Unorthodox Swings

It does make you wonder how guys like that make it to the majors without someone trying to fix things. But overall it comes down to he was lucky and was around guys who gave him a chance to fail first at what he does before they started to fix things. They just didn't fail and need the fix.

If I get a kid who has an unorthodox swing I'm going to pay special attention to him. I'm going to see how well he gets to those universal hitting positions and how the ball jumps off the bat if he's hitting. If he's producing then I'm going to talk to him and find out who taught him that or if he figured it out on his own. Then I'm going to try and tailor my teaching to his style to make him successful.

Don't fix what's not broken.

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unorthodox swings

But, of course, it's not. His stance is weird, but once his front toe touches the ground, his swing is the same as everyone else.

Right.

Sultan of Swat has it right. It does not matter where you start from it is what position you get to when you get ready to hit. What I have learned is that a lot of these hitters do funky things to get rid of a flaw. i.e. Craig Counsel had a huge hitch so his hands were raised so he could keep the hitch.

Ok obviously there is a wording issue we have here in that all these guys have unorthodox set ups but they all have the basics of the swing down. I still think Nicholas asks a good question - how many coaches would try to "fix" guys who set up like this instead of just seeing how they do?

Brandon Belt. His high school coach started him as a freshman & said his swing was so ugly the coaches agreed to wait until he went in a slump & they would fix it. He said Brandon never went into a slump.

We did not even mention the grip Youkilis uses. There may be times I get too focused on the "correct" fundamental "look." Maybe we get caught up in cookie cutter swings and motions. Just food for thought. I would just hate to think that a player like this would not feel his full potential because I coached too much, was too hands on, instead of letting it work, regardless of how it looks. Fortunately I have not had a player such as this, but it has crossed my mind.

(Almost) everything before toe touch, and after contact, is style.

(Almost) everything in between is pretty much the same for good hitters.

Many styles versus one MLB pattern.

Universal sequence is:
C o c k Hips
C o c k Hands
Rotate into toe touch
Hips lead
Hands follow
Knob pulled by lead hand causes bat to flatten behind you.

Shoulders don't actively turn, they resist moving until the core and hips force them forward.

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When I see players such as Kevin Youkilis, with unorthodox swings

Not to mince words, but what is it that's unorthodox about the Youkilis "swing?" What he does with his hands prior to the swing is certainly different.

Have you watched Hunter Pence take dry swings in the on-deck circle? Now that's different.

Either way, once the bat is on the way to the ball, what's unorthodox?

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Originally posted by SultanofSwat:
(Almost) everything before toe touch, and after contact, is style.

(Almost) everything in between is pretty much the same for good hitters.

Pretty well sums it all up.

Speaking of Youkilis, why do you folks think he uses that weird stance?

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Originally posted by Texas1836:
Speaking of Youkilis, why do you folks think he uses that weird stance?

I heard him say that "it helps him keep his hands loose."