Evaluate Swing Please

Hit with wood

Now thats great advice. Short, but to the point.

Thanks, maybe it wasnt clear in the video because of the quality but all of these swings were with wood.

Is there anything else as far as mechanics that I need to work on? Some people say I have a little bit of a bat wrap, is this bad or what are your views on this?

Crash,

Please stay still!

If possible, you should record your swing from different pitch locations. Often, swings can look better when you're swinging at a waist high pitch than a knee high pitch. As far as your hands go, I personally believe that it doesn't matter where they start, just where they finish.

Looks like you are 'maintaining the box' in your swing. This is what causes the 'bat wrap'. Your hands are slightly in front of the swing which may cause people to say that you are dragging the bat.

Usually a swing like yours is a good contact swing, but you may improve your distance and sharpness with a bit more arm extension.

thanks, Quincy. Now thats the kind of advice I was looking for. When my swing is not "On" I am often not driving through the ball. When I am swinging my best is when a concentrate on driving through the ball more and this leads to better extension. What does "maintaining the box" mean and is this good or bad?

If you look at your clip, you will see the location of your elbows through the swing. There is an imaginary box that video analysts make reference to.

In my view, it is not good advice to maintain the box. When watching video of your swing, you would prefer a 'V' made by your forearms and hands at contact. Some call it the 'Power V'.

So you are saying at contact my arms make a box instead of getting extended into a V? I think I see somewhat what you are saying about the extension part, although on the last swing I get better extension than on the first.

The last has a bit more extension, but you seem to be trying to power the ball with your biceps.

Relax your biceps and just swing to and through the ball with a good follow through.

This should keep your front elbow from rising.

In your next video with relaxed extended arms into the swing, you may see the 'V' that forms at contact. Also, you may feel the extra bat speed in your wrists.

quote:

Originally posted by Coach May:
Now thats great advice. Short, but to the point.

Keep It Simple, Stupid

crash,

What I see is a wrap, yes, but I think you can fix it without thinking about "not wrapping." Let me clarify here.
I see your bat flattening out behind your head almost immediately after toe touch. IMO this leads to problems with getting the ball in the air. If you can't get the ball in the air you can't hit with any power, right? I'll get more into this in a few minutes...

This is the position that I feel you should be getting in at toe touch:

quote:

Originally posted by beemax:
This is the position that I feel you should be getting in at toe touch:

http://cache1.gettyimages.com/xc/71522904.jpg?v=1&c=New...A3B74E9C89C783688B46

Notice the angle of his bat. What I see with yours is that it flattens out even before toe touch, getting darn near parallel to the ground. This takes a ton of loft out of balls that you should be getting in the air.

Here is a view of Manny from the back so you can see another angle of what I am talking about:


This pic is not at toe touch, but before. Even so, you can see the position he is in.

It is tough to break down a swing on youtube because you can't take it frame by frame so I would hesitate to get into much more of the mechanics unless you could convert it to a gif file or something like it.

With your hand position where it is. What patterns of ball do you hit?

Or should I say what is your weakest place(s) in your hitting zones



drill

Beemax,
I'm interested in viewing those photos, but the links aren't working for me.

Any help?

Thanks

It usually depends. When my hands are loose I am usually a line drive hitter, but at the Maple Woods Showcase in Kansas City I was launching the ball a lot better. I have pretty quick hands when they are loose, so my wrap only effects me when I lock up or pull out with my left shoulder. I like these photos and Manny is my favorite hitter. I see what you are saying on the hands though. Thanks for the advice.

quote:

Notice the angle of his bat. What I see with yours is that it flattens out even before toe touch, getting darn near parallel to the ground. This takes a ton of loft out of balls that you should be getting in the air

So, Beemax, how does he get the angle of the bat corrected?.....What corrects the angle?...The hands?....The back elbow?...Or, some other body part?

quote:

What I see is a wrap, yes, but I think you can fix it without thinking about "not wrapping."

Is the "wrap" the same as the bat flattening you talk about?...Or, is this two different things?

quote:

Originally posted by 1BDad:
Beemax,
I'm interested in viewing those photos, but the links aren't working for me.

Any help?

