Swing Analysis

I can't see it frame by frame, but it looks like he handles the weight of the bat very easily (that's a pretty heavy bat for someone his age) and that's a good thing. How does he handle off speed stuff? Does he get caught out on his front foot very much? He gets good separation and stretch, but because I can't see it frame by frame, I can't tell if he uses it as well as he could be. He may, but I just can't tell.

He's hitting the ball awfully hard, so I'm not sure I would do much to his swing at this point, unless he's having a specific problem.

He stays back pretty well with off speed. There are times he might be looking for a fastball from a pitcher throwing gas and gets an off speed pitch and some times gets out front but not often. He has been playing SS for a 14u travel ball team since Spring, summer and fall season, hence the use of the drop 3 bat.

quote:

Originally posted by powertoallfields:
I can't see it frame by frame, but it looks like he handles the weight of the bat very easily (that's a pretty heavy bat for someone his age) and that's a good thing. How does he handle off speed stuff? Does he get caught out on his front foot very much? He gets good separation and stretch, but because I can't see it frame by frame, I can't tell if he uses it as well as he could be. He may, but I just can't tell.

He's hitting the ball awfully hard, so I'm not sure I would do much to his swing at this point, unless he's having a specific problem.

By the way I am not very smart with editing video. How can I edit the video to show frame by frame? Any step by step advice. Thanks!

quote:

Originally posted by G-Man22:
He stays back pretty well with off speed. There are times he might be looking for a fastball from a pitcher throwing gas and gets an off speed pitch and some times gets out front but not often. He has been playing SS for a 14u travel ball team since Spring, summer and fall season, hence the use of the drop 3 bat.

quote:

Originally posted by powertoallfields:
I can't see it frame by frame, but it looks like he handles the weight of the bat very easily (that's a pretty heavy bat for someone his age) and that's a good thing. How does he handle off speed stuff? Does he get caught out on his front foot very much? He gets good separation and stretch, but because I can't see it frame by frame, I can't tell if he uses it as well as he could be. He may, but I just can't tell.

He's hitting the ball awfully hard, so I'm not sure I would do much to his swing at this point, unless he's having a specific problem.

I looked by frame.

His hands leave his shoulder a little too soon, which creates a downward swing path (the lowest point of his bat path is at contact). He has great bat speed (really great), but I'm guessing most of it is generated after contact because of the bat path.

MLB hitters' lowest point in the bat path is near the hip, well before contact, like this:


If he can perform the typical 2 tee drill, his bat path is downward.

If a pitch is knee high wouldnt the bat path have to be below the hips? Any drills you can reccomend that will help with this?

quote:

Originally posted by SultanofSwat:
I looked by frame.

His hands leave his shoulder a little too soon, which creates a downward swing path (the lowest point of his bat path is at contact). He has great bat speed (really great), but I'm guessing most of it is generated after contact because of the bat path.

MLB hitters' lowest point in the bat path is near the hip, well before contact, like this:


If he can perform the typical 2 tee drill, his bat path is downward.

quote:

If a pitch is knee high wouldnt the bat path have to be below the hips?

The bat head will drop below the hips for any pitch below the hips, of course.

Many confusing definitions for "downward" etc.

Your kid is swing like this "\" while the ball is coming in like "/".

An MLB swing is more like (I got this example from someone else) an airplane landing then taking off again before contact. See the swing above (with the red dots) for an exact example.

quote:

Any drills you can reccomend that will help with this?

Just keep his hands back. You don't need to buy anything, or spend any money.

Use the 2 tee drill (balls are level) to check if he's still swinging down (if he can miss the first ball and hit the 2nd, that's not good). Keep watching video and check his bat path.

Set the tee's up where in his stance in relationship to the plate for the two tee drill?

quote:

Originally posted by SultanofSwat:

quote:

If a pitch is knee high wouldnt the bat path have to be below the hips?

The bat head will drop below the hips for any pitch below the hips, of course.

Many confusing definitions for "downward" etc.

Your kid is swing like this "\" while the ball is coming in like "/".

An MLB swing is more like (I got this example from someone else) an airplane landing then taking off again before contact. See the swing above (with the red dots) for an exact example.

quote:

Any drills you can reccomend that will help with this?

Just keep his hands back. You don't need to buy anything, or spend any money.

Use the 2 tee drill (balls are level) to check if he's still swinging down (if he can miss the first ball and hit the 2nd, that's not good). Keep watching video and check his bat path.

I was confusing. Sorry. The 2 tee drill (set up like the pic below) is bad - it's for downswingers. You can use it as a test to see if you are still swinging down.

quote:

Originally posted by SultanofSwat:
I was confusing. Sorry. The 2 tee drill (set up like the pic below) is bad - it's for downswingers. You can use it as a test to see if you are still swinging down.

