The Hitting Mechanic
October 2007
The
Hitting Mechanic - November 2007
10/29/2007
Bat Drag
I just completed a
short piece in which I explain the problem of
Bat Drag,
which is a very common problem among young kids that results in a powerful, but
very slow, swing.
Bat Drag
The photo above is
the best example I have ever seen of Bat Drag. Notice how the
hitter's back elbow is way out in front of his hands and back
shoulder. The problem with bat drag is that keeps a swing from
scaling; a swing with significant bat drag is so long that it
makes it impossible to catch up to a good fastball.
10/24/2007
Squishing The Bug
I just completed
an essay in which I discuss squishing
the bug. This is a common, but in my opinion not
particularly helpful, cue.
Albert Pujols Not Squishing The Bug
For one thing, as
the photo above shows, it isn't what the best
hitters do. Also, in my experience it isn't a necessary interim
step when it comes to teaching kids how to swing a bat.
Albert Pujols Appearing To Squish The Bug
I believe the whole
idea of squishing the bug came from looking at swings with the
naked eye and misinterpreting photos like the one above. It is
easy to see how someone could believe that Albert Pujols' back
foot stayed in this position throughout his swing.
However, the fact is that it did not.
10/23/2007
Alex Rodriguez:
Linear Hitter?
Over the past few
days, I have heard several people say that Alex Rodriguez might
be a good example of Linear Hitting.
I don't buy it.
While Alex
Rodriguez is certainly more erect at the point of contact than is someone
like Albert Pujols, his overall mechanics are very consistent
with the principles of
rotational
hitting.
The principle of
Connection is
probably the one that most clearly differentiates Rotational
Hitting from Linear hitting, so let's see if we see connection
or extension at the point of contact in Alex Rodriguez's
best swings. I say "best swings" because even the best hitter
will occasionally get fooled and end up looking ridiculous.
Alex Rodriguez - Single
Alex Rodriguez - Home Run
Alex Rodriguez - Home Run
Alex Rodriguez - Home Run
Alex Rodriguez - Home Run
You can see good
connection in all the photos above, and in particular in the
three photos directly above. Notice how at the point of contact his
back elbow is still bent roughly 90 degrees and his hands are
rotating with his shoulders. If Alex Rodriguez was a pure Linear
hitter, his arms would be extended and he would be making the
"Power V" at the point of contact.
Alex Rodriguez - Home Run
Alex Rodriguez - Home Run
Alex Rodriguez - Home Run
Alex Rodriguez - Home Run
What might be
confusing people about the nature of Alex Rodriguez's swing is
that, as the photos above show, on occasion you will see what
looks like a fairly prominent "Power V" in Alex
Rodriguez's swing. However, you have to keep two things in mind.
First, in many cases, such as the photo
directly above, these may
represent swings in which Alex Rodriguez was fooled. As a
result, he had to disconnect -- he had to extend his arms -- to go get
the pitch. However, as the first set of photos show, in many
cases Alex Rodriguez is perfectly connected at the point of
contact.
Second, you will see extension in
pretty much every good major league swing. However, the thing to
keep in mind is that extension generally happens after
the Point Of Contact rather than before it. This is because
extension is the effect of a powerful swing rather than
the cause of a powerful swing, as some people believe. In
the cases of all of the swings directly above, I think the
extension you see is due to the fact that these photos were
taken after the Point Of Contact.
Alex Rodriguez - Double
Alex Rodriguez - Home Run
Alex Rodriguez - Home Run
If you look at
Center Field views of Alex Rodriguez's swing, you will see that
he employs the principle of Tilt. In order to stay Connected,
but still be able to cover the entire strike zone, a Rotational
hitter will tilt his body over the plate to varying degrees,
depending on the location of the pitch. That is what you see in
the photos above of Alex Rodriguez. Notice how his butt is
sticking out toward Third Base but his torso is tilting out over
the plate.
Alex Rodriguez - Home Run
Alex Rodriguez - Home Run
One way to see
where a hitter is getting their power, whether it is coming from
their arms and hands or from their entire body is to look at
what their back leg is doing at the Point Of Contact. As the two
photos above show, at the Point Of Contact Alex Rodriguez's back
knee is bent 90 degrees and he is either on the point of his
back toe or his back toe is completely up in the air (not squishing
the bug). This
indicates that his swing is being powered primarily by the
rotation of his hips, which is consistent with the principles of
Rotational Hitting.
Alex Rodriguez - Home Run
To be honest, I'm
not sure where people are getting the idea that Alex Rodriguez'
swing isn't purely (or primarily) Rotational but instead is a
hybrid or even Linear. As I mentioned above, in some cases he is more erect
than some people at the Point Of Contact. You can see this to a
degree in the photo above. However, even then the fact that he
is on the tip of his back toe indicates that his swing is being
powered by the rotation of his hips.
Alex Rodriguez - Home Run
The photo above
also makes me quite skeptical of the claim that Alex Rodriguez
uses a hybrid or Linear swing. Notice how he is still relatively connected
(his back elbow is bent roughly 45 degrees) as he follows through well
after the Point Of Contact. Also notice the stiff front leg, the
weight well behind his front foot, and how he is tilting out
over the plate.
