Looking for help with my swing.

welcome to the site.  You will be rightly cautioned here about taking instruction from people online who see one swing in a cage environment.  But, what the heck.  Here's something to try... it looks like the top hand releases a bit early.  I would try staying connected with the top hand and driving thru the ball with it for another three inches through the hitting zone. (stay thru the ball)

I actually think that too, do you think this could be due to making contact so far out front, or something else?

My son used to have this issues a lot, mostly when he was a HS Freshman on the varsity team.  He was getting hits, but a high percentage of them were bloopers out to RF and like you, he'd foul a lot of them off.  So . . .

If this clip pretty much represents how you are consistently swinging, I would way you need to level out the plane of the bat some.   And to do that it helps to do as mentioned before where you drive more with the right hand through the contact zone (and to do that it helps a lot not to let go of the bat as you've shown here).  But the biggest issue I see for that RF weakness is that your right arm and elbow is completely collapsed into your body way too long before you get any arm extension.  My son found it helpful to think in terms of keeping his body a little more upright, which seemed to help him get his right arm in a better position and level the bat through the zone.

I'm FAR from an expert, but I sure don't see a problem with the bat path (slightly up) through the zone.  Swing looks pretty good to me.  I'm guessing timing is the main culprit.

Verndawg24 posted:

I actually think that too, do you think this could be due to making contact so far out front, or something else?

Possible.  Would have to see more swings.  Just think "stay thru the ball".  Good chance this will also help with timing.

Download the app called ubersense - now Technique.  Free app, you can video and analyze in super slow motion, draw on the image to show position.  Video from behind and the side and then you can look at the recommendations and see if any make sense.  From what I see, you are hitting the ball too far out in front of the plate and your head is not looking where the ball makes contact.  Put a ball at the back of the plate and keep your head down through the swing.  Can not tell from this if you are controlling your elbows or not.

I'll toss up some more videos here in a bit. All this is very helpful. 

That'll help.  

Whatever you find that helps, hope you will get back to us and let us know what seemed to work for you. 

Your load is sudden and rushed so my guess is it's a timing issue. Load slowly , using it as a timing mechanism and be sudden when you pull the trigger.

Here's one from last off season. I have heard the rushed load before but I have a lot of trouble slowing the load down because their is so little to it.

Seeing the same thing. You have to be almost perfect on your load timing. Leaves you little for adjustability. Think loading/gathering before you swing. There is a difference between rushing and being sudden. I'm guessing you are good on the fastball if you are guessing correctly but might struggle a bit with off speed maybe?

Cabbage is right the accuracy of any analysis here will be a good guess at best...In watching the second video several times and trying to pause it at various points in the swing you may want to consider how early in your swing you lose connection between your hands and your shoulder.  This is only an impression... and if you work with someone in person the impression may be incorrect with more data points but it would appear that you are disconnecting early in the swing.  When you disconnect too early it results in early commitment to the swing.  This in turn can lead to some of the symptoms and inconsistency you mention.  Welcome to the site and good luck!

How do you mean by disconnecting? As in casting my hands out away from the shoulder?

Verndawg24 posted:

How do you mean by disconnecting? As in casting my hands out away from the shoulder?

No... I think your line to the ball looks fine.  Your hands always have to come away from your shoulder at some point so it is more about the timing of when you make the final delivery of the hands.  The longer the connection stays the shorter the swing path.

Take a look at this video.  It is not intended to demonstrate this particular aspect of the swing but what you will see is a strong hand connection until his shoulders are well into the swing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jODmV7A40K0

Anyway, like I said this is an opinion at best.  If you are really troubled by it you need to have someone with good high speed diagnostic video (like in the attached) to see if my perception has any value to you.  If not then you totally got your moneys worth

1. Your 'stride' should extend your back leg almost fully.  It doesn't, so you drift forward. Stride an extra 2-3 inches, focusing on back leg extension.

2. After 'hip slot', your front bicep/elbow 'disconnects' from your torso.  Continue to turn/rotate your body, instead of pushing your hands at the ball.  (Notice that you hit the ball 7-10 inches in front of your front foot.  Unless they are fooled, MLB hitters usually make contact at the ball of their front foot)

Sent you a PM

First off, Anything I type here is just my opinion, if you're looking for feedback on your swing or hitting mechanics , trust me you'll find it. But that isn't always a good thing. Let me explain, there are plenty of guys that will critique your swing and make adjustments but is success in hitting a baseball really about that? I'm more of an approach guy . I'm not suggesting that fundamental mechanics don't exist in a proper swing , What I AM  suggesting is that based on your video, you have a fundamental swing already. So, if that exists why aren't you hitting? My 2 cents is going to lean towards questioning your approach . There are several different definitions to what an approach is. I'm gonna focus on one. Intent. And before I go any farther, understand this is an inside thing not a mechanical outer physical thing.

You can give Miguel Cabrera a broken down , beat up little league bat from Target, Manny Ramirez ( Back when he was Manny ) a girls softball bat or a damn piece of a tree trunk and throw a baseball at them in a cage and they're going rip the ball. You could ask Cabrera to put his legs close together and do a leg kick and he'll still rip the ball or ask Manny to crouch down like a little guy and he'll still flat out mash. Why is that?

Those guys are extremely talented, we all know that, but consider this: Those guys are more Approach based than mechanics based. Their approach really is just sort of basic 'See the ball......hit the ball' But it's rooted in reliance on hand eye coordination and absolute confidence that they will. That's the thing, These guys don't doubt their abilities! I'm not suggesting those guys don't work on things or make adjustments , what I'm saying is that is NOT the driving force in what they do. Those guys have an intent or a mental approach that probably makes up 80% of it.

Most of the time when a guy starts looking for mechanical answers he's lost all confidence in his swing. And that's the real problem.

What's the old saying? 'A man wakes up w/10 problems a day. Once he ' thinks' he has a problem.....he has 11

Yogi Berra said it best, 'You can't hit and think at the same time' . I believe that.

Joc Pederson is a very talented young ballplayer that plays for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He made the All-Star team last year. He fell into a slump in the 2nd half of the '15 season. Then it got worse. Now keep in mind Joc is surrounded by the best hitting instructors in the country, they worked w/ him...It got worse. Think about that. The BEST teachers available and it got WORSE. They've tweeked this guy to the point that I'm not sure if he'll stay in the big leagues . (In my opinion, they should leave him alone and let him find his swing...The swing that got him to the Bigs)

My advice is that you don't change anything as far as your mechanics . As a matter of fact I woudn't even swing a bat for a few days, and then the next time you go to hit in a cage or someone throws you BP , No practice swings. Just step in the box. Put the bat on your shoulder and let it rest there ( Paul Goldschmidt ) fingers/Grip real loose and stay like that till you load.Then just let it fly and only focus on seeing the ball. Don't think about your hands or any mechanics......Just swing with intent .

Have you ever seen a 'bad ball' hitter? It's all intent. Or a one handed double? Same thing intent. The guy decided he was going to hit the next pitch. Period.

Lastly , as you can see, I believe hitting mechanics are overrated. They're important but hugely over valued in guys that have been playing the game for a while. Confidence and seeing the ball well will get you farther in my opinion. When you have a moment go to youtube and watch Derek Jeter swing then while your there, look up Derek Jeter in High School. When you see his swing its pretty much the same swing he's always had. That speaks volumes regarding mechanics and changing guys.

Appreciate all the help guys. Very appreciated.