Try to hit the ball on the back tee through the front ball. If you just knock the ball off the tee (hit the tee with the back ball) you are swinging down through the ball.

After reading some of the comments. I had his hitting instructor work with him on getting rid of that downward motion on his baseball swing. Here is a new video. If you all would be so kind please look and let me know what you think. Its best viewed in the large screen mode.

Thanks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05eCwGAV-zs

I too am impressed by the bat speed considering his age and the size of the bat (plus he doesn't look like a big kid).

One comment and one question- first, I'm not a big fan of a kid taking a whole bunch of swings in one burst with no break. In the most recent clip, he didn't take much time between swings and seemed to hit constantly for a few minutes, which probably added up to 30+ swings. I would keep it to short segments of 8-12 swings. You could see him visibly tire a few times but he eventually kept hacking. I realize you're probably paying the instructor by the half hour or hour, so he feels like he needs to get your son a bunch of swings. But I'd prefer fewer swings at 100% than a bunch of hacks with jello arms.

Now, my question- what specifically was the one knee drill working on? I'm not sure if the video had sound. If so, I couldn't hear it. Thanks

Gman,

I cant offer anytime feedback for swing analysis. (I'm not smart enough:-), but I just wanted to say that your son looks like he must be beast out there!
11 years old ad playing with 14U team! A swing like that! ..with a -3! ..and looks like he has an incredible work ethic!

You must very very proud. Congrats!

No time to study it right now, but I see the ball exiting up (good), and his bat speed is very good.

Thank you for the kind words Emanski's Heroes. He does have a good work ethic and this is his not mine. He eats, sleeps and drinks baseball and as long as he does his mom and I will support whatever he needs to improve. I hope for him that if he keeps this same work ethic that he will at least have the opportunity to play at the college level. But only time will tell.

donocaster: Also thank you very much for your comments. And yes his mother and I are both very proud of him. Now I dont know as to whether I would go as far to say he is a beast in 14u. All these 14 year old kids tower over him and outweigh him by 40 pounds or more. But he does start at shortstop, hits 2nd in the line up and holds his own out there.

He does have an advantage though that most of the other kids on the 14u team dont. When we face a team for the first time and they see his size. They believe because of his size they can throw fastballs by him. Which LOL doesnt work often. After a couple of at bats and they see they cant then they start to mix it up on him.


Emanski's: Yes at some point within the training he was getting tired. That drill on the knee was the one that did it to him. He even made the comment during a break that this drill made his left arm feel like jello because of his one hand release. That drill is suppose to allow you to work your hands more since you cant use your lower body. The instructor is Tony Miner who played with the Indians organization and his summer team 14u coach.

Again thank you all for the comments. If anyone notices any glitches in his swing please share.

quote:

Originally posted by Emanski's Heroes:
I too am impressed by the bat speed considering his age and the size of the bat (plus he doesn't look like a big kid).

One comment and one question- first, I'm not a big fan of a kid taking a whole bunch of swings in one burst with no break. In the most recent clip, he didn't take much time between swings and seemed to hit constantly for a few minutes, which probably added up to 30+ swings. I would keep it to short segments of 8-12 swings. You could see him visibly tire a few times but he eventually kept hacking. I realize you're probably paying the instructor by the half hour or hour, so he feels like he needs to get your son a bunch of swings. But I'd prefer fewer swings at 100% than a bunch of hacks with jello arms.

Now, my question- what specifically was the one knee drill working on? I'm not sure if the video had sound. If so, I couldn't hear it. Thanks

Tough angle and no slowmo w/ youtube, but it looks like there's some early counter-rotation of the shoulders (often the case w/ side toss, but quite prevalent also in most youth swings) and maybe some bat drag too. Arms seem to be getting ahead of shoulder rotation.

I'd like to see some head-on (perpendicular) camera angles, as well as live pitching.

OK, looked by frame.

His back elbow is disconnecting from his hip, prior to ball contact, and is pushing his back arm toward the dugout.

This knee drill is reinforcing the lack of hip turn and elbow/hip disconnect.

One way to measure the effectiveness of your swing and any new drills or techniques is to measure ball exit speed before and after. Use a radar gun, a wood bat, and a tee. Then you can see for yourself whether something is working, or if something is destructive. (Also, make sure the ball is exiting up - around 20-30 degrees, not down or flat.)

quote:

Originally posted by SultanofSwat:
His back elbow is disconnecting from his hip, prior to ball contact, and is pushing his back arm toward the dugout.

Agreed. You can see his elbow in the middle of his belly instead of further back towards/on his hip.

Nice Batspeed

GMan? You still monitoring this thread?

Yes I am thank you. Was out of town for a baseball tournament so havent had a chance to respond.

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