Alex Rodriguez - Home Run
I feel the same way
about the photo above of Alex Rodriguez. Notice the back elbow
bent roughly 90 degrees, the Tilt over the plate, the back knee bent 90
degrees, and how he's on the tip of his
back toe. This is a pretty classic rotational swing.
10/16/2007
Matt Holliday's
Home Run Swing From Last Night
I stumbled across
three photos of Matt Holliday's three-run home run from last
night. I find them interesting because they give you three
different views of the same swing from slightly different
moments in time.
Matt Holliday
The photo above was
taken a few frames before the Point Of Contact. There are a number
of things to notice about this photo.
First,
notice how his back leg is bent roughly 90 degrees and he is on
the toe of his back foot, rather than squishing the bug. In fact,
his back foot may be slightly off the ground at this point.
Second, notice how his front knee is
locked, which is powering the rotation of his hips which then
pulls his shoulders around.
Third, notice how he is still connected
rather than extended. His back elbow is bent 90 degrees and his
back elbow is still close to his side.
Matt Holliday
The photo above was taken a
frame or two before the Point Of Contact. There are a number of things to
notice about this photo.
First, notice how his back elbow has moved slightly
away from his body since the pitch is over the outside part of the plate.
However, because his body is tilting over the plate, he is still able to
stay fairly connected.
Second, notice how his back toe seems to be just
off the ground. Third, notice how his hips are rotating 15 or so degrees
ahead of his shoulders. As with a pitcher, this stretches the muscles of the
torso and enables them to powerfully pull his shoulders around.
Matt Holliday
The photo above was taken at
pretty much the same moment as the photo above and just before the point of
contact. I can tell that because his bat is still straight and hasn't
deflected at all due to the contact with the ball. If this picture was taken
post-contact, the bat would be bent slightly. There are a number of things
to notice in this picture.
First, notice that his hands are above the end of
the bat since he is swinging with the slight uppercut.
Second, notice
how he is looking out in front of the plate. While it might be a good goal
and teaching cue, it's not physically possible to see that ball hit the bat.
Third, notice how he is still connected, rather
than extended. His back arm is still bent around 90 degrees and his back
elbow is still relatively close to his side. This means that he is swinging
with his entire body, and not just his arms.
Fourth, notice how he is using an "axe
grip", rather than lining up his knuckles, with the palm of his bottom
hand facing the ground and the palm of his top hand facing the sky.
10/14/2007
The Myth Of Extension
So I'm sitting
here watching the NLCS and if Tony Gwynn and Bob Brenly talk
about "extension" another time, I'm going to puke.
They may be great guys and
knowledgeable about some aspects of baseball, but they don't
know much about physics and its impact on the swing.
Extension is the EFFECT of a powerful
swing, not the CAUSE of a powerful swing.
The centrifugal force
of the rapidly rotating bat overcomes the centripetal force that
the hitter is able to apply with his arms. In other words, if
you swing the bat hard enough, your arms will automatically
be pulled out into into an extended position.
If a hitter consciously tries to extend
through the swing, they will only slow down their swing rather
than make it more powerful. That is because objects rotate
faster if their mass is closer to the axis of rotation, as it is
if the hands are close to the body. For the same reason, figure
skaters rotate fast when their arms are in tight to their body
and slow when their arms are out away from their body.
 Albert Pujols
There's no extension
whatsoever in this home run swing by Albert Pujols. Instead, his
hands and elbows are close in to his body. Yes, his hands will
extend away from his body, but well after the Point Of
Contact.
If I sound like I'm a bit pissed off,
it's because I am.
My swing was inadvertently ruined by my
Dad when I was a kid when he took the advice of some idiot and
convinced me that I needed to extend and make the "Power
V" at the Point Of Contact. That slowed my swing down
and robbed me of power.
10/5/2007
Updated Pete Rose Swing
Analysis
FYI, I just
updated my analysis
of the swing of Pete Rose  .
I changed how I track his hands so you can get a better sense of
where his hands are when.
Circular Hand Path - Pete Rose
This makes it much
easier to see when his hands are accelerating and when they are
decelerating. It also makes it easier to see how his hand path
is relatively circular.
10/4/2007
Pete Rose Swing Analysis
I just finished an
analysis
of the swing of Pete Rose .
What I do is go frame by frame through the clip below of Pete
Rose and point out how his swing is compatible with the concept
of Rotational
Hitting.
Overhead View - Pete Rose
10/3/2007
Updated Albert
Pujols Swing Analysis
I just finished
updating my Albert
Pujols swing analysis . If you haven't seen one of these
before, what I do is go frame by frame through a clip of a good
hitter and explain exactly what they are doing and why it's
important. I have also done a number of other swing
analyses of hitters like Miguel
Cabrera , Tony
Gwynn , Manny
Ramirez , and David
Ortiz .
The
Hitting Mechanic - September 2007
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