What Do You Think About…?
Group Swing Analysis For Coaches
I wanted to try something new…
And see how beneficial doing group swing analysis would be for coaches.
A hitting “think tank” if you will.
The rules:
- Video is one swing in three speeds (100%, 50%, & 25%, in that order)
- NO background info about hitter,
- Be constructive with suggestions, NOT destructive,
- Share top-2 high priority fixes in featured swing, and
- Suggest drills and/or coaching cues to correct.
The benefit to coaches is the opportunity to objectively see a swing “snapshot”, make mind up about offering correction, then learn what others would do with the same information.
I don’t do free swing analysis anymore because I don’t have the time. And I feel bad because the readers reaching out need some help.
So, what I’m thinking is tapping on my audience for that help.
And if you coaches like this, then we’ll do more of these in the future.
Also, don’t feel like you have to write a novel…just offer up a couple sentences.
THANK YOU in advance for your comments.
Please leave a reply down below in the comments section…
TOGETHER we can make hitting great again 😛
GO!
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I like the idea for us coaches and parents to sharpen our analytical skills regarding the proper swing mechanic’s. What I see in the clip of the batter is that his front foot needs to point more to the pitcher to allow his hips and torso to open more. He also needs to pickup his back foot or skip it forward to allow his weight shift to move with the force of his bat. He is losing power by not doing these things. It seems his weight is a little forward as well.
I would have him open up that front foot at landing. Seems a little exaggerated landing on the big toe, and rolling the foot.
Late head movement- forward and up- May be caused by issues in the base.
Body looks to be fighting to get the hips turned( lots of weight on back foot).
Strong and athletic, pre swing movements could be toned down a bit a lot to handle with high velocity. He is landing closed off which is preventing him from releasing his right side completely after contact.
This fellow is hitting the ball in 5 frames from solid foot plant which is fine except that if he were rotating into foot plant it could be 4 frames .Do you feel that would be advantageous?The front foot landing square is beneficial for a number of reasons and there is nothing wrong with his shift and rolling the lead foot . It is an interactive torque or a motion dependent torque which is an effect and not a cause. Said another way ,his proximal parts are controling his distal parts.He does have a lot of unneccesary barrel movement early on which is complicated and could become a source of unwanted flaws with live pitching but he gets the arms properly alligned in this clip when and where he has to in order to insure proper stability of the arms and upper torso going into contact.A couple more things since you asked,he starts open in the stance,and then closes the stance as he goes toward foot plant .If he started sguare in his stance /setup,he wouldn’t have to counter rotate which he can pull off on tee swings but I have concerns about his consistency in doing so under the stress of a 90+ fastball.Even if he can ,you will have a difficult time teaching this swing to a young hitter because they do not have the physical maturity and strength to pull this move off.If this were golf,sure- but the time constraints of upper level baseball will expose this inefficient movement and his performance will suffer.There is more to discuss and dissect here but like a great hittting instructor once said,”You don’t know what you don’t know”.
Before commenting, I’d want to know what is his intent for his swing? What is he trying to do? What is he working on?
The one thing I see that would hinder some batspeed is landing with front foot closed. It causes the hips to stop rotating early in the swing. Most if not all top level hitters roll on front foot because there hips are so wide open.
The other thing is tons of head movement. Big move backwards.
On a positive note, swing plane is great because he slots so well. He has very good separation.
Forgot to add… with the open stance, when he moves into pitch, striding in, that momentum has to be stabilized. That takes time.
Front hip floats a bit. Slows down the rotation. Also causes the “down and up move with head and body. Looks like he throws top hand early and loses connection but tough to tell from this angle. I would emphasize front leg work to get a better turn of the hips instead of the “float and turn” move he currently has.
PAT: Great balance, good knee action, decent shoulder angle, barrel chases ball.
POP: Float, weight transfer could be improved (varied stride drill, work both front and back variances), front leg could block off better which I believe would reduce upward movement of torso and would transfer weight into ball and not let it leak upward (work various back foot skips, slides)
Lastly I would suggest varied pitches, speeds, distance.
More intent while swinging, think Nelson Cruz. A narrower stance would allow for more FoMo (forward momentum) and better timing.
Ok, I am going to share/show my ignorance. This swing appears pretty good to me.
1. I am OK with the open stance, but a little extreme
2. hands are knuckle kockers – ok
3. Bat is wrapped a bit more than I like at the start, but comes into position, maybe lags a little, could be more 85 degree flashlight at the start of the swing
4. we are seeing numbers to numbers
5. Front foot is slightly open when it sets down which is good, (not too open, not too closed) – ok
6. weight back (60/40) at start – ok
7. head postion – ok
8. Bat path – ok
9. Hand path – ok
10. Hands at impact – ok
11. attach angle at impact – ok
12. backleg angle appropriate to bat path tracking – ok
13. Chase the ball with the bat – ok
14. Hips rotate correctly into and through impact – ok
15. Front leg slightly bent at impact – ok
16. Appears that he is hitting the lower middle third of the baseball at impact – which is good for line drives. – ok
Joey, If there is something extremely wrong, I am missing it.
