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If you are a sophomore in HS you are way ahead of most. Here are a few things I noticed:
Your hips aren't leading the hands and you are losing power. It looks like your hands are slightly ahead and they need to be behind the hips. Your stance needs(in my opinion) be a little shorter and you need to get more momentum started forward before you start rotating your hips. Get on the balls of your feet with the butt out. Bend with the hips not at the waist. Last thing I notice is you seems to be getting the lead arm extended too soon. Your swing is very close, with all these things you are just slightly off. I coach HS and would love for my sophomores to come to me with this swing. You have a lot of good stuff to work with.

Coach W
quote:
Originally posted by bsaeball21:
I am getting ready for my sophmore year, and have tried to keep it simple.. Anything major I should work on or change? Thanks for input.

Cage work


Not bad, but there are a few things that could be improved:

1) Your hands are lazy. You should get them up and loading your shoulder with a movement backwards while tipping the barrel of the bat towards the pitcher (like Loose Cannon said). This will help create the "hinge angle" you want to get the bat on the correct plane.

2) Your stance is a bit wide, preventing you from effectively loading the back leg then shifting the pressure forward. You're losing a lot of power here. Shortening the stance might help, but you can maintain this no-stride stance by shifting the pressure back then forward to develop better power.

3) Your hips aren't leading the hands - you have an inefficient kinetic chain. Look at the animated Pujols clip that LC posted and think Hips, Handle, Hands in that order. The hips clear, the handle moves in a circle around the body, the hands snap at the final point of bat lag through the zone.

That being said, you have a classic "metal bat" or "high school" swing. This is not a bad thing (for now), but it'll have to change once you start seeing tailing fastballs at plus velocity. The best hitters learn to adapt when the competition gets tougher - I suggest you find some tough competition and see where you fail.
What do you mean by lazy hands? It makes no sense if you say my hands are lazy, but they are leading my hips? I don't see whats wrong with a wide stance or low hands either, because if you watch Bonds his hands are waist high through the whole swing and Pujols has a wide stance so I really am not seeing where you are coming from.
quote:
Originally posted by bsaeball21:
What do you mean by lazy hands? It makes no sense if you say my hands are lazy, but they are leading my hips? I don't see whats wrong with a wide stance or low hands either, because if you watch Bonds his hands are waist high through the whole swing and Pujols has a wide stance so I really am not seeing where you are coming from.


1) Lazy hands: You keep them still and don't give them a running start by loading straight back.

2) Bonds: He does not keep them waist high. He has a hitch in his swing that brings them down, then back up. This is not something that you should duplicate, but at the launch point, Bonds has his hands at shoulder level and maintains a hinge angle. Look closer at the image.

Like I said about the wide stance; I don't think it's necessarily a problem, but you are not correctly loading back and then shifting the center of pressure forward. You might try experimenting with a different stance to see new results.
Here is a another shot in super slow-mo. I do agree I could get a little more going forward, but my hands are still going back as my hips start to move. swing coach and cannon make it sound like my hands just go straight to the ball with no movement backwards. Thank you guys for the input,I just didnt think my swing was that bad. I put myself out there so I should be prepared for what I hear. I will work on my weight transfer.. Thanks again
slow-mo
quote:
Originally posted by bsaeball21:
Here is a another shot in super slow-mo. I do agree I could get a little more going forward, but my hands are still going back as my hips start to move. swing coach and cannon make it sound like my hands just go straight to the ball with no movement backwards. Thank you guys for the input,I just didnt think my swing was that bad. I put myself out there so I should be prepared for what I hear. I will work on my weight transfer.. Thanks again
slow-mo


Your movement of your hands back to the catcher is well timed. Yeager refers to this as "lead arm extension". It is a characteristic of the MLB swing pattern.

You are obtaining nice lead arm extension and maintaining/increasing it throughout your swing.

Everything looks good ... except for your lower body momentum mechanics.

As good as you are, you are not using what is considered the largest power source ... that being the pushes against the ground.

