Best Power Hitting Drills To Hit Baseball Or Softball Farther & Increase Bat Speed Every Time For Beginners | Vladdy Jr Swing Breakdown, Leg Drive, & Batting Stance Works for Slow Pitch Homeruns Too!
Discover the best power hitting drills to hit a baseball or softball farther every time and increase bat speed, even for beginners. Learn how in this Vladdy Jr swing analysis breakdown, and how using these batting stance swing principles work for hitting slow pitch softball homeruns too!
Vlad Guerrero Jr Swing Breakdown
In this Vlad Guerrero Swing Breakdown video, we cover how to build more consistent power using the principles found in the Catapult Loading System…
- Showing Numbers (axial rotation – protracting front scap) & Bounce,
- Downhill Shoulders (side bend),
- Hiding Hands (Scap Row/Pinch – or retracting back scap),
- One-Joint Rule, and
- Longer Front Arm Shape (CLICK HERE for a Google Images search on “Ted Williams hitting”).
We talk a lot about the principles of the Catapult Loading System. Once you know what they are, the next question is when do we load up? Great question. In this post Tom Myers explains about the 4 factors of springy fascia. Think of fascia like the net bags that hold tangerines at the grocery store, and the bones, muscles, and organs are the tangerines in the netting.
When it comes to answering the question of “When?”, tip #4 in that post highlights what we call the “bounce”. We want the hitter pre-loading the torso (Catapult Loading System), when the hitter makes their positive move towards the pitcher. Before making the move, I tell my hitters to imagine a flashlight installed in their front shoulder. The light shining out front of them. I say to keep the beam shining out front until they start their positive move. It is at that point that they initiate the pre-loading, so this timing allows them to “bounce” into the turn.
You will learn the ‘Showing Numbers’ part of the Catapult Loading System equation by clicking the following…
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I have to say that I have used these techniques with my son and my team and they will work at age 12-13 my boys were hitting the ball farther and harder than most, my son started hitting them over at at age 10 and this past year hit his first one on a high school field we figure around 360 he only weighs about 120 to 125 just goes to show that good mechanics is everything
Way to go Coach Kevin!!! Great testimonial for human movement principles validated by REAL Science 😀
Joey,
I know what you are saying but VGJ’s front arm sure is bent at the HR Derby tonight.
Haha, I talked about that later in this video 😉
Must have missed it.
Ok, Joey, I watched it again. I did watch it the first time. I’m not advocating a 90° front arm angle. I understand how ball exit speeds are higher on pitches down in the zone and the role of a straightened front arm in contributing to it. No one could argue that losing 21 mph in exit velo and 84 feet in batted ball difference is preferrable. I just don’t think a hitter will get to that up and in fastball with a barred front arm, especially starting with an early arm bar a la Todd Frazier, who can’t adjust and winds up lunging and swing one handed at breaking pitches.
Also, not sure that Ted Williams ever faced anyone throwing 100 mph back in the day and not sure if he could hit it with his mechanics – inward hip turn and arm bar – and as he was physically constituted. But, we’ll never know.
The comparison of Khris Davis and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Is apples and oranges since their body types are vastly different, VGJ being much bulkier. VGJ can’t get the scap protraction/retraction that Davis gets.
Head over front leg in the stride? Harkens back to the Charlie Lau/Walt Hriniak method. Do we really want a hitter’s head over his front leg? Davis’ head wasn’t “over” his front leg but was in line with his front leg, diagonally that is.
All is good. You have the best stuff out there and the CLS, particularly the concepts that are the focus of this article, has connected the dots that the rotational hitting devotees weren’t able to do in the past.
Joe, you have to watch the Perry and I linked convo, we explain HOW to get to a pitch middle up or middle in with an arm bar. In the last decade radar guns began taking velo out of the pitcher’s hand, whereas back in the day it was taken significantly closer to the hitter, which would show a slower velo. Velo is a marketing thing in the Big Leagues, just like they’re done with hitters: juicing balls, encouraging the juicing of bodies, bringing in fences, lowering mounds, thinning seams…pitchers haven’t increased their velos as much as people think, so yes Ted Williams and Babe Ruth would do well in this day and age. Trout and Cabrera would be an apples to apples comparison there.
I don’t agree, comparing K Davis to V Guerrero is apples to oranges. Human movement is human movement. Physicist Dr. Alan Nathan said bat speed is a better indicator of batted ball distance than body mass. The one thing taller players have that shorter do not is longer levers. That has more of an effect that body mass. Or else the BIGGEST cross fit and power lifting athletes would be the farthest baseball drivers on the planet. Simply not true.
On head over foot, apply the Goldilocks Golden Rule here…not too much, not at all, just right. Head Over Foot technique is from this David Weck post: https://hittingperformancelab.com/head-over-foot-technique-run-faster-keys-to-rotational-power-bullet-proof-the-body/
This is simple locomotion, a side bending of the spine is CRITICAL to executing a safe effective spinal engine driven swing. Without this we aren’t optimizing hitters. Good discussion and objections as always Joe.
Joey,
Sorry for the delayed response. Took time to watch you and Perry’s convo. I get what you are saying. You said to watch how you explained “HOW to get to a pitch middle up or middle in with an arm bar.”. You showed how to do it but is that faster to the ball up and in? Can you prove that? More BES but do you get there faster. You still have to get there. My experience has taught me that you can beat someone who bars the front arm on a pitch up (yes, I know about the guys who use the many lessons and hours of watching video reasoning. Not one of those guys). Just the same, please check out Gleyber Torres’ HRs vs the Red Sox this weekend. You got to get to the pitch first. Deep barrel dumping is not a good thing. A hitter can’t just dump the barrel. Hand pressure needed to keep the bat on plane.
Starting around the 50 minute mark Perry goes in to the bent front arm example. But, does anyone keep that much bend in the arms, having them so close to their body? That’s not what I’m talking about either. Perry’s example is too restricting. A hitter would do that if he is beat/late.
I get Dr. Nathan’s contention/findings and don’t dispute that. I don’t think that Ruth and Williams, as physically constituted back then, would hit 98 – 104 mph.
Head over front leg in stride is still Lau/Hriniak to me – too far for the head to go. Lunging. Head at the top of your triangle of the legs in the stride.
You still have the best stuff out there and I enjoy the conversations.