow both head instability, and/or arching of the low back.
The glute fires, the back glute, for righties the right glute, and the right quad fires to straighten the knee. It’s the hamstring that we see in professional studies of hitters, back hamstring that’s turning on a lot more than you see in amateur hitters, where they tend to try and lock that back knee out. The glute locks out, and what’s happening is that back glute is trying to support and create stability in the lower back. Because it’s going into a bad position, a compromised position. As long as we can fix the hollow, get them into more of a hollow position, we fix the head movement with the neck brace drill. Not a stiff neck brace, but a soft one. We don’t want to immobilize the head, just create feedback for movement.
If you can correct this, you can crack the lower back – metaphorically speaking of course – then you can start to work the hitter into bending that back knee a little bit more, using the hamstring, lesser the quad, and lesser the glute. Those are again trying to protect that lower back, that can be a major cause of unhealthy dipping in the swing.
4. Over-rotating Upper Half
I am starting to actually see this in some of my hitters, not in a lot but a few of them. Where they’re actually over rotated at impact. They’re making contact almost behind themselves, and their sternum in the middle of their chest is out over in left field (for righties, reverse for lefties). We must get them to under rotate, so we do a lot of “deep” tee drills, and get them to try and pull the ball off a deep positioned tee. You set it up almost in line with the hitter’s belly button, and get them to kind of hook it, and hook it around to slow down that sternum. The hitter should look and feel like they’re swinging their arms across their body.
The upper half over rotating, we can also over rotate the lower half…
5. Over-rotating Lower Half
So, we use a VeloPro to strap it to the back hip and back ankle. We get them to try and keep the back heel on the ground (like George Springer), and keep the back foot sideways. If they’re over rotating, it could cause a collapse of the backside as well. Again, we want to be effective between our 90 degrees of fair territory, and when we over rotate either the upper or the lower half, then what we’re doing is we’re sliding our 90 over into foul territory, which doesn’t do us any good, any of our hitters any good.
The last thing I want to add in this video is fixing core instability…
6. Core Instability
There are things that you can do at the gym with your trainer, hopefully your trainer is versed on mobility and stability exercises (certified in the Functional Muscle Screen – FMS, or in TPI). When we’re talking core stability, you want to do a lot of things like planks:
So, you’re creating some rotation in there as well. You also want to do like ‘Hollow holds”, you want do things like that, you want to do maybe suitcase carries, where you’re carrying a dumbbell on one side of the body and trying to keep your shoulders square, things like that you can do. You can ask your trainer on how to create more core stability, but those are some things to think about if you’re asking yourself the same question as our reader: “Helping get youth hitters to stay on playing, and not dip their bodies when they swing”.
Work on the things we discussed, clean them up, and check them off your list. Your hitter will be in a more healthy body “dipping” position. Make sure that we’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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https://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/How-To-Fix-Dropping-Bat-Head-Dipping-Back-Shoulder-Truth-STOP-Hitting-Pop-Ups-For-Baseball-Softball-Swing-6-Ways-To-Flatten-Batters-Bat-Path.jpg423800Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2022-09-26 09:30:142022-09-27 04:57:46How To Fix Dropping Bat Head, Dipping Back Shoulder Truth, & STOP Hitting Pop Ups For Baseball Softball Swing | 6 Ways To Flatten Batter’s Bat Path
Baseball Swing Load: If You Can Bend Sideways You Can Gain 4-MPH Bat Speed
Question: Does a Slight “Downhill” Shoulder Angle Before Landing Boost Baseball Swing Load & Bat Speed?
In this baseball swing load “shoulder” angle experiment using the Zepp (Labs) Baseball app, I wanted to use the Scientific Method to analyze what would happen to Bat & Hand Speed when we took 100 swings with a slight “Downhill” shoulder angle (about 8-10-degrees) versus another 100 swings with level shoulders.
The Feedback Lab parent testimonial about his 14 year old daughter Mia:
“Hey Coach,
It has been way too long but I wanted to share some information that happened yesterday. We are heading up to Chattanooga, Tennessee, the largest showcase in the southeast today. Yesterday was our last day to hit before the showcase and Mia was struggling with her power. We hit about 60-70 balls and Mia was hitting about 10% over the fence (she is usually 40%+). I was looking to make sure she was showing her number, which she was, hiding her hands, which she was, landing with a bent knee, which she was and etc., etc. It was getting late and we had to go and I told Mia she had only 6 balls left. I told her to show me her stance and I noticed that her front shoulder was equal to her back shoulder. I then told her to lower her front shoulder and raise her back one. That was the only change we made to her swing, Mia then hit the next 6 balls over the fence and 2 of them were bombs. I cannot believe the difference this one small change made.
Thanks, Primo”
SCIENCE-BASED TRAINING:
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Wall Street Journal Info-Graphic at: http://gohpl.com/1NFi8qi
The best resource for getting educated on spinal engine mechanics is to pick up Dr. Serge Gracovetsky’s book The Spinal Engine. For a teased out version of this,
CLICK HERE for a post I did that compared the pitching delivery, hitting, and an overhead tennis serve using this “bending sideways” technique.
Another good book from multiple authors on the subject of spinal engine mechanics, locomotion biomechanics, and springy fascia, check out the book Dynamic Body by leading author Dr. Erik Dalton.
Also, here’s a great Wall Street Journal post about Miggy Cabrera titled, Miguel Cabrera: The Art of Hitting. Check out what the illustration says in the middle of the red circle above…
Hypothesis
Based on the above baseball swing load experiment research and one of the other countless online hitting testimonials I get about “bending sideways” benefits, I think using a slight “Downhill” Shoulder Angle will boost Bat Speed at Impact by at least 3-mph, and Hand Speed Max by 2-mph.
Tyler Doerner, my intern for the summer and a hitter in HPL’s The Feedback Lab, is a redshirt college Freshman. He did the baseball swing load shoulder angle experiment.
Tyler broke the swing into two steps: 1) get to landing position, pause for 1-2 seconds, 2) then swing, to better control the shoulder angle during the tests.
So, there was an absence of forward momentum in this experiment.
The two tests in the experiment were counter-balanced. Which consisted of eight blocks of 25-swings done in the following order ABBA BAAB. “Level Shoulders” were letter ‘A’, and
“Downhill Shoulders” were letter ‘B’. 200 total swings were completed in the experiment, 100 per test. Counter-balancing helps remove the “getting tired” and “not being warmed” up factors.
Data Collected (Zepp Baseball App):
Look at the significant jumps in average Bat Speed at Impact & the Attack Angle…
Data Analysis & Conclusion
There’s a significant 4-mph JUMP in average Bat Speed at Impact with the “Downhill” Shoulder Angle.
Average Hand Speed Max only increased by 1-mph with the “Downhill” Shoulder Angle.
There was a small change in Time To Impact, in favor of the “Downhill” Shoulder Angle.
Not a big change in the Bat Vertical Angle at Impact.
And there was a significant 3-degree angle change in Attack Angle with “Downhill” Shoulder Angle.