There are two main pushes that you could improve on.

The push forward (after performing a negative move). It is during this push forward (or stride) that your lead arm extension should be taking place.

Your front foot should serve to block forward movement and push back using the ground. It is this push back action that will further accelerate your lead arm and hips. It is this push back that will allow you to hit the ball with even greater speed.

As should be obvious, the amount of push back will be a strong function of the push forward.

You really do have a terrific swing.

I'd strongly recommend working on the lower body momentum mechanics ... and for two reasons.

1: That's your biggest deficiency in your current swing.

2: It's the biggest source of force available to you ... and you don't want to throw that away ... especially given all the work you've obviously put into training yourself.
Last edited by SunsetHS
quote:
swing coach and cannon make it sound like my hands just go straight to the ball with no movement backwards.



Now, now.....where did I say anything about that.

Your swing path is not high level. You swing down and stay down.

Look at Manny. He swings down and then up. Look at Pujols. Look at Bonds.

This is a HUGE difference. And, the creation of the proper bat path will go a long way toward fixing the fact that you really don't use your hips properly.

The hands (and upper body) control everything. What the hands do, or want to do, makes a difference in how the body works. If the hands are wrong so will the lower body.

I see bug squishing. I see an 'artificial' rear leg/knee turn....down and in.....which is not driven by the hips.

The hips never clear to create a path for the swing. The rear leg turns....but watch the hips....they don't clear. The front foot closed is probably contributing to this.

The improper use of the hips goes hand in hand with you not being able to create the proper swing path. The hands are not working properly and neither are the hips.

The good news is you can fix it relatively quickly if you want to work.
Last edited by Loose Cannon
Your swing is better than 90% of the swings that I have seen at your age and level. Though all the advice appears on point, in analyzing your swing I would enocurage you to consider

1. The barrel of the bat when you load ends up behind you head, which in my opinion -you want to to correct Review Pujol's barrel path. You are loading your upper body at this point rather then your lower body, which is causing your heads to lead rather then your hips. Often times this can be corrected by starting with your hands higher.

A great drill to feel this is a tee drill. Shorten your stance address the tee and open your hips in a preset position (before load). You should feel your hands in behind your hips at contact
Brandon,

I think a lot of the advice given on here to you is very good, I just want to add something.

Watch Pujols' back foot as he swings. Then watch yours. What do you notice?

I see Pujols' back foot coming off the ground for a split second. The overwhelming majority of MLB hitters do this as they swing.

IMO this is not something that you should focus on in the box as you swing. Rather, it is a product of proper rotation and weight shift.

Maybe you could try a little more of a narrow stance to gain better rotation. IMO the wide stance is fine as long as it does not hinder your rotation, which I think is an issue with you. Don't get me wrong, you are rotating, I just think you can do it better.

A good drill for this was taught to me by Tony Tarasco, my hitting coach my first year in pro ball. First, he switched out my bat and gave me a fungo to swing with. He set up a tee and had me line it up with my stance at a location of a fastball down the middle.

Once I had my stance set, he had me step straight back (towards where the catcher would be) 1 1/2 steps. What you do is replace your front foot where your back foot was and then another half step. Once there, turn your front side out and face the tee at a 45 degree angle (I hope this is easy to follow).

To get set, put your feet together and rest the bat on your back shoulder, arms and hands loose to the point where you can almost tap your elbows together. Now step towards the tee with your back foot (trying to reach where your back foot originally was, even though you may not reach it). It is important when you step with that back foot that you are strong and loaded on it, with some knee flexion. Follow with your front foot stride and swing, nice and loose with your goal being a hard line drive up the middle.

This should most definitely bring your back foot WAY off the ground, to where you can get a feel for it and a proper, complete weight shift.

The reason for the fungo is to really get the feel of the head of the bat and throwing it out at the direction of the pitcher.