Big strong kid, but diving in too much with closed off front side will allow him to drive the ball on pitches middle away if he allows the ball to travel, but vulnerable to inside half- fisted on hands. Swing on the tee in alignment with many positive principles but his extreme open stance (heavy in the legs)- Looks uncomfortable. Suggestion is a stance that would enable him to let his hands work. Swing is very hip dominant which tends to result in a swing that is vulnerable to rolling over. Although elbow to the body, hands forward, strong at contact, with decent extension on a tee, his swing plane is slightly steep and early hips cause hand path to be slightly long and around the baseball and weight slightly forward. Also top hand dominant on finish. Will result in a flat swing with little extension. Work on drills to promote a relaxed balanced approach, emphasizing proper hand path and extension.
There’s a lot to like about this swing. I love the bat path. I think he may struggle with elevated pitches that have velocity due to the angle of the bat head at the start of the swing. Also, during the load, I would like to see him keep his weight inside of the back leg a little bit better. I would like to see the back knee drive to the front knee a little better unless that pitch was away.
I’m really nit-picking though. It’s a pretty swing overall. There are some REAL positives in it.
The biggest thing I notice is a lack of frontside momentum towards pitcher. I would suggest that his stance not be so open and explain the concept of his head gaining ground during load with back ear staying over back hip. Then I’d look to see if these corrections help his rear foot gain ground. I’d emphasize more front toss instead of hitting stationary objects.
I would suggest getting more centered (more positive movement) at heel plant so that the back knee can drive forward (better back hip turn on a centered axis). He is squashing the bug slightly and more positive movement at heel plant will help with even being able to allow his back heel to come up and in. I was able to notice this because of his “too” forward chest. Instead of snapping back and staying behind the ball he lunged into it….thanks
Athletic kid. Looks like he has some pop.
See both positives and some negatives. But, he seems to be knocking the hell out of what he’s hitting.
(1) Not a fan of the bat wrap. Has a downward front shoulder angle and corresponds with the opposite shoulder slant to activate his core. Gets separation but could get more.
(2) Not a fan of that wide open stance but realize that’s his style. The problem with open stances and his in particular, he breaks his heel line/toe line by striding into the plate, complicated by a rather closed front foot, which restricts his hip rotation.
(3) I feel that his initial front elbow position puts him at a disadvantage in getting on pitch play early and prevents him from staying on it as long as he might. Also, it restricts him from applying more finger pressure to help him be short to the pitch plane.
(4) He doesn’t tuck/slot his back elbow quite enough which makes his swing a little around the ball instead of through it.
(5) He has some additional linear movement and doesn’t use his front leg as leverage, continuing to drift forward with upper body. He doesn’t skip his back foot, which may facilitate getting his center of mass into impact.
(6) He still has his front knee locked in his follow through. A bent front knee would give him more balance in his follow through.
Little bit of racing back elbow, not sure if grip pressure variance has been tried
Definitely needs to focus on straightening front leg while bending back knee at same time. He does not “stay short” through swing since his back knee angle is too big. You can see his head raise up if you look at the fence behind him as a que. Break apart drill with variance so he feels that difference. String over top of head at fight stance and stay below it during swing to emphasis staying short. Don’t remember exact name of drill but hook two exercise bands to him. One on front leg, upper thigh, connected to fence in front of him. Other on back leg, upper thigh, connected to fence behind him. Take swings feeling resistance against both bands during swing as front leg straightens and back leg/knee bends.
First off you have to find out if he’s having problems with live hitting and what was he trying to achieve by hitting in the cage.
Everything looks good to me except he started to rise when making contact with the ball.
2 things…. It’s hard to narrow it down to 2 as there are many that need improvement… So my 2 would be working out my feet and hands…There isn’t full connection and the batter is willing the swing a little… Enough that the ball would not explode of the bat and proper timing and the ease of the swing could be improved…..There are tons of excerises to do but I would just be mindful that a good feel of the lead hand to the rear side and the top hand to the rear big toe area …And I would work my feet in to feel my glutes…. This may sound easy but it’s harder than one may think… Or at least not as obvious as it reads….if you do this I wouldn’t worry about external cues but feel the body working and the hands and feet engaging the the right muscles and let it all fall in place…By that I mean let the body levarage the ground and bat…. But this is only done by having strong feet and hands…
Said another way, if your going to use the ground as a source of power you better have strong feet…if your going to channel a large amount of power to the bat head using your hands you better have strong hands….If your strong with your hands and strong with your feet… Do we have to guess if we are strong inbetween… Obviously there are more to add but if 2 were my limit I’ll start there..
So I’m saying the batter needs stronger hands and feet… The funny thing is I bet the batter would be surprised by this…. But having strong hands and feet have more to do with alignment that benching or doing squats…. Well certain squats are good…Anyway Hope all is well…
~DM
I would like to see him stand a little taller with his knees and see more weight transfer to the front foot before he unloads and get the back foot flipped over with shoelaces down at impact.. This should help de-weight the bat, keep it in the zone longer, keep it more square at impact instead of slicing across the ball, keep his head moving forward and down through the swing, and generate more momentum towards the ball. He’s a big, strong kid, but right now it looks like his shoulders have blown and he’s not using that size and strength to get behind the ball at impact.