Notes
We found a slightly bigger increase in average Bat Speed at Impact with the “Downhill” Shoulder Angle compared to my Hypothesis (4-mph versus 3-mph).
I thought there was going to be a bigger difference in Hand Speed Max, than how it turned out.
What was surprising was the 3-degree angle change of the attack angle. A 10-degree Attack Angle is a typical line drive. Once you start to get into the 15-20 degree range, you’re looking at more of a home-run launch angle.
The “Downhill” Shoulder Angle is actually something we’re working in Tyler’s swing. He tends to let go of his angle a little too soon.
I find that before and after Ball Exit Speed readings with my local hitters who’re familiar with the “Downhill” Shoulder Angle, can increase from 1-3-mph when this it the only mechanic we’re working on.
The Bottom Line?
In this baseball swing load shoulder angle experiment, we can clearly see with the “Downhill” Shoulder Angle that there’s a significant 4-mph jump in Bat Speed at Impact, AND a surprising 3-degree boost in the Attack Angle. The “Downhill” Shoulder Angle is a piece of what I call the Catapult Loading System. The BIG-3 are:
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/2022/09/Increase-Max-Bat-Whip-Or-Barrel-Speed-Creating-Hip-Shoulder-Separation-Hitting-Torque-For-Faster-Baseball-Softball-Swing.png423800Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2022-09-06 10:00:072022-09-07 17:42:26Increase Max Bat Whip Or Barrel Speed Creating Hip Shoulder Separation Hitting Torque For Faster Baseball & Softball Swing | When To Load In Little League
Start above video at about the 5:00-minute mark. I briefly viewed a hitting instructional video on YouTube the other day that one of my readers sent me (Thanks Joe). I won’t share who did the video, so as not to cause any embarrassment. Like what was being illustrated in the video, I would say a majority of hitting instructors both online and off swear that the swing starts from the ground up.
This IS NOT what the current research shows as validated by human movement science. Yes, Gravitational and Gravitational Reaction Forces do have their place (and we’ll get to that)…my point is, ALL human movement DOES NOT start from the ground, and work it’s way up the Kinetic Chain.
Buahaha! I love that. Slipping front foot, no extension at front knee, and "hammering bug" with back knee. Result? A dinger! A lot of unhappy gravitational force peeps out there ? @backspintee
What I have for you above, is a snippet of video about 5-minutes long, explaining where the swing starts as explained by Dr. Serge Gracovetsky, Physicist, Electrical Engineer, and founder of The Spinal Engine.
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Here are some talking points that Dr. Gracovetsky mentions in the video (please WATCH video at the 2:00 minute mark to about the 7:00 minute mark):
There’s a lack of agreement in literature at what the function of the spine is.
Spine is generally believed to be a supporting column linking shoulders to pelvis…as we walk the trunk is thought to be carried passively by the legs. Problem with this: WHY is shape of spine in form of an “S” instead of being straight? – straight column would support compressive loads better than a curved one right?
Consider 20-year-old male subject who has reduced arms and no legs…moves on his Ischium.
If it was true that legs are necessary for human locomotion, then a person with such an anatomy would not be able to walk.
With the bottom of the screen hidden [while the subject “walks” across the floor], it is impossible to tell that this man has no legs.
Locomotion was first achieved by movement of the spine, and the legs came after as an improvement, not a substitute.
When providing a lateral bend to a curved spine (lordosis), an axial torque is induced. The rotation of the pelvis and shoulders is driven by the spine.
So does the swing, or any human movement for that matter, start from the ground up? In other words, are Gravitational Forces a necessity to move the Spinal Engine or merely an enhancement?
In an email conversation I had with Dr. Serge Gracovetsky a few years back, he said this about the relationship between gravity and spine engine mechanics:
“The coupled motion has nothing to do with gravity. It works in space as well. It is a property of the spine or any flexible rod for that matter. But the interaction with gravity makes interesting results which are exploited by every sport.”
Okay, since we’ve determined human movement DOES NOT start from the ground and go up the Kinetic Chain, I want to share a couple snippets from Dr. Gracovetsky about what role Gravitational Forces do play in dynamic movement…
Here’s a note about the importance of the heel strike in locomotion from Dr. Serge Gracovetsky in his book, The Spinal Engine (p. 168):
“…the compressive pulse generated at heel-strike is essential to the locomotion process. The shape of this pulse must be very specific if maximum energy is to be transferred from the earth’s gravitational field to the rotating pelvis.”
According to Dr. Gracovetsky, while running, our heel hits the ground creating a compressive force that is equaled to NINE-times our body weight. Gravity pulls our body down, and at heel strike, the ground pushes back in a compressive force.
This is why it has been demonstrated by Speed Coach Barry Ross that runners who dead-lift heavy weights with a low time under tension, get faster! They’re able to push into the ground with more force, which in turn, the ground pushes back with equal and opposite force.
It’s also worth noting about the Spinal Engine while walking on sand versus solid ground…
Dr. Serge Gracovetsky offers this example in his book (pgs. 168-169),
“Running or walking on soft sand is not easy and is very tiring, In this particular case, the energy leaks into the sand, the impact force is reduced, and the compressive pulse through the spine is attenuated [disabled] as the total energy recovered is reduced.”
The compressive force is softened by the sand, which doesn’t allow the pelvis to turn using efficient spine engine mechanics. To maneuver, the brain has to recruit big muscles to do the work. This is why you get a workout walking on sand…it’s powerless effort, rather than effortless power.
Does current research, that’s validated by science, say human movement starts from the ground, and travel up the Kinetic Chain?
No.
The trunk isn’t just a passive structure that is carried by the legs. Legs are not a necessity to human movement – evidenced by the legless subject in the video – they’re an enhancement. The Spinal Engine can work in space! I say the legs and arms amplify the movement of the Spinal Engine.
Do Gravitational Forces play a role in human movement?
Yes!
Like Dr. Gracovetsky says, “…the interaction with gravity makes interesting results which are exploited by every sport.”
That my friends is a human movement principle that is validated by science. Not philosophy or theory. This is why my new book The Catapult Loading System is so powerful to hundreds of coaches and tens of thousands of hitters across the US… (just check the reviews 😉
'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/2022/08/Is-Increasing-Bat-Speed-And-Creating-Whip-Rotational-OR-To-Use-Legs-More-In-Baseball-Softball-Swing-At-Home-Youth-Hitting-Drills-For-Loading-Power.png423800Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2022-08-30 09:30:592022-09-07 05:23:55Is Increasing Bat Speed And Creating Whip Rotational OR To Use Legs More In Baseball Softball Swing? | At Home Youth Hitting Drills For Loading & Power
“Staying Closed” for Fastpitch Softball & Baseball (NOT What You Think)…
In this article, we’ll compare the swings of Oakland Athletic’s (now Yankees) Josh Donaldson and quasi retired Jose Bautista. In the video, we’ll discuss:
Donaldson v. Bautista metrics,
What “staying closed” means to spine engine mechanics, and
Where Josh Donaldson might be leaking force at impact.