If this drill doesn't make sense to you, let me know, but if it does, try it out. I think it could help you really get a feel for using your body more effectively in your swing.
Last edited by beemax
quote:
Originally posted by beemax:

To get set, put your feet together and rest the bat on your back shoulder, arms and hands loose to the point where you can almost tap your elbows together.
Now step towards the tee with your back foot (trying to reach where your back foot originally was, even though you may not reach it). It is important when you step with that back foot that you are strong and loaded on it, with some knee flexion.
Follow with your front foot stride and swing, nice and loose with your goal being a hard line drive up the middle.


The reason for the fungo is to really get the feel of the head of the bat and throwing it out at the direction of the pitcher.



Could you post a video of this drill? It eludes me how stepping towards the tee with the back foot first could result in a good swing.

I cannot envision the drill as described.

If the drill works for you, try propelling the weight of the bat head towards third (since you are a lefty) base while aiming your hands to the ball.

You'll get a bit more leverage and bat speed through the additional angular momentum of the bat.
Last edited by Quincy
Quincy,

If I have time I will make a video of the drill.

It is curious to me how you cannot envision the drill as described, but then you make suggestions for doing it better. If you don't know what it looks like, how can you give advice on it?

Again, this drill was taught to me by Tony Tarasco, my hitting coach my first year in pro ball. He learned it from being teammates with guys such as Jeter, Bernie Williams, Dave Justice, etc.

The purpose of stepping with your back foot first is to get the feeling of being loaded on your back leg before your front foot comes down, so you can rotate that weight into your front foot during the swing.

It is used to prevent drifting and to get the feeling of rotating into a firm front side.
Richard/Chameleon/Loose Cannob etc.,

Did you get banned again. I'd really like to see the comparison. You are always calling people out when they don't respond to your babbling. Where are you.

I've lurked on this and other forums for a while and I'm amazed that anyone listens to you. You insult and demean people who actually have something to say and add to the conversation, then tell them they don't understand because they don't swing a bat in your beer league.

Please, show us the comparison of YOUR one student to the young hitter in this thread and provide us with your inciteful interpretation.
quote:
Originally posted by ShawnLee:
Richard/Chameleon/Loose Cannob etc.,

Did you get banned again. I'd really like to see the comparison. You are always calling people out when they don't respond to your babbling. Where are you.

I've lurked on this and other forums for a while and I'm amazed that anyone listens to you. You insult and demean people who actually have something to say and add to the conversation, then tell them they don't understand because they don't swing a bat in your beer league.

Please, show us the comparison of YOUR one student to the young hitter in this thread and provide us with your inciteful interpretation.


Naah those of us who migrated over to Loose Cannon's site... our kids are hitting better than ever. We now recognize a good barrel path. Creating the arc. More and more come around once they see the benefit of early batspeed. I wish he'd improve his bedside manner, but that's how it goes.
Blue dog,

You're another one. A mini richard. You argue and emphatically state how wrong others are, yet never show any video of YOUR students. At least richard puts up those embarassing clips of himself and his student.

How did you come by your great knowledge if i may ask? I know richard is a bar keep who thinks hes a tough guy (behind the keyboard) because he has a pool hall. Certainly that qualifies him as an expert.

I guess those that can do and those that can't try to teach or blow smoke like you and richard.
Last edited by ShawnLee
quote:
Originally posted by ShawnLee:
Blue dog,

You're another one. A mini richard. You argue and emphatically state how wrong others are, yet never show any video of YOUR students. At least richard puts up those embarassing clips of himself and his student.

I guess those that can do and those that can't try to teach or blow smoke like you and richard.


Look forward to the forthcoming ShawnLee clips.
Did I say I teach? Your reading comprehension isn't very good. I'm just a dad trying to learn more to help my son and every thread you find on any board that hasn't banned richard is polluted with his chest beating b.s.

How did he get to be so smart. He was exactly this arrogant when he was *****'s b***h. Then for Emglishbey. Now he's "discovered" the truth. Please, he has some kind of severe emotional need that is only met by this internet bully b.s.

