The Hitting Mechanic
March 2008

The Hitting Mechanic - April 2008

3/31/2008

Level Swing?

I am always on the lookout for photos that illustrate the principle of tilt, and that disprove ideas like the level swing, and I found this great one yesterday.

Tilt - Miguel Tejada

The photo above shows Miguel Tejada hitting a ball well up in the strike zone. The thing to notice is that, even with this ball, he is not swinging level. Instead, he is tilting over the plate slightly so that his hands are still above the head of the bat.

3/23/2008

Tilt!

I came across a number of photos this weekend that do a good job of illustrating the principle of tilt.

Tilt - Jeff Fiorentino

The photo above shows Jeff Fiorentino hitting a single.
     The pitch is down and in, and as a result he has tilted over the plate and dropped the head of the plate to get to the ball.
     The photo points out a couple of reasons why the result of the swing was a single and not a home run.
     First, notice how he is a bit disconnected. His back elbow has gotten away from his back hip and his elbow isn't bent 90 degrees. Second, his hip rotation isn't quite right. Notice how he is squishing the bug at the Point Of Contact.
     All of this will slow down his swing and keep him from hitting the ball as hard as he would like.

Tilt - Donnie Murphy

The photo above shows Donnie Murphy hitting a home run.
     Notice how he is tilting over the plate to get the head of the bat down to the location of the pitch. Notice how he's still connected at the point of contact; how his back elbow is still in the neighborhood of his back hip. Notice how he is on the tip of his back toe rather than squishing the bug. The fact that he's on his back toe implies superior hip rotation. Notice his separation; how his hips are rotating ahead of his shoulders. Notice how his front foot is at a 45 degree angle to the direction of the pitch. Finally, notice how his bat is rotating on a plane that is parallel to his shoulders and perpendicular to his upper spine. This parallel and perpendicular orientation happens automatically in a powerful swing (due to the laws of physics) and is why you have to tilt over the plate to get down to a pitch.

Tilt - Travis Buck

Tilt - Jack Cust

The two photos above, of Travis Buck and Jack Cust hitting home runs, illustrate the principle of tilt and also illustrate how hitters adjust to different pitch locations.
     First, notice how Jack Cust is relatively more tilted over the plate than is Travis Buck. This is because Jack Cust is hitting a pitch that is down and away while Travis Buck is hitting a pitch that is down and in. Second, notice how Jack Cust's back elbow is away from his side while Travis Buck's back elbow is closer to his side. Again, this is because Jack Cust is hitting a pitch that is outside while Travis Buck is hitting a pitch that is inside.

3/18/2008

Serenity Now!!!

The other day I got an e-mail from a reader that frustrated the heck out of me. It seems that his son is a natural rotational hitter but his coaches have decided that, despite his achieving good results, he is doing everything wrong. As a result, they are trying to change his swing to conform to what they think a good swing looks like...

I think after reading and watching I have come to the conclusion my son is a self taught rotational hitter, much to the disappointment of his coaches.
     He has been the statistical hitting leader on every team he played on for the last few years, so I guessed he must be using the correct approach. I believe I see connection, and tilt, with good posture in the set up. He is a competent hitter at 15 with power, average and speed, not afraid of 2 strikes or sitting on 3-0.
     I just don’t get the continued criticism of his hitting, too open too soon, right shoulder too high, rolling over of the front foot (not blocked). He will have too put up with this criticism for the next 4 seasons as he made the varsity squad at his high school as a freshman. They told him last week that he will not succeed at high school ball unless he conforms to their (linear) philosophy.
     I just don’t get it, they preach the level swing, trigger with the rear knee, squish the bug and yet my son has rotated to 6 for 9 with 1 SO and 2 BB, The last time these guys "fixed" his swing (last fall) he couldn’t get arrested at the plate for a month, normally he kills the inside pitch, well they fixed that...When one of the other dads told me to research rotational hitting, as he had recognized my son as a good rotational hitter, I couldn’t believe what I have found. He and his son had been to the Mike Epstein camp, and recommended I isolate my son from a flawed approach to hitting and not let them try to make him defy the laws of physics. Some of these coaches we have been around have superb (MLB) credentials, but they don’t get it or understand how simple and natural it really is.
     What is really funny is all of them are rotational hitters and don’t know it. But they really believe level swing, hitting down, and squish the bug work.
     I guess the question is how do you deal with these linear guys, drag them kicking and screaming into the 21st century educating them, which their egos will not allow, or just ignore them?

While these coaches may have great credentials, they simply don't understand what a good swing looks like. As I have pointed out before, you do not see level swings, swinging down on the ball, and squishing the bug in high-level swings. Instead, what you see are tilt, slight uppercuts, good hip rotation that is driven by separation, and connection.
     Let me explain why I think this young high school hitter is a natural rotational hitter by comparing his swing to the major league swing.