He may want to use a tee or long toss, target outside pitches that are in front of the plate, and try to feel driving his front shoulder and hands towards the ball with power, no lunging or reaching. Start with the ball set up just outside of middle and work out from there as he starts feeling it. This should increase his power, ability to hit a wider range of pitches, and actually help him hit more to the left-center side of the field. Once he starts feeling it with tee and toss, move to the same pitch location with slow front throws, then get harder, then work to live pitching, but come inside on maybe 1 of every 5 to prove to him he will actually hit the inside pitch harder when doing this. Don’t work till exhaustion though, sets of 5 or 10 focusing on the feel and working the mental thought process of “drive to the ball”. It’ll take weeks or months to get this when facing game pitching.
I do like this idea by the way.
There are two things I would have this hitter correct. First is front foot landing. Front foot never really opens up toward the pitcher, which really doesnt let his hips open fully. I would have him try to correct this first by closing his stance. Im not saying it cant be an open stance, but my rule of thumb with my hitters (which are 12u so not sure if this helps HS or college players they are usually alittle bit more athletic) is to not go outside your back heel (or inside or back toe for a closed stance). I think if he brings his foot in some when he gets in the box that will allow him to get a more true stride toward the mound instead of rocking in to then go forward on the pitch. Also it seems his shoulders opening up before his hips, which I think front landing would also correct that. Second thing would be back hand (right hand), I say hand because he really doesnt “dip” to much with back shoulder, maybe a little, but the back right hand is parrel with ground, almost like he is throwing an upper cut, which caused barrel to come in alittle low and he the bottom of the “ball” probably causing lots of fly balls, which he looks strong enough to where some of the fly balls might carry out but probably not hitting a lot of line drives.
It’s funny sometimes we or I look at the movement not the human movement…Joey you told me once before I wonder what some would say if we cut off ones hands… You made me think…. And damn… Cutting the hands isn’t the problem, that’s obvious… Good point as always! Buts it’s the ones who have cut hands but are still holding onto the bat while working on his shoulder….etc.. Etc…
And feet right… If you can’t engage and apply the right tension from these slings your forever lost… This is why some things work for some and not for others…. I know I’m indirectly making a point… But for this batter, just stay with me, If your feet are strong and your hands are strong your engaging it all… Which gives you an anti gravity configuration… Gravity??? Well I gave you two… And if we talking gravity… Well I would start with your feet…Ok… I’m obviously trying to say something with a different angle and twist..I hope I’m not losing you or worse boring you…
And Joey your right…this is great… Hearing what many people have to say…. It gives us an idea about how one goes about answering a question…. I have a cookie cutter approach… I start with the feet than the hands and I guess I can’t go past 2 points…Get strong feet and you should notice new angles that flow naturally… But it’s not naturally… We naturally get pulled down we have to be mindful of it… Ok… Sorry for the length Joey but I think you STILL like the different angles I bring up even if I’m wrong…Hope all is well!
~DM
Since I said hands and feet I guess I can stay with one and it wouldn’t break my 2 points… Perhaps…. His lead hand/forearm gets disconnected… It’s suttle… The release is too great coming from behind him or his top is released early or at the improper angle due to grip… It’s hard to say… It can be his grip on the lead… Pressure points….His arm lines interlocked in some in efficient way….So he’s getting it, but doesn’t know how to release it… When his hands/forarms are stronger…It may come…. I think this is a 3rd point so I will stop here….If I had to guess.. He may not really know what to do with his lead hand/forearm/armpit..
So this doesn’t mean he doesn’t have pop….He has a good swing…Some raw power…
Good luck….
~DM
#1 he is still moving his hips forward after foot plant. At foot plant the hips should be rotational not linear.
#2 I’m not a fan of wrapping the bat. It seems to me that it makes for a longer barrel delivery.
A full size mirror will do wonders for ANY movement pattern athlete. As for the travel linear of your hips. Stand on the middle of the mirror, take your stride, place a marker, such as a piece of duct tape at your belt buckle area on the mirror. After hip rotation the tape should be on the middle of your hip on middle/in pitches and on the point of the hip on pitches away. Do some “walk through” swings and see where your at. Then do t work in front of the mirror. Instant feedback.
Thank you to EVERYONE who contributed time and energy to analyzing this hitter’s swing. All the information is great, and more than I could ask for. Y’all are doing some great work in your areas of the country, your hitters should be so lucky to have you. Understand that most are not so lucky. This is a movement coaches! Together we can all help turn this runaway train around. I’ll keep you updated on this hitter…and give a little more info along the way.
To high with his hands , barrel over his head at stride and drops hands
I would square him up in his stance, instead of diving into the plate, Only other thing I would work on would be trying to get his back foot to move some forward without forcing it.
Thanks Bradley!