Josh Donaldson v. Jose Bautista Metrics
This section is split up as follows:
Physical
Swing analysis
Key offensive stats
Physical
Tale of the tape (according to Baseball-Reference.com):
Josh Donaldson – 6’0″, 220lbs
Jose Bautista – 6’0″ 205lbs
SCIENCE-BASED TRAINING:
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So why does Jose Bautista come out on top even though he’s outweighed by 15lbs? Consider this…
Josh Donaldson: CLICK HERE to see a scatter graph of his dinger disbursement in 2013 (according to ESPN Stats & Information Group). In the 158 games he played in 2013 (24 homers) his…
Average true distance was 391.3 feet, and
Average speed off the bat was 103.7 mph.
Jose Bautista: CLICK HERE to see a scatter graph of his home-run disbursement in 2013 (according to ESPN Stats & Information Group). In the 118 games played (hand/wrist injury) in 2013 (28 homers) his…
Average true distance was 400.3 feet, and
Average speed off the bat was 104.8 mph.
The bottom line?
Joey Bats played 40 less games in 2013, but still outhit Josh Donaldson. So let’s answer the question of how Bautista hit each homer, on average, 9 feet further, and drove the ball 1.1 mph faster off the bat.
Let’s begin building a case as to where Josh Donaldson may be bleeding force at impact…
'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!!
What “Staying Closed” Means to Spine Engine Mechanics
Most confuse the meaning of the coaching cue “staying closed”. The hitter DOES NOT “stay closed” with the bottom half. For maximum energy transfer, the pelvis should open when the body weights the front foot after striding. Both hitters seem to prematurely open their pelvis before the heel hits the ground. This isn’t efficient! We’ll talk about:
The truth about staying closed,
The importance of heel strike to locomotion, and
Swinging in sand: effortless power or powerless effort?
The Truth About Staying Closed
In the video, we apply two of three coupled motion of the spine actions, according to Dr. Serge Gracovetsky’s book The Spinal Engine:
Side bending (evidenced by a down shoulder angle), and
Axial rotation (hitter shows numbers to pitcher, while pelvis stays parallel to the plate)
In the video, we clearly see both hitters do this. Donaldson more than Bautista. I mentioned both hitters prematurely open their pelvis before heel strike. Let’s look at the gravity (pun intended) of doing or not doing this…
The Importance of Heel Strike to Locomotion
In the book, Gracovetsky offers one of several meanings for maintaining a healthy spine using spinal engine mechanics (p. 168):
“…the compressive pulse generated at heel-strike is essential to the locomotion process. The shape of this pulse must be very specific if maximum energy is to be transferred from the earth’s gravitational field to the rotating pelvis.”
Both hitters “stand tall” before falling forward and “getting shorter” into the turn. This lifting of the torso is like running versus walking. When running, our heel hits the ground creating a compressive force that is equaled to NINE-times our body weight, Dr. Gracovetsky says. Gravity pulls our body down (Un-Weighting Principal), and at heel strike, the ground pushes back in a compressive force. The greater the force, the faster the pelvis opens.
The following is where I foreshadow the problem with Donaldson…
Swinging in Sand: Effortless Power or Powerless Effort?
Dr. Serge Gracovetsky offers this example in the book (pgs. 168-169),
“Running or walking on soft sand is not easy and is very tiring, In this particular case, the energy leaks into the sand, the impact force is reduced, and the compressive pulse through the spine is attenuated [disabled] as the total energy recovered is reduced.”
The compressive force is softened by the sand, which doesn’t allow the pelvis to turn using efficient spine engine mechanics. To maneuver, the brain has to recruit big muscles to do the work. This is why you get a workout walking on sand…it’s powerless effort, rather than effortless power.
Donaldson is basically turning his pelvis using muscle mass (like walking in the sand). Whereas Bautista looks more effortless because he’s using efficient spine engine mechanics, gravity, and gravitational reaction forces…
Where Josh Donaldson May Be Leaking Force at Impact
In the video, you’ll see Donaldson start opening his pelvis five frames before he weights his front foot. His front foot looks like it almost “hovers” over the ground for 3-4 frames. Opening the pelvis without a true compressive force (gravity and gravitational reaction forces) would be like hitting a baseball while standing on sand!
Bautista starts opening his pelvis only two frames ahead of weighting his front foot. Joey Bats experiences a higher compressive force at landing than Donaldson does. This is why “staying closed” with the upper half, and committing the body to landing on the front foot is crucial to an average increase of:
9 feet to batted ball distance, and
1.1 mph to ball exit speeds.
Post UPDATE: after Josh Donaldson was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays in 2015, this post was picked up by the Canadian National Post(Just above the Jose Bautista image). Also, there was an “upgrade” to his hitting mechanics since this post was first published in 2014. CLICK HERE for a link to an Athletics Nation article talking about a difference in J.D.’s 2013 & 2014 swing mechanics. In 2015, Josh Donaldson reverted back to his minimalist “barrel tilt” 2013 hitting mechanics.
'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/2022/08/Josh-Donaldson-Baseball-Softball-Swing-Advice-Front-Side-Flying-Open-Spinning-Off-Hitting-Drills-2.png423800Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2022-08-22 09:00:522022-08-28 21:44:41FIX Pulling Head Off, Front Side Flying Open, Over Rotation Spinning Off Baseball Or Softball Hitting Drills | Josh Donaldson Vs Jose Bautista “Keep Front Shoulder In” Common Flaw Swing Advice & Batting Stats
Learn how to teach kids to increase youth baseball hitting power. Also discover how to hit Fast-pitch or Slow-pitch softball better, farther, and in a certain direction. Home-run batting tips revealed in this swing experiment post…
Want To ADD Between 25 to 40-Feet Of Batted Ball Distance?
Nelson Cruz ‘showing numbers’ hitting a 2-run monster shot traveling 463-feet with a launch angle of 23.7-degrees off 75-mph CB on 09/23/16. Photo courtesy: MLB.com
(‘Showing Numbers’ Experiment REVISITED)
Question: Is Increased Bat & Ball Exit Speed ALL in the Hips?
Using the Zepp (Labs) Baseball app, I wanted to use the Scientific Method to analyze whether ‘Showing the Numbers’ to the pitcher is more effective than ‘NOT Showing’ them when it comes to measuring Bat and Ball Exit Speeds.
In this swing experiment, I had professional hitter of mine that I’ve been working with for a few months, Preston Scott, do the hitting.
Background Research
I’m revisiting an earlier experiment I did, looking into whether power was ALL in the hips. You can CLICK HERE to read and watch the experiment findings.
Not to beat the springy fascia horse, but you can get more background information on why this swing experiment turned out like it did by reading through the following video blog posts.
From the research into Anatomy Trains (Thomas Myers), The Spinal Engine (Dr. Serge Gracovetsky), and from my past swing experiment, I expect to see similar results…maybe even slightly lower numbers favoring ‘Showing Numbers’.