Stance

Above is a photo of this hitter at setup. He's got a nice, simple, balanced stance with some crouch and bend in his knees. He's able to see the pitcher with both eyes. His hands are back by his back shoulder and at the same level as his back elbow, which is good. His bat is tilted at a good angle, putting it pretty much in the plane of his swing.

Tilt

Tilt

The two photos above show a textbook high-level swing. Notice how, rather than swinging level, he tilts over the plate to get to balls that are down in the strike zone. Notice how he drives his swing with the stiffening of his front leg and the rotation of his hips, which pulls him up onto his back toe and onto the outside part of his front foot. Notice how, rather than having his door knocker knuckles aligned, he is holding the bat using an axe grip. Finally, notice how he stays connected through the Point Of Contact, with his back elbow bent 90 degrees, his back upper arm nearly vertical, and his back elbow by his side.

High Pitch

The photo above shows this young man hitting a pitch that looks up and in. Again, the swing is pretty much exactly what you want to see. Notice how, because the ball is up in the strike zone, there is less tilt. However, his hands are still above the head of the bat. Notice how he accomplishes this by bending his back knee less, but still gets good separation and hip rotation.
     So what should you do if you are in the position of this dad of having a kid with a good swing and a coach who wouldn't know a good swing if it hit him in the face?
     The simplest way to handle the situation is to tell your son (or daughter) to listen to the coach and act like he is listening to him, but actually do what he does naturally. In most cases, the coach will just want to feel like you are listening to him but won't be able to tell that you aren't actually doing what he is telling you to do.
     I know that this isn't the best approach from an ethical standpoint, because you are teaching your son to say one thing but do something else, but that's the way the world works and the sooner he learns this lesson, the better. Sometimes you have to learn how to deal with people who want to control you but don't actually know what they are talking about.
     If this approach doesn't work, and the coach insists that you do things his way or else, then you may have to consider finding a different school or even a different sport. If you are talented enough, you can always pick up baseball again in college and get back into the game via a club team or by walking on to the main team. I think that beats having your swing destroyed, and your muscle memory corrupted, by spending years swinging the wrong way.

3/13/2008

A Pitcher's Goal Is Premature Extension

As you know, I think that extension is the effect of a powerful swing rather than the cause of a powerful swing. As a result, in a good swing extension happens after the Point Of Contact rather than at the Point Of Contact.
     The goal of a pitcher is to make sure that the hitter isn't able to get a good swing on the ball. One way a pitcher can do that is to throw an off-speed pitch and mess up a hitter's timing; to get them to extend at the Point Of Contact.

Andruw Jones Disconnecting

That is what is happening in the photo above of Andruw Jones, which shows him hitting a grounder back to the pitcher. He is extended and reaching out for the ball, which results in a weak, slow swing. Notice how far out in front of his body the head of the bat and his hands are. Also, notice how his back elbow has gotten away from the side of his body and his back upper arm is tilted rather than vertical at the Point Of Contact.
     The sad thing is that some people will look at this swing and, not knowing the context of the swing (which is a ground out), trumpet Andrew Jones' extension at the Point Of Contact. However, we know better.

3/12/2008

A Favorite Photo Of Albert Pujols

I was Googling around the other day and came across the photo below of Albert Pujols hitting a home run off of Jake Peavy. Let me explain all the reasons why I find this photo both interesting and valuable.

Albert Pujols

First, notice the location of the pitch. It looks like a fastball that Peavy left up and over the plate, right at belt height. For complex biomechanical reasons, this is about the ideal place for the batter to hit the ball. As a result, when my guys are hitting the ball off of tees, I want to make sure that they know how to handle this pitch.
     Second, notice where Albert is in the process of his swing. His front heel has dropped and he is stiffening his front knee. This is driving his hips open ahead of his shoulders. It has also pulled him up onto the toe of his back foot.
     Finally, because the pitch is up and over the middle of the plate, Albert is still quite connected. His back elbow is relatively close to his side and his back upper arm is hanging down pretty much vertically.

3/10/2008

I'm King Of The World!!!

Lately, I've been working to increase the Google ranking of my Rotational Hitting 101 page for the term "Rotational Hitting". I was stuck at Number 4 for a couple of months, but I checked last night and I finally made it to Number 1! I'd like to thank all of my followers for the inbound links. Please keep them coming.

3/3/2008

Swing Analysis - Barry Bonds

A new client recently asked me to perform a swing analysis of Barry Bonds . While I'm not a fan of Barry Bonds because of his Steroid and HGH use, I have to admit that Barry Bonds has a nice swing. It is very short and compact.

Barry Bonds

The Hitting Mechanic - February 2008