Freshman Swing

go3 - Got some great weight transfer there on that swing. Balance is great as well. Cuts himself of on the extension a little bit, though looks to be an inside pitch which could be the culprit.

Don't see a lot of freshman in HS swing with that amount of body control. Doing a lot of things right!

Nice swing!

Good call Nate, it was in inside pitch. I thought he did a great job keeping his hands inside and driving it down the LF line about 6 feet fair.

Here's one from Friday night that was not quite as inside. He drove this one to the track in left center.

Friday

Looks very nice. IF he ever begins to have trouble as he advances, the first thing I would consider for adjustment would be the high leg stride.

BUT he may not struggle, so I would not change a thing unless he finds himself hitting a wall.

Nice stroke and I like the bat trigger that is noticable in the second clip.

I didn't look by frame, but it looks like you begin your swing before your front foot touches. Don't open your front foot as you take it down. (Keep the kick)

Great observations, thank you.

We do work on keeping the load until touchdown. I think that's one of the tougher aspects for a young hitter to master. The hands are always ready to fire!

quote:

Originally posted by go3:
Good call Nate, it was in inside pitch. I thought he did a great job keeping his hands inside and driving it down the LF line about 6 feet fair.

Here's one from Friday night that was not quite as inside. He drove this one to the track in left center.

Friday

Man, I love his balance and weight transfer into the pitch. He's doing a lot of good things!

quote:

Originally posted by SultanofSwat:
I didn't look by frame, but it looks like you begin your swing before your front foot touches. Don't open your front foot as you take it down. (Keep the kick)

exactly my thoughts. Don't know what level the pitcher is, but as kids start throwing hard, your gonna need to get the foot down quicker and before the rest of the swing starts to be successful. Doesn't mean that the big leg kick is bad, its just gotta be separated from the actual swing itself.

Good:
1. Rhythm/Timing
2. Balance
4. Good separation

Needs Work:
1. Hands commit too early. You can get away with offspeed avg High School pitches, but high end pitchers will eat your lunch (i.e. PG Tourns)

Good:
1. Excellent weight transfer
2. Swing plane is excellent
3. Uses hips better than 99.9% of players I have seen play high school

Bad:
1. Limited "Stretch and Fire" (hard to tell from the distance, IMO his hands don't get behind his rear hip as well as they could. Still, the distance can play tricks on my eyes)

2. Appears to have a very wide radius of rotation (larger than half of the ball of your femur is bad). Are you familiar with backside resistance AKA "The Move"?

Hey, thanks for the comments. It was an inside pitch so maybe that explains the hands??

No, please explain the move Low Finish.

go3-

Backside resistance AKA "The Move" is coiling the weight back as you move forward. "The Move" is the back foot attempting to resist the back hip turning out. It eliminates hip glide in 99% of cases.

Backside resistance is basically the opposite of "squish the bug". PM me with any other questions. I don't want to hijack the thread.

For a freshman this is overall a very good swing! Great weight transfer, timing, and body control. Also a great job of keeping his hands inside. But, if he begins to go into a long slump at the plate I would go back to basics and calm down the high stride. Even great hitters like Albert Pujols just pivot their front foot instead of lifting. Keep up the good work!

quote:

Originally posted by Thomas Wilson:
Even great hitters like Albert Pujols just pivot their front foot instead of lifting.

Here's where he's trying to get

Well, it's been awhile and I thought would resurrect this old post and give an update.

My son went on to hit .341 his freshman season, keeping his swing as pictured in the videos. He didn't hit any out, but he had 8-10 to the warning track.

On to this year, his sophmore season, he hit .448, leading his team in every offensive category, and notched his first home run late in the season.

He is 3 weeks into legion ball and hitting .400
currently with 4 doubles, 3 triples and another home run.

Thanks you all for your comments and advise, as we have incorporated several ideas into our training and the results have been astonishing.

He's still taking his step, but we have worked hard keeping the front leg straight at impact and staying behind the ball.

Thanks again and Nate, I appreciate your tips on the website.

quote:

Originally posted by go3:
Here's where he's trying to get

It would be interesting for someone to analyze A-rod's swing on this video, particularly if they didn't know who he was!

Left leg doesn't stiffen and hips never really come through. But he still hits the ball hard! That's why he makes $30 million/year.

quote:

Originally posted by go3:
Here's where he's trying to get

For gitnby, here's the analysis.

-Doesn't employ the lower half swivel to it's full effect, likely loses some power.
-Moves the hips and legs better than most in baseball
-Excellent use of hands, wrists, and forearms.
-Stays well centered over his rear hip

quote:

Originally posted by Low Finish:
-Doesn't employ the lower half swivel to it's full effect, likely loses some power.
-Moves the hips and legs better than most in baseball

Huh?

quote:

Originally posted by SultanofSwat:

quote:

Originally posted by Low Finish:
-Doesn't employ the lower half swivel to its full effect, likely loses some power.
-Moves the hips and legs better than most in baseball

Huh?

What I meant is that while he uses his legs and hips VERY effectively, he could have more power.