I say slightly lower numbers because in the first experiment I didn’t counter-balance the swings. In other words, I took 100 consecutive swings ‘NOT Showing Numbers’ first, then took another 100 consecutive swings ‘Showing Numbers’. This may have caused a “getting tired” or “not warmed up yet” effect, therefore biasing the experiment results.
The big UPDATES to the experiment will be:
Adding the measure of Ball Exit Speed,
Counter-balancing the swings, and
Professional Preston Scott taking the swings, not me.
I’m interested to see how this experiment turns out…
ADD Ball Exit Speed Swing Experiment
Equipment Used:
Zepp Baseball app (to measure Bat Speed, Hand Speed, Time to Impact, & Attack Angle),
Preston Scott: ‘NOT Showing’ versus ‘Showing Numbers’
Yellow dimple ball feedback markers to keep starting footwork the same = bat length
Tee was set one baseball’s length behind the front feedback marker, and tee height was about mid-thigh
Forward momentum was eliminated in this experiment, and Preston hit from a 1-2 second pause at landing
We stayed as consistent as we could with keeping the ball height and depth the same for most swings.
I used two yellow dimple ball markers to make my stance setup consistent…one was placed inside my back foot, close to the plate. The other was placed one bat’s length ahead of the back marker.
The two tests in the swing experiment were counter-balanced. Which consisted of eight blocks of 25-swings done in the following order ABBA BAAB. ‘NOT Showing Numbers’ was letter ‘A’, and ‘Showing Numbers’ was letter ‘B’. 200 total swings were completed in the experiment, 100 per test. Counter-balancing helps remove the “getting tired” and “warm up” factors.
On ‘NOT Showing Numbers’ swings, Preston kept his shoulders in line with the blue band on the ground in front of him (towards the pitcher). And on ‘Showing Numbers’ swings, he kept his shoulders in line with the red band that was set at about a 30-degree angle from the blue band.
Preston Scott was sipping a protein shake throughout the length of the experiment to aid in recovery.
On both experiment days, Preston had finished “leg day” at the gym, so our warm-up was brief, followed by about 15-20 swings off the tee.
We had to break the 200 total swings (4 sets of 25 swing chunks each day) into two days, with the second day coming 1 week later because of time constraints.
It’s important to note, Preston and I were working on improving his mechanics slightly different both days (having nothing to do with ‘showing numbers’), but even though Day 1 (November 7, 2016), and a week later, Day 2 (November 14, 2016) swings may look a bit different, the slightly differing mechanics were used for BOTH ‘NOT Showing Numbers’ and ‘Showing Numbers’ tests, so as not to muddy the experiment results.
'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!!
‘NOT Showing Numbers’ Day 1 & 2 side by side comparison…
‘NOT Showing Numbers’ Averages of averages: 71-mph Bat Speed at Impact, 27.5-mph Hand Speed Max, 0.165 Time To Impact, -25* Bat Vertical Angle at Impact, & 4.5* Attack Angle
‘Showing Numbers’ Day 1 & 2 side by side comparison…
‘Showing Numbers’ Averages of Averages: 76-mph Bat Speed at Impact, 28-mph Hand Speed Max, 0.162 Time to Impact, 28* Bat Vertical Angle at Impact, & 6* Attack Angle
Also, CLICK HERE to access the Google Drive spreadsheet with all Ball Exit Speed (BES) readings from the experiment.
Data Analysis & Conclusion
Starting with Zepp data analysis comparing the averages of averages:
5-mph INCREASE in Bat Speed at Impact with ‘Showing Numbers’
0.5-mph INCREASE in Hand Speed Max with ‘Showing Numbers’
.003 second DECREASE in Time to Impact with ‘Showing Numbers’
3* INCREASE in Bat Vertical Angle at Impact with ‘Showing Numbers’
1.5* INCREASE in Attack Angle with ‘Showing Numbers
Now, let’s see how the Ball Exit Speed averages compare between the two mechanics:
76.02-mph BES when ‘NOT Showing Numbers’
77.32-mph BES when ‘Showing Numbers’
That’s a 1.3-mph average INCREASE when ‘Showing Numbers’
Translates between 5.2-feet to 7.8-feet of EXTRA batted ball distance – depending on if you calculate using 1-mph BES = 4-feet of distance OR 1-mph BES = 6-feet of distance.
Notes
In this experiment, if you look at the ‘NOT Showing Numbers’ swings, they were actually ‘Showing Numbers’. In other words, Preston already shows his number to the pitcher well causing him a challenge to not show them. Therefore on the ‘Showing Numbers’ swings, he showed them more. I think that’s why we didn’t see as much of a difference in Ball Exit Speeds.
One of the big objections from some is that ‘Showing Numbers’ causes an increase in Time To Impact. These results show it doesn’t – it actually decreases Time To Impact. WHY is this? It has to do with ‘taking slack out of the system’ as it relates to compression/tension forces acting within the body.
Preston Scott generally does a great job of ‘Showing Numbers’, even before I started working with him, so he felt like he really had to try and keep from pulling the ball too much when ‘NOT Showing Numbers’. And as you can see in the video, he was still ‘Showing Numbers’ somewhat, even when he wasn’t suppose to!
'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/2016/12/How-To-Increase-Youth-Baseball-Hitting-Power-And-Hit-Softball-Better-And-Farther-e1659989937478.png280800Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2022-08-08 09:00:412023-09-16 05:23:25Increase Youth Baseball Hitting Power Teach | How To Hit Fastpitch Or Slowpitch Softball Better, Farther, & In Certain Direction | Homerun Batting Tips!
ANSWERED: How to hit a home-run? Learn how to teach beginning baseball and softball kids to increase power by hitting the ball better, farther, and harder guaranteed – even for smaller hitters!
14-Year-Old Blaze Jordan Hits TWO 500-Foot Moonshots, But…Did You Catch Small Slugger That Beat Him In Home Run Derby?
Well, did you hear about the small-bopper who gave Blaze Jordan a run for his money?
By the way, Blaze Jordan stands in at 6-Foot tall, and 217-Pounds. And the preceding Blaze Jordan profile link may be a year or two old!
I received this email from Marty, Hudson White’s father, earlier this week:
“Hello, i just wanted you to know that i have followed you for years and teach your principles to my 14u son who just came in second place at the 15u power showcase in Arlington Texas ahead of the world champion Blaze Jordan . he also broke the world record for most consecutive home-runs in a row at 11. he was a year younger and 50-100lbs smaller than all the other contestants who were made up of the best hitters in the country. It was the most amazing thing that anyone had ever seen . i wanted to share the video with you and hopefully you can help make it go viral. all the hype is about Blaze Jordan for hitting a 503 ft home run, but for a smaller younger kid to go out and break the world record for most consecutive and beat blaze in the final round to come in 2nd place is a major feat. my son is a lead off hitter. so all hit hits were 395ft line drives. this is your student. this is the result of your teachings. i am very grateful!”
You can see Hudson “The Hawk” White is exemplifying hitting training in the Catapult Loading System: ‘showing numbers’, ‘down shoulder angle’, & ‘hiding hands’. Photo courtesy: Hudson’s father Marty.
