MS swing feedback

Hi and welcome to the site. I like A LOT of things about his swing - very nice. He is clearly getting good instruction. In fact, the only thing I will comment on is more of a personal preference thing. Here is a link from a recent post that talks about five different types of stride/loads...
http://www.monkeysee.com/play/...ting-the-stride-load

Your son actually incorporates two of the five. He toe-taps and he uses a high leg kick. He also has quite a bit of travel with his hands during his load. So, cumulatively, there is a lot of movement. I don't believe any of it is technically incorrect. But it can be tough to have good timing and balance against good pitching when there is this much movement. I know that there are several players at the highest level who have great success with this type of load movement. I just prefer a more quiet load to allow younger players optimal balance and timing.
Does he ever struggle with the timing aspect when he faces good P's?
Best wishes

I think cabbage is right on about there being a lot of goods things inb that swing...but, does he regularly swing a 32/29 or is that just for bp or this video....IMO, it appears he is laboring in the middle of the swing and I think it is due to the lenght/weight. I think there is opportunity for more bat speed with a differnt bat size

Thanks for the feedback guys!

Re the questions...

Definitely noticed the moving parts. He's always had some variation of that, which I think helps him timing-wise. His hitting coach doesn't teach that at all, but told him that he's ok with it as long as he gets his hands in a hitting position in time. I have noticed he tones it down a little against harder throwers.

As with most kids, he gets his timing thrown off occasionally, but he's gotten a lot better about adjusting recently. He typically hits well off good pitching (has developed very good plate discipline--which wasn't always the case in younger days).

The biggest thing is he's really learned to take pitches early in the count or foul balls off when he's fooled. Before last year, he used to swing at just about anything and put bad pitches in play, so that was a really big change in his approach. In fall travel ball, he didn't strikeout in 50 ABs, while walking 10 times, and hitting with good power, so his change in approach made a huge difference.

As for his usual bat weight, he just swings that heavier bat occasionally in batting practice. I think it's too heavy for him to use in game situations, but we just use it for strength and to let him see what it'd be like to hit with a heavier bat. His game bat is a 31"/26oz.

Let me start by saying that this swing is better than most in the age group. However, I believe he has an issue that needs to be addressed. The hesitation needs to be dealt with. He starts, pauses, and then goes forward. He needs to start and go forward. There shouldn't be a pause.

The lead leg is blocking his pelvis off. This is part of what's causing the hesitation, IMO.

Please take a look at this video of Teixeira. Notice how he does hesitate or pause. Notice how the leg begins to turn inward as soon as he starts moving forward. However, this isn't an active function of the rear leg. The rear leg is getting turned inward as the result of the rear scapula's retraction and the pelvis resisting.



If he has good discipline and knows how to foul the ball off, his mental mechanics are very good for his age.

Just find a way to eliminate the hesitation. That may entail eliminating the leg kick-for now at least. There are a few upper body issues as well, but addressing the lower body will make it possible for him to develop a more efficient upper body.

quote:

Originally posted by mcloven:
Definitely noticed the moving parts. He's always had some variation of that, which I think helps him timing-wise. His hitting coach doesn't teach that at all, but told him that he's ok with it as long as he gets his hands in a hitting position in time. I have noticed he tones it down a little against harder throwers.
As with most kids, he gets his timing thrown off occasionally, but he's gotten a lot better about adjusting recently. He typically hits well off good pitching (has developed very good plate discipline--which wasn't always the case in younger days).

Yeah, as I was going to say . . .the many moving parts issue can be a big problem as he faces pitchers with higher velocities and better off seed command. It's not that big to deal for him right now, but it won't be long and he'll needs to get rid of a lot of that.

quote:

Originally posted by mcloven:
The biggest thing is he's really learned to take pitches early in the count or foul balls off when he's fooled. Before last year, he used to swing at just about anything and put bad pitches in play, so that was a really big change in his approach. In fall travel ball, he didn't strikeout in 50 ABs, while walking 10 times, and hitting with good power, so his change in approach made a huge difference.

Sounds good. . .he's learning well. My son did that kind of thing too, and by the time he got into HS he had excellent knowledge of where the strike zone is (much better than many of the umpires that would call strike 3 on a ball way out of the zone )

quote:

Originally posted by Low Finish:
.. The lead leg is blocking his pelvis off. This is part of what's causing the hesitation, IMO.

Please take a look at this video of Teixeira. Notice how he does hesitate or pause. Notice how the leg begins to turn inward as soon as he starts moving forward.....

I have slowed the video down and do not see any hesitation....immediately at heel down he begins turning inward just like Teixeria

quote:

Originally posted by 4baseknock:
I have slowed the video down and do not see any hesitation....immediately at heel down he begins turning inward just like Teixeria

Take another look at it. Notice how Teixeira's rear leg is planting the lead foot. McLoven's son is almost frozen. His rear leg has completely stalled out. Teixeira's rear leg is active and driving.

Your sons well on his way to being a collision hitter when he grows up. Leg kick isn't easy it requires good timing to run into one on time and square it up. My advice, get him to seperate properly, control that backside and land on that instep. Gotta make sure that heels in the sky. That's bad transfer

Still not sure what you are talking about.  Tex's back leg is not making any movement until the front foot is down on the load (Same with Mclovens if you slow the video down.). That is standard with any good load.  Hands, etc....should not be moving forward until front foot is down. Otherwise, you are in trouble especially on off-speed stuff. 

A few more swings from today from a different angle:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwUpmJX2BPY

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUeDNgElne4

 

I really like his intent and energy to the ball. I would try to get his swing 'shorter' because jmo this type of swing kills mediocre pitching but will pop up vs top notch pitching.  I'm no hitting guru.

Thanks T-S.  As far as the length of the swing, you may be focusing on the optics of the lower half/timing mechanism rather than the swing itself.  Here's a stop action of the first hit in the 2nd video above.  He could still stop his swing at this point and, on this toss, he ended up hitting the ball straight up the middle (so, he maintains his adjustability).   His instructor and I have worked on trying to minimize some of the leg action, but, we're also trying to keep the swing "athletic"/natural until he shows signs of struggling with timing.

  

Mcloven....I think his swing mechanics look very good for a 7th grader.

I would not worry about changing the high front leg kick instantly as his loading of hands, toe down before initiating his swing, and balance through swing look very good. You can tell he works at it.

My son had the same high front leg kick in junior high and all good hitting coaches will tell you to gradually work on it during drills to help, but in the end, facing better pitching as he ages, especially faster pitching, will force him to quiet down his front leg timing step during the load.

       

       

A high front leg kick does not always equate to a "long" swing. He is actually in perfect 50/50 weight balance once the front foot touches down and this occurs before he initiates his swing. His hand path to the ball is very short if you slow the video down.