Again, i just wish I could read one thread about hitting without having to read his drivel. I don't know why the moderators let him come back over and over. He won't change. It's not that he doesn't have some reasonable input occasionally, but the mine is bigger than yours stuff is tiresome and childish.
Last edited by ShawnLee
quote:
Originally posted by ShawnLee:
Did I say I teach? Your reading comprehension isn't very good. I'm just a dad trying to learn more to help my son and every thread you find on any board that hasn't banned richard is polluted with his chest beating b.s.

How did he get to be so smart. He was exactly this arrogant when he was *****'s b***h. Then for Emglishbey. Now he's "discovered" the truth. Please, he has some kind of severe emotional need that is only met by this internet bully b.s.


He's been banned so you don't have to worry. Problem is this site gets to have about as many posts as ****** on a given day. Those of us who wandered in to see what he was talking about regarding the hands are having very good results. So at the end of the day while his style turns off a lot of people the results are impressive.
Glad its working for you. I still don't think he's done anything but stolen a little from Mankin a little from DMac and a few others and, heaven forbid, Englishbey, and then present himself as a guru.

I was a lurker on Steve's site and have spoken to him a couple of times. I don't agree with everything he says, but i remember when richard first came up with the "swivel" that proceeded his epiphany about the 2nd engine. He'd been there a long time and hadn't figured that out and it was pretty dang obvious.

Then he had his meltdown because someone corrected him when he was trying to impress some new guy. richard was obviously wrong, and he came unglued. It seems like he's been trying to make stuff up to discredit Steve ever since.

Good luck, but always remember that he was just ABSOLUTELY 100% sure of himself and ARROGANT when defending Ny**n and Englishbey until his meltdown. It's hard to trust his integrity from what i've seen as i think he'd rather win and argument or pi**ing contest than worry about being right.
Last edited by ShawnLee
quote:
Originally posted by ShawnLee:
Glad its working for you. I still don't think he's done anything but stolen a little from Mankin a little from DMac and a few others and, heaven forbid, Englishbey, and then present himself as a guru.



He isn't selling anything outside of $25 web space for maybe 30 of us. Teacherman/Loose Cannon is quite content to actually not take credit for a lot of things. He's clearly stated many, many times that Tom Guerry and Donny Buster were right all along. As far as Dmac, he was the one who got me over to his site and had the initial direct hand in helping me out. So I fail to see how you think he stole from him when Dmac was actively helping him.

Besides this argument all sounds personality driven.
Pronk,

Please don't be disingenuous. I never said he was doing it for money. Hes doing it for EGO. I've read a lot of your posts and you seem to be a reasonable and intelligent man. Perhaps my use of the word stole was confusing, but you know what i mean. All he did was to "borrow" pieces from people to make a patchwork quilt. He got the torque from Mankin, although he denies the shoulder rotation, because that would agree with Englishbey, He got the tip and rip from DMac, who btw, he was absolutely brutalizing on Englishbey's site befor ehe was banned from there. He got weathervaning from Epstein, but he says Epstein has it wrong and he has it right. Ane he originally got the swivel from Englishbey.

The point is, I don't really have a problem with the approach, because i think all of the above have some things right and some I'm not sure of. What i do have a probelm with is having to read through all his b.s. every time someone starts a decent thread on hitting on any site where he is't banned.

Another issue is the shoulder rotation. That is probably the most absurd thing i've ever heard. As part of the kinetic link, each successive body part resists the rotation slightly, for a brief moment and then contributes to it. To say that the shoulders don't add anything is to refute not only common sense, but the studies of a lot of people who are clearly more intelligent than he.

I don't really believe that you believe that b.s., but you never call him on it. There is a reason why his posse consists of 3 or 4 hard core regulars and its only partially due to his attitude. Stop and think about that shoulder thing for a minute before you respond. I'm not trying to cause problems in richards world, but you, unlike most of his "boys" seem to be an intelligent ADULT.

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