Here are baseball hitting training summary notes about Hudson “The Hawk” White’s 2016 home-run derby performance via his dad:
Came In 2nd place.
Beat Blaze Jordan.
Broke world record with 11 consecutive home runs in a row .
High school fences set up.
Left park 6 times.
Hit 390-ft average.
Just turned 14.
5-foot, 7-inches, 130-pounds.
Normally a lead off 1,2 hole on nationally ranked teams.
Didn’t think he could hang with all the 6’2″ 180 lb 15 year old 4-hole hitters there.
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.
Speaking of baseball hitting training, can Hudson do this in a game? Here’s a 380-390 foot triple:
What’s even more amazing?!
I didn’t work with Hudson White…his dad did…using Hitting Performance Lab’s proprietary baseball hitting training.
Why is this HUGE?!
Marty is just one of the hundreds of coaches getting the same results, if not better, than I am with my own hitters – using the same hitting training process!!
So, it’s not just me, or that maybe I’m “Tony Robbins” special.
Also, if you believe this was done with a “doctored”, “hot”, or “bouncy” bat,
Here’s a comment from Kevin Freeman on Facebook:
“I know this kid personally. if all put the work in that he does it wouldn’t be so many whiny baby parents saying his bat is altered. I’ve personally watched him hit several balls over 400 ft with an old hickory Wood bat. All excuse making parents need to let their kid follow this kids work ethic and maybe they will get the recognition he does. if he hitting a -5 that is what he is supposed to be hitting at that age.”
Also, the following MLB.com video is President of the Power Showcase, Brian Domenico, talking about the contest, and around the 5:00 video mark, he talks about the bats and balls used:
Please do Hudson, Marty, and HPL a favor and PLEASE SHARE THIS baseball hitting training post on your favorite social media networks…Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, etc.
This stuff works folks. We’re producing hitters that are consistently tripling their body-weight in batted ball distance.
— Joey drops the mic —
'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!!
“…This year he was a freshman on varsity at Byron Nelson High School. He was starting 2nd and 3 hole. He led all north Texas in hits most of the season and finished 7th overall with 45. He was hitting the ball hard somewhere! Hudson was named District 5-6A Unanimous Newcomer Of The Year and All – Area Newcomer of the year finishing 7th in area with 45 hits, 25 RBI, 21 runs , 16 SB.
He also just got back from the Wilson Midwest wood bat championship where he was named MVP for hitting two home runs. He went 9-18 and only 1 single. The rest were doubles, triples and dingers! Here’s his mvp interview:
Hudsons MVP interview. One day when he runs out of dingers, he might have a career at sports broadcasting, 😂 @Hudsonwhite8https://t.co/I2RmgsZ5HP
He has been on a tear hitting 6 home runs in the last 3 weeks with either wood or an old rusty metal bbcor bat. Just an FYI update to all the haters and naysayers its the Indian not the arrow. I appreciate your help and instruction. The proof is in the pudding.”
UPDATE #2 from May 4, 2019 email from dad…
“He finished regular season number 8 in texas in hits, number 6 in extra base hits , and number 1 in doubles. Thats 4a,5a,6a. He’s number 2 in extra base hits in 6a and number 1 in doubles. And thats in arguably one of the top 5 toughest districts in the nation with 2 state champions from last year. The 6a champ and last years 5a champ moved up to 6a. Those coaches of the 5a state team go on an on about what a huge difference in competition in 6a where every team has 4 dudes.”
‘21 Hudson White ties up the game with a 3 run homer. Bobcats were down 0-6 and came back. Score was 6-6 at the end of 7. They came up short after 8 and the series is now tied 1-1. Come out tomorrow at BNHS @ 1pm to cheer them on. #txhsbaseball@Hudsonwhite8pic.twitter.com/L4MoPauw2i
— ByronNelson Baseball (@baseballbyron) May 4, 2019
'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/2017/10/hudson-white-cls.jpg428640Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2022-06-13 10:00:062022-06-14 05:38:31How To Hit A Homerun? Teach Beginning Baseball And Softball Kids To Increase Power By Hitting Ball Better, Farther, & Harder
How Much Ball Exit Speed Does Lower Body Contribute To A High Level Swing?
In this baseball and softball video post, we’ll be looking at whether preloading upper body hitting torque or using lower half hip rotation contributes for more power. Check out this swing drills over rotating experiment…
Do you consider yourself an open minded coach? If not, then this post MAY NOT be for you.
Do you consider yourself a coach willing to try new movements before criticizing them? If not, then this post MAY NOT be for you.
Fair WARNING…this video will make most feel uneasy because it strikes at the heart of their teaching. I believe the quality of our lives and the success we experience in it, depends solely on the questions we’re willing to ask our-self.
In this video, the Backspin Tee Gardner Brothers (Taylor & Jarrett Interview here) did a small thought provoking swing experiment that looked at how much value the lower half contributes to the swing. Most popular hitting instructors treat the lower half like a JoBu shrine in the movie Major League. Don’t get me wrong, the lower half has a role, but I disagree on the importance most put on it.
Using the Scientific Method…
Question
Taylor Gardner doing a Jumping No Hips Swing
They looked at how much value (measured in Ball Exit Speed) the lower half contributes to the swing by restricting its movement.
Background Research
Taylor read my book The Catapult Loading System: How To Train 100-Pound Hitters To Consistently Drive The Ball 300-Feet, and it got him thinking about how much the lower half actually contributes to power compared to the shoulders? Earlier I mentioned how much the movement of the pelvis in the swing is worshiped by so many hitting coaches. “Fire the hips!” “Hip Thrust baby!” Sadly, the torsional forces are taken to the point of being unhealthy for a young hitter’s low back.
Consider what Charlie Weingroff, DPT, CSCS, a physical therapist and trainer in New York City said this:
“Only your thoracic spine (which consists of the 12 vertebrae in your upper and middle back) is designed to rotate significantly — about 40 degrees in each direction, according to Weingroff — when under compression. The lumbar spine (lower back) should rotate no more than about 12 degrees.”
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.
Let me give a clue, coaches want better separation, torque, lag, etc. in their hitters right? We see that a high level right handed hitter’s pelvis starts rotating counter-clockwise at the start of the turn, leaving the shoulders temporarily behind, this is the essence of “lag” or “torque”. But what coaches aren’t seeing is what’s happening before the ‘hips lead the way’? The compression and tension forces happening in the torso beforehand, to make that move possible.
If hitting coaches would do their homework on basic bio-mechanical locomotion and function of the spinal engine as a whole, then they’d find they’re missing 60-70% of the performance puzzle (as you’ll soon see), and quite possibly wearing a hole in the lower backs of their hitters.
I constantly see well intention coaches posting videos on Twitter of their young hitters savagely twisting the pelvis and low back (lumbar), in addition to the hyper-extension of the lower lumbar. Quite frankly, it’s painful to watch. CLICK HERE for an exercise to correct this.