Thanks

1BDad,

I think they are working now. Let me know if you are still having problems.

quote:

Originally posted by BlueDog:

quote:

Notice the angle of his bat. What I see with yours is that it flattens out even before toe touch, getting darn near parallel to the ground. This takes a ton of loft out of balls that you should be getting in the air

So, Beemax, how does he get the angle of the bat corrected?.....What corrects the angle?...The hands?....The back elbow?...Or, some other body part?

quote:

What I see is a wrap, yes, but I think you can fix it without thinking about "not wrapping."

Is the "wrap" the same as the bat flattening you talk about?...Or, is this two different things?

Blue,

Good questions. I think for one his hands are too high at toe touch.

By hitting play then pause as fast as I can on the youtube clip (there is no frame by frame on there that I know of) I see his hands at almost the height of the top of his head at toe touch. Manny's are at the height of his armpit, roughly.

By getting his hands lowered at toe touch, he will be able to swing INTO the path of the ball better rather than chopping down on the ball.

Second, to change the angle of his bat at toe touch I would suggest he take his front arm in a bit closer to his body. He could also take the palm of his left hand and try to take it in towards his armpit.

Try this right now. Grab a bat and rest it on your shoulder so it is "flat" (parallel to the ground). Look at your hands. Then take the bat and point it straight up in the air. See what your hands do? That's the point I'm getting at.

To create the angle I am talking about I would suggest loading the rear elbow like Manny does in the second pic. Not everyone does the high rear elbow load like Manny, but I believe he is a great example of what hitters should try to do with the bat.

As for "wrap," I used to be of the mindset that any angle past 90 degrees towards your head is a wrap. After seeing guys like Manny, I realized this was wrong.

After watching myeslf do it, I saw that "flattening" out the bat was the big problem. If it flattens out behind your head when looking at it from the side, you will not be able to get the ball in the air consistently. Out of all the big leaguers I have looked at, Jeff Francoeur is the only one with any power who flattens out behind his head. Everyone else who has power gets in a position like Manny, or at least close to it.

For crash, I would suggest that he work on this while looking in a mirror first. That is a great way to get instant feedback on what it feels AND looks like.

Looking at them now.

Thanks

quote:

Out of all the big leaguers I have looked at, Jeff Francoeur is the only one with any power who flattens out behind his head.

This is Manny and Jeff.....

So, if Jeff can do it, why should others not do it?


Beemax, what controls the bat barrel?....The hands?...The back elbow?...Or, something else?

J.D. Drew flattens out....






What's controlling the bat barrel in these two hitters?

quote:

Originally posted by BlueDog:

quote:

Out of all the big leaguers I have looked at, Jeff Francoeur is the only one with any power who flattens out behind his head.

This is Manny and Jeff.....

So, if Jeff can do it, why should others not do it?


Beemax, what controls the bat barrel?....The hands?...The back elbow?...Or, something else?

Others should not do it because the overwhelming majority of guys with power DO NOT do what Francoeur does; thats why. If you want to teach guys to hit like Francoeur, then that is your choice. I will not.

Not one thing solely controls the bat barrel, IMO. you can hold your hands totally still then rotate and the barrel will move, right? You can move your elbow up and down and the barrel will move, right? IMO it all depends on the swing.

If you want to debate about this or you have more opinions start a thread on what controls the bat barrel.

quote:

Originally posted by BlueDog:
J.D. Drew flattens out....






What's controlling the bat barrel in these two hitters?

Do you have any side views of J.D.? His bat does not flatten out, IMO. When I spoke of flattening the barrel during the swing, I mean "wrapping" behind your head and getting the barrel behind your head. Drew does not do this. His barrel is "flatter" from this view than Hamilton, but he is not wrapping.

Drew has also hit 11 home runs this year. Is he as good a power hitter as Manny?

What do you think is controlling the barrel in these two hitters? You tell me.

who is the hitter bottom right? Son is going crazy trying to figure it out. please help.

Josh Hamilton

quote:

Crash,

Please stay still!

Just not with your hands and the barrel!

Ok, look at this swing at (forward it to 2:25). I would be interested in your views of this swing at point of toe-touch or just in general. Do you think he has a good swing. The pitcher is a lefty as well as the batter. Need some thoughts on this.

Thanks a ton!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26axJdDKYWw