Did you know there’s a much safer way to achieve those high BES numbers and more? Some books to get you started on the right track:
By the way, Dr. Serge Gracovetsky is a Physicist and Electrical Engineer. He said the Spinal Engine can operate in space without Gravitational Forces. His research shows arms and legs aren’t necessary for locomotion, they’re an improvement. Please read that sentence again because it’s important to understand locomotion.
Can explosive high level athletes perform without the aid of Gravitational Reaction Forces? Check out the following videos:
Derek Jeter makes jump throw…
Jeter is jumping up and away from his target, taking his momentum in the opposite direction of first base. This should put him at a disadvantage, but it doesn’t hurt him too much, as you can see.
Big air motocross freestyle jumps…
Notice how these athletes use the head to control their body. No Gravitational Reaction Forces to help here either. But man can these athletes put a big smile on your face while watching this video!
Don’t seek the footsteps of others, seek the footsteps they sought.
Hypothesis
The Gardner brothers thought this mini swing experiment would show more of a minimal role of the lower half in the swing, compared to the “lower half worshiping” hitting coaches out there.
'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!!
4 different hitters (Taylor – High School level hitter College Track & Field athlete, Jarrett – professional pitcher, Rookie in pro ball, home-run record holder at Div-1 college)
Took Full Swings prior to experiment swings (the Control group), so they could compare to when the lower half was restricted
Backspin Tee used on all swings (I know, shocker!)
Every one used the same metal bat, a Copperhead C405 34 inch, 30 ounce (-4)
Data Collected
Based on control swings, this graph shows average BES as % of the control swings, Highest BES as %, & Lowest BES as % of each of the four hitters. Photo courtesy: BackSpinTee.com
Graph shows top BES per hitter on control swings, when Stationary No Hips, when Jump Float No Hips, Falling Float No Hips, Lead Leg Only No Hips, and Avg. BES. Photo courtesy: BackSpinTee.com
Data Analysis & Conclusion
Small sample sizes can cause a lot of problems, so there definitely needs to be more data points to make a conclusive decision. However, with the data we have, the fact four different hitters participated on all swing experiments, in looking at the last graph, you can see that when the lower half was restricted, Ball Exit Speeds were around two-thirds of top exit velocity of control swings (normal swings). Think Jeter making his jump throw! So from this small sample size, we can say the lower half contributes about one-third to the Exit Speeds of these four hitters.
I’d love to hear your thoughts in the Comments section below. Be nice, be respectful.
'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/2017/12/backspin-tee-swing-experiment-e1513375051238.png296500Joey Myershttps://hittingperformancelab.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/hitting-performance-labs_c90c0362088ef1d3d528f3078f4f8ac1-300x75.pngJoey Myers2022-05-23 09:00:322022-05-25 17:06:34Baseball & Softball Preloading Hitting Torque OR Use Lower Half Hip Rotation For Power? | Swing Drills Over Rotating Experiment
Discover some of the best youth batting stance drills for baseball, fastpitch softball, and slowpitch softball. In the video below, Josh Donaldson addresses proper swing hitting mechanics such as power, elbow up or down, closed stances, and hitting lefty or righty.
13 Josh Donaldson Gold Nuggets: You Didn’t Have To Be A Professional, To Teach High Level Baseball Batting Stance & Hitting Techniques
(I apologize in advance…PLEASE set aside about 14 minutes of reading time for the following baseball batting stance & hitting techniques post. It’s a bit of an emotional RANT 😉
Josh Donaldson talks hitting with Mark DeRosa on MLB Network. Photo courtesy: MLB.com
We FINALLY have validation!!! To have 2015 AL MVP Josh Donaldson affirm A LOT of what we teach here at HPL! Some of you may have seen the above video already. If you HAVE NOT seen it, then please watch.
In the following baseball batting stance & hitting techniques post, I go into more depth about the 13 talking points Josh Donaldson mentions about the “NEW science of hitting”, beginning where Ted Williams left off.
I want to address the few ex-Pro and MLB player TROLLS that wrongly tear myself, my colleagues, and my readers down on the socials for bringing up things Josh Donaldson addresses in the above video.
Without further adieu, from my baseball batting stance & hitting techniques video notes…
Note #1: Back knee inside foot or weight inside back knee?
Is Buster Posey’s back knee being prematurely shifted inside his foot in the ‘Float’? Photo courtesy: InWriteField.com
This was a question from Mark DeRosa…
Josh Donaldson responds that he focuses his weight on his back heel and back hip.
I HATE when hitting instructors PREMATURELY force the back knee of every hitter they instruct, inside the foot (even in the stance).
There are phases to the swing, and Donaldson is talking about what my hitters refer to as the ‘Float & Fall’…
Matt Nokes calls it the ‘Ride & Stride’.
During the ‘Float’ or ‘Ride’, the hitter DOES NOT have to prematurely push their back knee inside the back foot…or focus the weight on the inside of the back knee.
CLICK HERE for a baseball batting stance & hitting techniques post I did on this, dealing with a Twitter Troll.
NEWS FLASH…
Self proclaimed elite hitting instruction doesn’t rest on taking a ton of ‘quality hacks in the cage’ and/or debating over millions of hours of video analysis footage of ‘only the best hitters’.
WTF does ‘quality hacks’ and ‘only the best hitters’ mean!!!!!?
Are we suppose to take your word for it that you know what you’re doing?!
Nah.
I’d rather watch The Kardashians.
Okay, back to focusing on where the weight is in the Float…
Prematurely forcing weight on the inside of a ‘dumb joint’, like the knee, can really put undo stress on the ligament material.
Coaches…please DO NOT wear holes in your players’ knees. This is really important for those FP softball hitting coaches.
And on that note,
FP softball coaches, CLICK HERE for a great BreakingMuscle.com post titled, “Women: Protect Your Knees With the Sprinter Stance Squat”.
Note #2: Not thinking about hands going towards the baseball
Derek Jeter is one of the few having a lengthy career with an extreme handsy approach. Not too many hitters could get away with how he did what he did. Photo courtesy: BaseballByTheYard.com
I totally agree!
ALL the following baseball batting stance & hitting techniques coaching cues are destructive for youth swings:
Hands to the ball
Knob to the ball
Be short to the ball
Hands inside the ball
Yes! Especially the last one…
WHY?
Like the others, it gets the hitter thinking about doing something with the path of their hands.
Some of you use this cue when instructing hitters, and may get occasional positive results…
However,
Any coaching cue that requires an extensive explanation or doesn’t get predictably positive outcomes, is INEFFECTIVE.
I’m looking for cues that with a minimal number of words, gets my hitter to do what I want them to do, even if the concept is new to them…over and over.
Note #3: When Josh Donaldson begins his fall forward, that’s when he goes into loading his upper half (his ‘coil’)
Andrew McCutchen ‘showing his numbers’ while his lower half is beginning to turn counter-clockwise. Photo courtesy: MLB.com
YESSSSS!!
I get asked this baseball batting stance & hitting techniques question quite a bit…when does the ‘load’ start?
And this depends on your definition of a load. But in Donaldson’s context…
The timing of Donaldson’s load, or ‘coil’, isn’t necessarily the rule,
It’s one of three options…
Option #1: Some hitters start in the ‘coiled’ position (highly recommended for younger hitters):
Yoenis Cespedes,
Hunter Pence, and
Ben Zobrist (from the left side)…
Option #2: Some hitters move into the ‘coiled’ position similar to Donaldson:
Bautista,
Cano, and
McCutchen…
Option #3: Some hitters move into the ‘coiled’ position later, like Dustin Pedroia.
The objective is that at landing, or what Josh Donaldson refers to as ‘heel plant’, the hitter is in this ‘coiled’ position.
And it requires the lower half to be open at landing (pelvis on down), and the upper half (above pelvis), to be closed.
Additionally, I LOVE Jose Bautista’s timing cue of loading ‘slow and early’ (CLICK HERE for a post I did on that).
More on the lower half landing open a bit later…
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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!
Note #4: Creating bat speed with shoulders, NOT hands (effortless bat speed)
Josh Donaldson’s swing illustrating the spinal engine and Springy ‘X’ Pattern discussed in the next section. Photo courtesy: PicPlayHost
This is VERY important…
WHY?
Because EVERY human movement is driven by the spinal engine…pelvis-spine-shoulders.
According to Dr. Serge Gracovetsky in his book The Spinal Engine, the spinal engine can move in a vacuum.
However, it’s the relationship between arms, legs, and Gravitational Forces that amplify how explosive an athlete can be.
Quite a few hitting instructors talk about hip thrust or loading and exploding the hips.
But what are the shoulder’s function in all this?
Being passive?
I don’t think so.
Some would say a right handed hitter’s front shoulder at landing should be pointing at the pitcher.
This is an ineffective hitting mechanic, shown in this Zepp swing experiment (CLICK HERE) where I observed an average 6-mph boost in Bat Speed at Impact showing my numbers to the pitcher versus pointing the front shoulder at the pitcher (not showing numbers), over 200 swings.
Don’t get me wrong, YES, the pelvis does ‘lead the way’ as Ted Williams said in The Science of Hitting.
But it plays a much smaller role than coaches believe.
Think about how we walk…
If I told you to fire your hips as you walked, what do you think your shoulders would do?
They’d FIRE also!
How about if I told you to fire your hips while walking, but don’t let your shoulders move…
Would that feel awkward?
Dr. Serge Gracovetsky talks about the coupled motion of the spine…
Meaning, while the hips rotate when we walk (albeit small to the naked eye), the shoulders counter-rotate the pelvis.
This is why your right arm and left leg swing forward at the same time.
To have effortless bat speed, like Josh Donaldson says, you MUST teach your hitters to take advantage of these natural laws of human movement.
DON’T use baseball batting stance & hitting techniques to coach them out of them.
Note #5: Rubber band effect, ‘stretching’, creating tension at the finish of his load
Another YESSSSS!
Although Josh Donaldson uses different baseball batting stance & hitting techniques terms, he’s talking about the compression/tension forces in the body via connective tissue called fascia.
Thomas Myers in his book Anatomy Trains describes, what he calls Tensegrity (Tension-Integrity), like this:
I don’t like to think of the body as a rubber band, but rather like a spring.
But what Donaldson is describing is correct.
I refer to this as the Springy ‘X’ Pattern.
CLICK HERE for this video post describing this using Adrian Gonzalez’s swing as a model.
Note #6: Creating the timing to hit the pitch
Most people probably missed this point in the video…Donaldson briefly mentioned it, but I find it VERY important.
TIMING FOR HITTING IS EVERYTHING.
This is why I don’t like rapid fire soft toss OR 15-pitch marathon rounds batting practice.
It’s NOT about quick hands either.
Look, a baseball player may only see one pitch every 12-20 seconds.
A fast-pitch softball player may see one pitch every 8-15 seconds.
In games, swing intensity EVERY swing matters.
I can take a hitter with seemingly slow hands, adjust his or her timing, and have them barreling the ball more.
Of course, we’ll have to address their still ineffective mechanics at some point in the future, but the point is, it’s not about fast hands.
It’s about using the shoulders to speed up the hands.
The opposite IS NOT true.
Coaches handicap hitters by using ineffective drills like rapid fire soft toss, drop toss, and/or marathon B.P. sessions.
Again,
TIMING IS EVERYTHING IN HITTING.
CLICK HERE for “The Dead Simple Guide To Optimizing A Hitter’s Timing In Games”.
Note #7: Front foot is open…hips can’t separate from upper half
Miguel Cabrera is one of my favorite swings to model, except for landing closed (less than 45-degree angle). However, he’s a physical beast, and most definitely succeeds despite one ineffective mechanic. Photo courtesy: MLB.com
Another baseball batting stance & hitting techniques golden nugget from Josh Donaldson.
However, there are quite a few other coaches getting their panties in a bunch about this comment.
CLICK HERE and follow the thread of one of my Facebook posts.
CLICK HERE and follow a Facebook post thread of my friend and colleague Taylor Gardner, founder of the BackSpin Tee. Actually a lot of really good discussion happening on this one.
They’re reinterpreting it as Donaldson is saying to ‘point the landing toe at the pitcher’.
This may be what it looks like in the video, which we also have to be careful of camera angles…
But the point of the matter is, that Donaldson is saying to ‘land open’.
And this is where, us coaches, must define terms.
I say if the landing foot is opened less than 45-degrees, the foot is closed.
If the landing foot is opened more than 45-degrees, the foot is open.
Chris Welch at ZenoLink says the front foot should land open, roughly around 65-degrees (at about 2-min mark):
And I agree.
I do think hitters like Donaldson and Bautista are more on the open side than others.
With my definition of landing foot closed versus open, I’d rather have my hitters err on the side of open, than closed.
CLICK HERE for another Zepp swing experiment where I tested this and found an average bat speed boost of 3-mph boost when landing open, over 200 swings.
Kyle Harrington, dad of one of my online hitting lesson students Stephen, who’s currently 13yo, 5’7″, 130-lbs…
Recently, increased his Ball Exit Speed 5-mph in the last 5 months off the tee, to now 77-mph.
I asked Kyle, what were the two biggest contributors to the increase…and he responded with:
“He grew about 2″ but he’s only 5’7”. I think the main thing is that he is not stalling the bat. In the 3D testing with Chris Welch [of ZenoLink.com] his peak bat speed slowed almost 10 mph before impact, which is common. So he is decelerating the barrel less coming into impact. He was blocking with the front hip and all the speed was too early . So he’s actually moving the bat speed forward in his swing more (where impact is) rather behind the ball before impact. That’s the main reason.”
This can happen for a few reasons:
Too much forward momentum (yes you can have too much),
Landing closed with the front foot, and
Inward turning (coiling) the pelvis towards the catcher (shifts our 45-degree optimal impact zone too deep into the swing).
When the hitter lands closed, as Donaldson said, it’s more challenging to optimize the body’s natural springy fascia.
It’s also worth noting that the front ‘foot shape’ will change depending on pitch location at impact.
For instance,
On an outside pitch, we’ll see the foot more flat, and possibly more closed, than on an inside pitch.
Note #8: 10yo kid told to get on top of the ball, tell them NO…don’t get paid for hitting ground-balls
Ground-ball Coaches, if you spent more time instructing 10-degree launch angles and boosting Ball Exit Speeds, than you do telling hitters to always hit the ball on the ground, our hitters will be in a better position to crush pitchers.
For me, this tip was definitely the highlight of this video.
There was a comment on my baseball batting stance & hitting techniques Facebook post that is worth noting:
Reader A: “If I’m coaching a team of 10 year olds, and either the kid (or parent) tells me no, they ought to start looking for another team to play for. If you allow a kid to tell you no at that age, the kid will become uncoachable when he gets older.”
And here was a great response from another readers to this person:
Reader B: “If a teacher tells your kid 2+2 is 5, you don’t want him to have the courage and character to question the teacher? This society man, anyone that questions authority is deemed to be at fault…how dare they!!!”
I agree with Reader B…however, I understand there are ignorant parents, as well as players, out there as well.
However, speaking in the context of what Donaldson is saying, I agree with Reader B on this.
If you’re a coach that’s teaching hitters to ALWAYS hit the ball on the ground, you’re being ineffective as a coach. And you MUST get educated because if you’re aren’t growing, then you’re dying.
Note #9: Relaxed in stance…time that arms get engaged with the body is during his ‘coil’ (mentions ‘scap load’)
Jace, one of my 11yos, weighs 67-lbs, and hit his first homer over a 180-foot fence. We fixed his racing back elbow bat drag with connecting his hands to his spinal engine through finger pressure.
I totally agree.
There’s a time to be relaxed, and then there’s a time to connect the body (driving engine) to the “things” holding the bat…the hands.
CLICK HERE for another Zepp swing experiment that talks about what I teach to my hitters as ‘finger pressure’, and how we’re banishing racing back elbow bat drag with this technique alone.
It’s ALL about “connection” folks. Quite a few of the young hitters I see just aren’t connected.
But when they get connected…this is when we can triple their body-weight in distance (see Jace image above).
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!
Note 10: Hands load it (versus shoulders), then barrel tips too much…leads to getting underneath balls
Josh Donaldson is talking about getting into his load (or ‘coil’) with his shoulders and not his hands.
When he uses his hands to get there, he feels it leads to an excessive ‘barrel tip’ (click following link), and to getting under the ball too much.
CLICK HERE for an AthleticsNation.com article titled, “Josh Donaldson: Changes in Approach & Mechanics”.
In this article, Jerry Brewer from East Bay Hitting Instruction compares Donaldson’s swing and metrics from 2013 to 2014.
The one big difference being an excessive barrel tip in 2014, leading to drops in his BA, OBP, & SLUG metrics by something like 50 points EACH.
By the way, Jerry is right on with the swing as well.
Note 11: At landing, wants bat to be at 45-degree angle, and to split his head from behind
I agree.
I don’t really want to get into this, but I thought it was a good little baseball batting stance & hitting techniques nugget from the video.
Note 12: Swing down to create backspin
This is where I see Josh Donaldson picking up where Ted Williams left off. This is a well known graphic from Williams’s book The Science of Hitting.
This is something Josh Donaldson is against, and I agree.
Yes, every once in awhile, a hitter can swing down on a ball and launch one.
Did you read the keywords there…? “Every once in awhile.”
Do you know what the majority outcomes will be doing this?
Ground-balls.
And if you read my Ground-ball RANT, then you know how inferior default teaching your hitters to hit them is, unless of course you have hitters who run like greased lightning, or in a Hit & Run type scenario.
The biggest argument here, comes from Little League coaches saying, but the ground-ball is the hardest hit ball to field, throw, and catch.
And my rebuttal is, what happens when your ground-ball hitting team meets a team that can play catch?
It doesn’t matter anyway, because a majority of pitches are taught to keep the ball down in the zone to hitters.
WHY?
Because PITCHERS WANT HITTERS DRIVING THE BALL INTO THE GROUND.
Note#13: Intent – damage at all times
I thought this was a HUGE baseball batting stance & hitting techniques gold nugget.
When asked if Donaldson makes educated decisions to commit on pitches or against pitchers, he says, yeah it depends…
BUT,
His intent is to do damage at all times.
“Why wouldn’t I?” He smirks to Mark DeRosa 😛
Double and Dinger damage.
That’s what the Blue Jays pay him for.
Our objective as hitting coaches should be to get our sluggers hitting the ball as hard as their physical ability will allow them…as frequently as possible.
To return this baseball batting stance & hitting techniques post full circle, let me repeat:
You Don’t Have To Be A Professional, To Teach High Level Baseball Batting Stance & Hitting Techniques Today
You just have to understand human movement principles that are validated by science, and apply these “rules” to hitting a ball.
Circling back to the headline of this post, looking at proper swing hitting mechanics: power, elbow up or down, closed stances, and hitting lefty or righty…
Power – at HPL we believe 70-80% of consistent power comes from properly moving our spinal engine, power doesn’t mostly come from the lower half as some would believe.
Back elbow up or down – what’s important is hitter gets a slight downhill shoulder angle by stride landing(6-10 degrees down). Lifting the back elbow can help with this, but if lifting the back elbow keeps shoulders level, then it doesn’t matter.
Closed stances – I know Donaldson and I differ on this, but I like the closed stance to restrict hip movement. Some hitters OVER rotate their lower half and lose out on directional force.
Hitting righty or lefty – I don’t have a preference for this. The hitter will figure it out either way. However, I do have an opinion on switch hitting…I don’t believe switch hitting is all it’s cracked up to be because they get waaay more at-bats on the left side early on because there aren’t that many lefty pitchers, so the righty swing significantly suffers. Evidence of this lack of lefty pitchers is shown in the majority of lefty hitters struggling against lefty pitchers.
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!
, for those that train athletes for a living. And the readers who kept bringing up his training referred to 
, which you’ll learn more about in the above interview.
, Jim Piersall book 
(44-mins, 0-secs)
to strap it to the back hip and back ankle. We get them to try and keep the back heel on the ground (like 
, I wanted to use the Scientific Method to analyze what would happen to Bat & Hand Speed when we took 100 swings with a slight “Downhill” shoulder angle (about 8-10-degrees) versus another 100 swings with level shoulders.
. For a teased out version of this,
by leading author Dr. Erik Dalton.
,
.
(p. 168):
:
(Thomas Myers), 
(Dr. Serge Gracovetsky), and from my past swing experiment, I expect to see similar results…maybe even slightly lower numbers favoring ‘Showing Numbers’.
(to measure Ball Exit Speed, or BES),
: How To Train 100-Pound Hitters To Consistently Drive The Ball 300-Feet
, by Thomas Myers
, by Dr. Serge Gracovetsky
, by Dr. Erik Dalton
to measure BES
, the spinal engine can move in a vacuum.
.
describes, what he calls Tensegrity (Tension-Integrity), like this:
