Teach Perfect Science Swing Mechanics To Baseball & Softball Beginners At Hitting Performance Lab

Learn how to teach perfect line drive science-based swing mechanics to baseball and softball beginners at the Hitting Performance Lab…

Baseball Hitting Tips For Youth: Can We Teach One Swing To ALL Hitters?

 

 

This is Part-3 of a 3-part baseball hitting tips for youth video series coming straight out of the Pitch-Plane Dominator online video mini-course…

Hitting Training - Pitch-Plane Dominator

Sick of struggling to reduce your hitters ground balls, swing and miss strikeouts, and non-productive weak fly balls?  This simple 4-Step online video mini-course (7-modules total) will help hitters weighing less than 100-pounds, barrel the ball more consistently.  Dramatically decrease ground balls, strikeouts, and weak fly balls (no matter the pitch location or speed) by applying human movement rules validated by science.

If you haven’t already, then CLICK the Link below to…

Get Access to The Pitch Plane Dominator Online Video Mini-Course

 

“The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

I received the following reader question:

“Do you believe in one swing fits all hitters?”

In this baseball hitting tips for youth video post, we’ll:

  • Define ‘one-swing-fits-all’,
  • Reveal a human movement formula, and
  • Talk about how Principles are like bowling “bumpers”.

Before you get your panties in a bunch, let’s…

 

Define ‘One-Swing-Fits-All’

Is there truly a ‘one-swing-fits-all’ baseball hitting tips for youth hitting approach?

Most baseball or softball hitting savants will tell you that you can’t mold every hitter into cookie cutter mechanics.

But I’m here to tell those people,

You’re WRONG.

DEAD wrong.

Look, I know this will piss some people off.

And it may sound like I’m setting the hitting community back 4-decades for saying it.

But hear me out,

I’m not talking about messing with a hitter’s “style”

  • Babe Ruth’s unique feet together position pre-pitch….OR
  • Joe Morgan’s ‘chicken-wing’ back elbow…OR
  • The patented Kevin Youkilis dainty hand grip position pre-swing (pictured above).

Here’s what I’m saying,

Hitting is quite frankly…

A Human Movement Formula

Like Tony Robbins always says, success leaves clues.

And there are certain players that dominate the Pitch-Plane, like I covered in this Joey Votto baseball swing slow motion analysis video.

What are the baseball hitting tips for youth clues hitters like Joey Votto are leaving behind for us to model?

Or better yet, what natural forces on the planet empower him to be such a tough out, while also hitting the ball consistently harder than others?

Let’s revisit the Ralph Waldo Emerson quote from above:

“The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble.”

A ‘one-swing-fits-all’ hitting approach has to do with, The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods”.

Think of ‘methods’ as the hitting drill or movement being practiced.  And the ‘principle’ as the objective that that hitting drill is based upon.

What baseball hitting tips for youth principles govern human movement, are validated by science, and are clues that are left behind by hitters, like Joey Votto, who effectively dominate the Pitch-Plane?

What’s more…

Principles are like ‘Bowling Bumpers’

Think of these baseball hitting tips for youth human movement principles, or “rules”, as bowling bumpers.

Whenever we teach a ‘one-swing-fits-all’ approach, be careful that you’re not to mess with a hitter’s style.

HOWEVER, what does NEED to be analyzed is whether the hitter is using the myriad of principles mentioned above.  These are the “bumpers”.

When analyzing any hitter…male OR female…Little Leaguer OR professional,

We need to know whether Johnny or Sally are applying Ground Reaction Forces (or GRF’s) properly.  Are they loading and unloading their body correctly?  Are they using rotation and anti-rotation forces effectively?  Are they moving their spine in a way that’s safe, but also optimizes the body’s energy transfer?

This is where I believe in a ‘One-Swing-Fits-All’ hitters.  It has NOTHING to do with a hitter’s style, and MORE to do with a hitter’s use of naturally occurring forces on the planet.

If you aren’t teaching the swing between these ‘bumpers’, then you’ll be left far behind.  And most certainly will your hitters.

How to Improve Throwing More Accurately for Developing 8U Baseball & Softball Players

Learn how to improve throwing more accurately with these fun throwing and fielding drills you can do indoors with 8u baseball and softball players on up!

Throw The Ball: How To Teach Accuracy & Making Good Throws

 

 

In this video and post, I’ll be answering the question of:

“Throwing accurately making good throws”

This throw the ball video and post has nothing to do with hitting, but at the same time, has everything to do with hitters.  In it, we discuss:

  • Mechanics are a big part of this, but this video will not go into that (Texas & Florida Baseball Ranches & Top Velocity)
  • The art of “variance” – bean bag toss study
  • Depth and Lateral
  • Ground-balls and different wall targets at home
  • Belt-to-hat target game
  • Arm care program – Jaeger Bands

Hey, what’s going on. Joey Myers here from the ‘Hitting Performance Lab’. In this video, I’m going to answer a reader question. This is a big question, and if you have a hitter, they’re gonna be throwing – the throwing is a given of playing baseball or softball.

To Throw The Ball: Mechanics are a Big Part of this…

It doesn’t really excite me to talk pitching mechanics, but I will direct you to some sources that you can go to that promote healthy pitching mechanics. It’s not all about velocity, velocity should come, it should be a byproduct, it’s really where you move the ball around the zone that can upset hitters timing. So, I will make a couple suggestions…

So again, here’s a question, throwing accurately, this reader needed some advice on “Throwing accurately, making good throws”. So, whether this is a player asking the question or a coach on how to put a practice together that promotes or encourages accurately making throws.

So, mechanics again are a big part of this. I would advise you to go to TopVelocity.net, and look into Brent Pourciau or go to the Texas or Florida baseball ranch.  You can go online and get some of their stuff. From what I’ve heard, I haven’t looked at it in detail, but what I’ve heard, a friend of mine Mike Gillen, who is my pitching guy locally. I send my hitters to him locally, who want to pitch. He teaches based off of top velocity’s stuff.

It’s a very healthy, not putting your players in bad positions with their arms. A lot of what I’ve heard is really good stuff, in addition to the Texas and Florida baseball ranches. I’ve heard good stuff; I’ve heard players that go in to have some arm pain or elbow pain whatever. They go in and start working their mechanics. They get so much better, they can throw without any kind of pain. So, any kind of program that has that as part of their focus and priority is a good program.

Don’t listen to some of those people out there, where to throw the ball is all about velocity, velocity and throwing hard. Because what’s gonna happen is you’re gonna be short-lived that season, that career is gonna be short-lived.

You want to be careful with arms and shoulders. So, with that being said, mechanics are a big part of it. But we’re not going to talk mechanics in this video…

 

The Art of “Variance” – bean bag toss study

I want to talk to you about the art of variance, this was a huge thing for me when I learned about it. I learned about it in Make It Stick by Peter C Brown, check it out, there were like eight principles, the “science of successful learning” is the subtitle. But the art of variance, it can be demonstrated in this way…

There was a beanbag study, they cited in the book. So, imagine that we’re in a grade school class, sixth grade, fifth grade, grade school class.

I think they were 11, 12 year olds. They split the class into two. For group one, they put a bucket that was three feet away, get those kids beanbags and have them practice throwing in that three foot bucket. That was for 15 minutes.

They had group two, they gave them two buckets, one was two feet away, and the other was four feet away. So, no three-foot bucket, there was a hole at the three foot, so only two and four. They gave them beanbags and had them practice for 15 minutes throwing in the two buckets.

At the end of the 15 minutes, they had them all test on a three foot bucket, which group…? Group one who is practicing on the three foot or group two who is practicing on the two and four foot buckets, no three foot. Which group, one or two, did better?

You probably think this is a trick question, and you want to pick the three-foot bucket, but you know that there’s something going on, and this probably isn’t true. Well, you are right because the three-foot bucket practicing half of the class, actually did not do better, they ended up losing to the part two group, that was two- and four-foot bucket part of tossing bean bags – second group half of the class.

So, why though, why did group two win? I asked my players this, and it’s because they had two frames of reference, a two and a four foot bucket. They didn’t have the three, but they can, when they go to the 3-foot bucket, they say, I know if I toss toss in a four-foot bucket, which would be over the three. I know what tossing in a two-foot bucket, which is just short of the three. I know what both of those feel like, so I’ll just throw it in the middle of both of those.

You see, they have two frames of reference, whereas the three foot bucket, they only have one frame. They had to either make it or they didn’t, but they weren’t practicing trying to throw it too far or too short. When we talk about the art of variance and practicing to throw the ball, we apply it to throwing, and throwing accurately.

Depth and Lateral – how to practice throwing accurately and making good throws at practice

What we did with my son, who is now going to be 7yo in December. We did it with his baseball ball team last season.

We had stations in our practices, and one of the stations was a throwing accuracy station. We have them lined up, three players at a time, I would toss a ground ball to one player, and we taped the numbers 1, 2, & 3 behind me on the chain-link fence in green frog tape. They were spaced enough apart, not being super close, you’re getting this variance of depth for them, this is to practice depth to throw the ball.

I rolled on the ground ball.  And at first, before I rolled it. I would say, I want you to hit number one. I’d go down the line. I will say, I want you to hit number two before I rolled it. So, they would get pretty good at being somewhere around the numbers, and then I would roll it.

A kind of a progression to that… I would roll it, and I wouldn’t tell them any number until I rolled it, and I would say “all right, hit two”. As they were fielding it, they’d have to make the decision, and look up and try and hit the target.

Then I was changing it up on them, that was the next progression. As you got these three players on the line, well we would move them, move kind of like in a volleyball game where the players kind of shift around. You want to move them around so they’re getting different perspectives of hitting the number one, two, and three.  It’s going to be different if they’re in the middle versus the left or the right side. So, you want them to kind of feel the difference of different positions of their body of where they’re at in space and time.

The other thing that we did was, it was more of a across the field drill as they got pretty good with the accuracy of hitting static targets.

Then we moved to create some depth for them. So, we would have a first baseman set up, but we’d have the real first base, we’d have a first base at about five feet down the line towards the home plate, and we would have another first base that was about five feet down the line towards right-field. So, it was just on the foul line, it was spread out this way laterally, then we had them practice kind of similar to what I just talked about. But they’re hitting two different targets laterally.

So, you got the real first baseman, and then you would work variance at depth. So, arm distance or being short of first base.

We would have real first baseman, we would have a first baseman about five feet more towards the pitcher, or towards the fielder throwing the ball. Then we would have a first baseman beyond the real first baseman, almost like an overthrow. So, I can under throw the ball overthrow, and then you have the first baseman changing positions, and each player is testing at different positions.

It’s almost like they’re getting six different frames of references as they throw the ball to first base.  This helped clean up throwing with a bunch of five-year-olds all the way up to seven year olds … this cleaned up throwing accuracy so quickly. It was amazing.  It was crazy.

 

Ground-balls and different wall targets at home

Wall targets at home…this is something that I’m gonna be doing at our house. We’re gonna have a swing open gate, right now it’s just kind of a small swing open, we’re gonna make a big swing open. On that gate we’re gonna put some kind of vinyl material, that’s not gonna ruin the wood. My son can throw the ball against the wall, and it’s not gonna ruin our fence, and we’re gonna create targets. We’re going to put targets up on the fence, as they field the ground ball, throw the ball against it, ball bounces back, we’re gonna have different targets up, down, middle.

He’s gonna get to pick a target before he throws the ball. Then throw, and try and hit that target. Just different targets, putting them up all over. So, that’s an idea at home that you can do.

 

Throw the Ball Belt-to-hat target game

Also, when we play catch. I learned this at Fresno State, you can use a belt to hat game. Players are playing catch down the line, if they hit the hat, it’s three points. If they hit the chest, it’s two. If they hit the belt, it’s one, and anywhere else outside of that range is zero. It’s called belt to hat game. So, that’s a good one that you could play while playing catch.

 

Arm care program – Jaeger Bands

Also before in this video, I want to make sure that you are aware of arm care exercises that you should have your hitters, throwers, and pitchers do. They’re never too young to start some sort of an arm care program. They need to take care of their arm, younger obviously not quite as needed as they are when they’re junior, high, and high school on up. But I recommend Jaeger bands, you can go on the – search Jaeger bands on Google. Find their website, go on, and check it out.

They have a lot of videos, I’m pretty sure they’re on YouTube. Just go on YouTube, and search, get to their channel. Jaeger bands channel, and they have tons of videos on how to do different exercises and things like that. Pick and choose, get a get a bunch of them, maybe five to ten of them. Doing them every day, make sure that you’re providing arm care for your little hitters. Hope you learned something in this video.

Make sure that we’re swinging smarter by moving better, and again this video was about “Throwing accurately and making good throws”. Before I let you go…

Hitting Training For Baseball & Softball Swing Trainers | Hitting Performance Lab

Discover what our online hitting video analysis training program can do for your baseball or softball hitters.  Learn about how we model the most feared MLB swings of the modern era.

Who Is Your Swing Model? And WHY?

 

 

In this post, we go over:

  • 7 reasons WHY we need a better standard of measure,
  • Who are you modeling? And WHY? And,
  • 5 gold standard criteria keys for a high level swing…

This post started when I entered into a discussion with a gentleman on YouTube that asked me, “Who is your swing model?”

And I feel this is an outstanding question. Leading me to the success you experience is directly related to the quality of questions you ask.  And, we must note that success leaves clues. So, if we ask better questions, then the answer to what swing to model will bubble to the top.  And let me be clear, I don’t care if people disagree with me.

Quite the contrary.  However, ‘willful ignorance’ among coaches debating which swing to model is a pandemic online, and most of the time, misguided – or unguided – thinking is the driver.  The standard of measure hitting criteria I routinely read online is, “I only study elite hitters” (said in the most condescending tone you can imagine).

WTFudge does that mean!!!?

Define your criteria please.  That statement is too subjective to be useful to ANYONE.  I think this explains why so many confused online people online say, “You can’t teach hitters a cookie cutter system because every hitters is different.”  This individual DOES NOT have a clue as to how human movement principles work…or that there are such things!!

Here’s a clue…ALL explosive human movements originate from a set of working principles that cannot be broken (as long as you’re on earth).

Whether you’re a hitter, pitcher, Hammer Thrower, Olympic Diver, or Acrobat.Ayn Rand Avoiding Reality Quote

Otherwise, we’re all just taking a stab in the dark at what we personally feel is a good swing.  Picking out a good swing isn’t like what US Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart said about pornography in 1964, “I know it when I see it.”

Again, success leaves clues.  There’s a recipe for optimal swing movement, and if you choose to be willfully ignorant about that fact, then consider this…

…quote by Atlas Shrugged author Ayn Rand (and thanks Bob Hall for sharing):

“You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality.”

To further drive this point home…

I wanted to share a quote from a book I’m currently reading called, “Bad Science: Quacks, Hacks, and Big Pharma Flacks, by Ben Goldacre

“I meet individuals who are eager to share their views on science despite the fact that they have never done an experiment.  They have never tested an idea for themselves, using their own hands, or seen the results of that test, using their own eyes, and they have never thought carefully about what those results mean for the idea they are testing, using their own brain.  To these people “science” is a monolith, a mystery, and an authority, rather than a method.”

 

7 Reasons WHY We NEED a Better Standard of Measure with Hitting…

  1. Information Overload – where does one start their quest for hitting truth when everyone and their mother has a YouTube channel?  In other words, how do we cut through the white noise?
  2. Playing Experience Fallacy – do we listen to the ex-professional hitter because he/she played at a higher level?  Let me give you a clue...“Doing a thing and understanding a thing do not automatically qualify you to teach a thing.” – Dan Farnsworth
  3. OCD Analysis Fallacy – do we listen to the Obsessive Compulsive humanoid who studies ‘only the most elite hitters’ for 25 hours a day, everyday?  Here’s another clue…it depends on who they’re studying because guess what, some elite hitters succeed despite ineffective mechanics, NOT because of them.
  4. The 30+ Year Coach Fallacy – do we listen to the coach who makes it known they have over 30 years of coaching experience? Here’s even another clue…most likely this coach has the same year of coaching experience, repeated 29+ years.
  5. Willful Ignorance – Old thought patterns die hard. Getting into it with these people is just mental gymnastics.  Take it from me, take scissors and cut your loses.  Nobody will ever change their mind.  They’re bitter human beings who feel the need to gain significance from heated confrontation, and might I say, putting people and their ideas down – despite reality staring them in the face! (revisit Ayn Rand ‘avoiding reality’ quote above)
  6. Upsetting the Church of Baseball/Softball – Debating the swing DOES NOT have to resemble discussing politics and religion.  I mentioned this already.
  7. The Sweet Spot – nowadays there’s so much quality information, easy expert access, and new technology that it makes cutting through the white noise so much easier.  We just need a better standard of measure.

Who are YOU Modeling? And  WHY?

Asking the ‘WHY’ is important, but a coach can still be misguided.

Here’s what I mean…

I had a Facebook reader tell me they modeled Miguel Cabrera’s closed landing foot because, as he somehow reasoned, is why Miggy gets outstanding plate coverage.

Wa??!

He also went on to name Barry Bonds, Tony Gwynn, and Pete Rose also landing closed and that’s why they had outstanding plate coverage.

Argument looks believable, right?

It’s a straw man argument though – let me tell you why…

This is a classic case of correlation not equalling causation.

Meaning, this reader believed a closed landing front foot EQUALS outstanding plate coverage…it’s misguided thinking.  Looks good on paper, but doesn’t work on the battlefield.

I’d actually argue the opposite.

And don’t get me wrong, Miguel Cabrera is one of my favorite big slugger swing models, but as you’ve already heard me say, !!!BE CAREFUL!!! because bigger hitters tend to succeed despite ineffective mechanics, NOT because of them.

Landing closed WILL:

  • Inhibit the turn of the pelvis (CLICK HERE for this Zepp swing experiment),
  • Make hitters more susceptible to fastballs inside and high in the strike zone,
  • NOT be what a majority of professional hitters even do (CLICK HERE where Chris Welch at ZenoLink explains his research in this), and
  • NOT maximize a hitters springy fascia (CLICK HERE for this post).

Landing closed is definitely an inferior mechanic, and is not how my handful of 12 and under hitters, weighing around 100-lbs, are frequently hitting the ball the length of a football field, in games.

The fact Barry Bonds, Tony Gwynn, and Pete Rose landed closed is irrelevant to the plate coverage argument.

Again, it’s misguided thinking.

The bottom line is this,

…these hitters did A LOT of other things effectively that DID enable them better plate coverage.

But I can tell you, after looking at the research, testing this stuff out on myself, and on my hitters, landing with a closed front foot DOES NOT empower a hitter with better plate coverage.

What did Ayn Rand say about the consequences of avoiding reality? 😛 lol

So, what is the Gold Standard Criteria I use to define an elite level swing?

 

5 Gold Standard Criteria Keys for a High Level Swing

You don’t need to have 5/5, but at least 3/5:

  1. Smaller sluggers NO bigger than 6-foot tall, and weighing NO more than 215-pounds,
  2. Hits for both power AND average,
  3. Above average in key Metrics like: OPS, OPS+, HR/FB ratio, Line Drive%, Ball Exit Speed, Attack Angles, etc.,
  4. Minimal, if zero, injuries caused by the swing over career (in other words, the swing MUST be safe for the hitter – thank you Lee Comeaux for this one),
  5. Understanding that big sluggers may succeed with ineffective mechanics, NOT because of them.

Why smaller sluggers?

Because they MUST be highly effective to compete with the bigger sluggers because they have less to work with.

You Little League coaches can agree with me on this one…

Think about how much of a power advantage a 6-foot hitter has on the Little League diamond?  Can I get an Amen on that?!

What’s more…

There are smaller sluggers that made my list that hit more home-runs, have higher average Ball Exit Speeds, and have higher average home-run distances than some of the high level big sluggers!!

So, what hitters do I suggest a coach model?  Here is a non-exhaustive list:

These are not in any particular order, and not all are without blemish.  Hitters of yesteryear tend to be cleaner with their swing movements, but I wanted to give examples you could look up on YouTube in slow-mo.

My favorite swing model of all these is Sadaharu Oh, who hit 868 dingers over a 22-year span standing in at a mere 5’10”, and weighing 173-pounds (CLICK HERE for a post I did on him).

And by the way, I’m not against the big sluggers, I love and often cite the following swings with my hitters:

However, any of this doesn’t do any bit of good if we don’t have a grasp of human movement principles first, before analyzing.  This is methods without principles, and you’ll surely be misguided.

Principles are Few: Ralph Waldo Emerson quote

I use the analogy that human movement principles are like bumpers at the bowling alley. The path the ball takes down the lane, between the bumpers, MUST not concern us (the ‘path’ down the lane is what’s unique to a hitter).  Just that the ball stays between them, and positive predictable results will come.

This is WHY we need a better standard of measure when choosing a swing model, not just saying “I know a good swing when I see one”.

Faster Bat Speed & Increase Power With Hitting Drills Like Bryce Harper

Discover how to get faster bat speed and increase power with science-based hitting drills for baseball and softball players.  Learn how in this Bryce Harper swing breakdown.

What Can Bryce Harper Learn From Mike Trout?

 

 

(PLEASE NOTE: this video post was done in 2014, before Bryce Harper won the NL MVP in 2015. At the end of the post I give an UPDATE)

This article explains why Mike Trout will repeatedly out-slug Bryce Harper mechanically, unless Bam-Bam adds efficiency to his swing.

I picked this match-up because they have one year separating their experience in the Big Leagues, they’re similar physically, but Mike Trout slugs almost 100 points higher!  According to Baseball-Reference.com:

  • Bryce Harper is 6’3″, 225 pounds,
  • Mike Trout is 6’2″, 230 pounds,
  • Harper’s 162-game average Slug% = .464, and
  • Trout’s 162-game average Slug% = .554.

In this video, we’ll compare Mike Trout, and look at how Bryce Harper DOES NOT:

  • Get a “head start” using Gravity,
  • Spring load his body, and
  • Follow the One-Joint Rule.

Mechanical Disadvantage #1: DOES NOT Get a “Head Start” Using Gravity

Bryce Harper starts from a dead stop.  We know stop and go traffic burns fuel quicker than freeway driving.  Because it’s inefficient.  A “head start” is how we get more efficient during a swing.  Think about receiving the baton in a 4X100 meter relay race.  Throwing a 16-pound Shot Put over 70 feet.  Or hitting a golf over 500 yards.

Effective hitters use Gravitational Forces to get their swing started and spice up their Final Turn.  Mike Trout does this.  Consider this Un-Weighting Principal test…

Imagine standing tall holding a forty-pound dumbbell in your hand hanging by your side.  Now lift the weight up in front of your face.  What muscles did you feel working?  Shoulder?  You’re right!

Now, get back to your standing position.  Take a medium step forward and when your foot hits the ground, start to lift the dumbbell in front of your face.   What muscles did you feel working?  Would it be easier to lift that 40-pound dumbbell with the first or second scenario?

 

Mechanical Disadvantage #2: Minimal Spring Loading

Our body loads using springy fascial tissue.  According to Thomas Myers in his book Anatomy Trains, fascia:

  • Is what the bones and muscles float in,
  • Gives muscles their shape,
  • Is a spider web or cotton candy-like material, and
  • Is made of mostly springy collagen fibers.

In comparing Adrian Gonzalez, Bryce Harper has an explosive swing, but in reality doesn’t engage his body’s own natural springy material as much as A-Gon.

Mechanical Disadvantage #3: DOES NOT Follow the One-Joint Rule

Dr. Kelly Starrett of MobilityWOD.com talks about this quite a bit.  He’s referring to the head and spine position during dynamic movement.  There are two types of vertebrae bending or flexing:

  1. Local Flexion – would be dropping the chin to the chest or ear to the shoulder, and
  2. Global Flexion – keeping the head and spine aligned as one unit, while bending forward or sideways.

In an efficient swing, number one is BAD, and number two is GOOD.  Why?  CLICK HERE and watch the next four minutes of this YouTube video (3:13-7:13) of Dr. Kelly Starrett demonstrating the One-Joint Rule.  He doesn’t include flexing the head sideways (ear to shoulder).  But you’d get the same ineffective force producing result as taking the chin to the chest.

As the above picture clearly shows, Bryce Harper actually goes ear to shoulder at and through contact.  Unless something changes mechanically, “Bam-Bam” will continue to trail Mike Trout in repeatable power.  However, with his body type, these changes can BOOST Harper into the 35+ homer per year category.

UPDATE: I wrote this article in 2014.  Bryce Harper has made one big change to his mechanics…in this video, Carlos Pena and Shawn Casey points out some interesting points (not all I agree with):

 

 

Harper has changed some minor things.  His leg kick isn’t quite so much of a kick anymore.  He’s more grounded with his feet.  He’s also tamed his head rolling sideways (breaking one-joint rule), but I still see it happen from time to time.

How To Increase Body Rotational Power With Strength And Mobility Exercises For Baseball & Softball

Learn how to improve your body rotational power with thoracic spine strength, mobility, and stretching exercises you can do at home for baseball and softball players.

Where Stride Landing Counter-Rotation Is And How To Get It (Flexibility & Strength Exercises)

 

 

This video post is going to answer the following reader question:

“What flexibility work do you do with your trainees to enhance counter-rotation of the torso as the foot lands open?”

This questions stems from how I teach hitters to ‘show their numbers’ to the pitcher during the load, as close to stride landing as possible.  But for this to work, here’s the kicker, the hitter MUST land open with the bottom half…front foot open between 45 and 60-degrees.

This creates what some coaches call torque, or counter-rotation of the shoulders-to-pelvis.  These are basic walking mechanics of the spine…and is why, as your right leg swings forward, so does your left arm.  How do we optimize this action with our hitters using flexibility and strengthening?

I’m about 8-weeks into an online gymnastics strength training course through GymnasticBodies.com myself.  I’ve finished their Fundamentals course, and currently working through their Handstand course.

GymnasticBodies.com Fundamentals Course Deal

Photo courtesy: GymnasticBodies.com

CLICK HERE to get $25 OFF full price of $100 for their Fundamentals course.  I don’t get paid if you purchase the course.  I just LOVE what they’re doing, and believe ALL hitters MUST be engaging in this type of mobility and strength training.

(PLEASE NOTE: I’m not sure how long this deal will be up, so jump on it!)

Why am I putting myself through this training?

#1: as my wife will tell you, this is a gross obsession of mine.

And #2: I wanted to pick up a few things about body-weight training mobility and stability for my hitters.

One of my guiding principles is if you aren’t growing, then you’re dying.

And if you’re a coach that takes mentoring young athletes seriously, then you MUST be subscribing to the same proactive learning principles.

So, in the above video, we go over:

  • Rotation v. Anti-Rotation (acceleration v. braking systems)
  • Rotation stretch – hold each side for at least 30-secs
  • Rotation strengthen:
    • Windshield Wipers – do 10 repetitions each side
  • Anti-Rotation strengthen:
    • Side Plank (anti-side bend) – start off with holding for 30-secs, then increase by 15-secs after mastery
    • 3-Point Plank (anti-rotation of pelvis) – start off holding for 30-secs, then increase by 15-secs after mastery.

ENJOY!

Learn Weight Transfer, Distribution, & Footwork Science with this Online Swing Analysis Program!

Learn the baseball and softball weight transfer, distribution, and footwork stance science while batting.  Discover our unique online swing analysis coaching instruction drills program.

Baseball Bats MYTH Debunked: Discover The Back Foot Variance Drill Secret…

 

 

I wanted to share a couple things in this baseball bats myth debunked post…

  • An updated video of the Back Foot Variance Drill, and
  • A testimonial from one of my online lesson dads from Tennessee (I’m in California!).

 

Back Foot Variance Drill UPDATED

Since putting this baseball bats myth debunked drill together a few years ago, I’ve improved on it to reflect what the best are really doing.  Here’s an outline of what we talk about in the above video:

  • Objective: to shift body-weight into ball and un-weight the back foot,
  • Squishing bug?
  • Variance Drill – fix hitters who skip too much v. not skipping, and
  • Options: skip backwards (scissoring).

Back Foot Variance Testimonial

I prescribed the Back Foot Variance Drill to Lawrence (Jr.) back on July 9th, along with the Babe Ruth Drill (forward momentum), and the Snapping Towel Drill (angling the body back over the catcher during turn).

Before I show you a couple BEFORE/AFTER images of his swing, please read what dad emailed me…

“Joey

Wanted to sit down and let you and your readers know how much of an impact you make on players lives. The key is to listen and follow what you say. 

First my background. I played at the Juco level, independent ball and amateur ball until i was 39. I pride myself on knowing the game and thought I was a pretty good hitter and taught hitting. I walked away with three amateur world series rings and no regrets on my playing career. 

I have taught my son hitting since he was 4.  As any parent has, I am proud of my son with probably some dad goggles on. But fact is he is a gifted physical specimen at 15, he is 6’1 and 175-lbs

For this I’m just going to focus on the facts. He ran into some hitting issues I was having trouble correcting this Spring. But I know hitting, right? And my son still listens to me so I should be able to help him. But it was not happening, we both were getting frustrated. As a freshman he still hit over .300 in varsity. But something was off.

Then while researching, (yes people if you or your coach does not have a growth mindset do yourself a favor and go do something else.) I ran across you this Spring. After studying what you were saying and swallowing my pride I decided to have you give my son video lessons online. 

Best thing I ever did for my son. We are only half way through the lessons taking our time to digest and work on what you have suggested, but here are the results. This after 3 months and 2 lessons

My son exit velocity before you was 86-mph it now sits at 91-mph. He recently did a show case with perfect game. On the hitting metrics they use he is between the 93-98 percentile on all players they have seen. In batting practice he would routinely hit the ball 325-350 feet using wood or bbcore. He is now hitting balls in excess of 400 feet.

While taking batting practice on a high school field yesterday dimensions of 320 down the line and 370 to center he hit 16 out of 45 pitches out including 3 in excess of 400 feet. I sent you video of a game he played last night. To have you evaluate, that home-run was to dead center which was 360 feet. The ball was a line drive and landed in the road over 40 feet behind the fence.

Yes the catapult loading system works. He is hitting baseballs with a wood or bbcore bat at 2.5x his body weight. Using those bats and at his age is just as impressive as 3x body weight. 

I mentioned before he is a big kid at 15. But he is still a kid, he has not begun to physically mature yet. He does not shave, no hair on chest, no definition of muscles. I fully expect to see within the year as he starts maturing he will be hitting baseballs over 500-ft. In three months working with you he has gained over 50 feet consistently. It now looks like he is on the little fields again taking bp.

Thank you for what you do and giving my son confidence moving forward, you helped a young man more than words I’m writing will ever be expressed.

Here is what he accomplished since we started using you. Named all world series team for the 15u babe ruth world series where his team finished second. Playing for 15u south east team Rawlings led team in batting average for the summer. That team went 6-1 in the wwba perfect game world series where he was named to the all tourney team. 

Named all tourney to perfect game summer showdown as well. Before you he had played in three events with perfect game with no all tourney nominations. He has also been approached as a rising sophomore by a high level D1 head coach that is interested in him. 

Thanks Joey for everything, and for not only being a great person to get to know, but being so knowledgeable on the scientific metrics on hitting. 

All the best
Lawrence Sutton”

Thank YOU Lawrence for such a glowing baseball bats myth debunked testimonial.  And thank you Junior for being such a respectful and coach-able student of the game.  By the way, originally Lawrence (dad) left this as an UNSOLICITED message on my phone, and I asked him to put it down on virtual paper, so I could share it with you.

Before sharing the BEFORE/AFTER images, let me address naysayer objections I frequently read on the Socials, speaking out against my book, “The Catapult Loading System: Teaching 100-Lb Hitters To Consistently Drive The Ball 300-Feet”, this email clearly dispels:

  • “In High School homers virtually disappear because of BBCor bats”,
  • “15yo High School hitters can’t hit balls in excess of 400-feet at 175-pounds”,
  • “Sure, your system may increase power, but it will be at the cost of Batting Average and Strikeouts”, and
  • “This kid is just a freak [or they may use the word ‘mutant’]”

All this is FAKE NEWS Coaches!!

The last one always makes me laugh…I say take me to VEGAS then, because I’m running into A LOT of mutants!! Buahahaha

And you know why homers “virtually disappear” with BBCor bats in High School?

Because many of these coaches are teaching their hitters to HIT THE BALL ON THE GROUND!  Please STOP!  It’s insane these coaches don’t want their offense to score more runs and win more games.  Ground-balls SUCK for hitters!  The reverse is true for pitchers by the way 😉

I have faith, “winners” will make the adjustment and not whine, complain, and come up with every excuse in the book as to why hitting the ball HARD IN THE AIR doesn’t work.  Sad.

Boosting Ball Exit Speed and Launch Angles is a formula folks.  With hard work, attention to detail, and dedication, more hitters can achieve what we’re sharing.  The Catapult Loading System takes care of the former, and Pitch-Plane Domination the latter.

Here’s a BEFORE/AFTER image of Lawrence’s back foot skip (too much) on July 9th…

Baseball Bats Myth Debunked

Lawrence’s feet are too close together in these swings…

Here’s a BEFORE/AFTER image of his August 25th 360-foot dinger…

Baseball Bats Myth Debunked

This angle is a challenge, but use the catcher’s belt as a reference point to the back foot in both images. In addition, look at the gap between his feet.

Now, as you remember, we made three changes to Lawrence’s swing back in early July:

  • Increase forward momentum,
  • Create more space between his feet, and
  • Increase spinal tilt during the turn…

…so it’s hard to tell which one of these was THE ONE thing that made the biggest difference.  My argument for the Back Foot Variance is this:

  1. In past swing experiments, Forward Momentum hasn’t been shown to increase Bat Speed at Impact significantly.
  2. Increasing spinal tilt is great, but doesn’t work if the hitter’s feet are close together – like a golfers.
  3. The greater the distance between the feet (although not too much), the more consistent the hitter can get to the bottom half of the ball.

Also, if you read this Washington Post article titled, “Bryce Harper: A Swing of Beauty”, you’ll discover:

“Glenn Fleisig, an expert in the field of biomechanics, said the majority of hitters he’s studied transferred 90 percent of their weight to their front foot and kept 10 percent on their back leg at contact. Harper, of course, would move 100 percent of his weight forward at contact when his back leg lifts. That, Fleisig said, would enable him to generate a ground rotational force equal to 150 percent of his body weight.”

At Bryce Harper’s current weight of 215-lbs, that would be 322.5-lbs of force transferred at impact!  Any weight transfer less than 100% would be an inferior model, so that’s why ‘squishing bugs’ isn’t optimized.

Coaches, be careful who you’re following.  Make sure they’re sticking close to the human movement principles that are validated by science.  If not, then quickly abandon ship.

Baseball bats myth debunked!

Please keep me updated on your hitters’ progress using the Back Foot Variance Drill below…

Truth About Hitting Power & Bat Speed: Does Hip Rotation & Lower Half Increase Your Bat Speed?

Learn whether using hip rotation and the lower half increases hitting power or bat speed.  Discover at home swing drills that DO improve power (NOT what you think)…

Clayton Kershaw + Roger Federer = Repeatable Hitting Power

 

Yes, hitters can build consistent explosive rotational power into their swings by learning from tennis players and baseball pitching athletes.  CLICK HERE to check out this “Pitching Instruction Secrets for Hitters” video post I did featuring 2014 World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner.

I received an email from a teacher in Portugal named Alexandra Franco.  She plays competitive tennis and is also a tennis instructor.  She recently purchased my Truth About Explosive Rotational Power online video course to help her teach and play tennis better.  She asked a lot of really good questions around how the spinal engine mechanics I’m teaching my hitters related to serving a tennis ball…

In this video, we’re going to explore Dr. Serge Gracovetsky’s Spinal Engine Mechanics, as they relate to:

  • Moving the spine for performance,
  • Comparing Alexandra’s serve to Roger Federer’s, and
  • Apply key baseball pitching & tennis principles to hitting for repeatable power…

Moving the Spine for Performance

Dr. Serge Gracovetsky, in his book The Spinal Engine says,

“The spine cannot be rotated axially without flexing.  The spinal engine theory requires the lumbar spine to be flexed laterally if an axial torque is to be induced.”

According to Dr. Gracovetsky, there are three possible spinal movements:

  1. Extension (lordosis)/Flexion – standing tall, or arching the lower back.  And think of Flexion as rounding the back,
  2. Lateral Flexion or Side bending – standing tall, then flexing the upper body sideways at the waist, and
  3. Axial Rotation – this is the shoulders rotating opposite the pelvis.  Think of this as torque or how a gear box works.

He then adds that if two of the above are present, then almost always the end result is the third.  All explosive rotational athletes, have to abide by these rules to human movement.  Let’s see how Alexandra and Roger Federer use a combination of the above three spinal movements for performance…

 

Comparing Tennis Serve of Alexandra to Roger Federer

Here are some key differences Alexandra can use to up her tennis serve…Roger Federer tends to:

  • Bend both knees as he throws the ball in the air, which helps with
  • Maintaining strict alignment with his head and spine as he globally extends (head & spine as one piece) over his heels,
  • As he’s doing this, he angles his shoulders up towards the apex of the ball causing an extreme side bend of the spine (in the video, look how low his back shoulder gets compared to his front), and
  • Going into axial rotation to hit the ball, watch how both elbows move counter-clockwise, at the same time, and on the same plane with the shot.

 

Apply Key Baseball Pitching & Tennis Principles to Hitting for Repeatable Power

A page out of Dr. Serge Gracovetsky's book The Spinal Engine for baseball pitching...

A page out of Dr. Serge Gracovetsky’s book The Spinal Engine…

The tennis serve and baseball pitching mechanics are very similar.  Dr. Serge Gracovetsky says,

“The large torque required to propel the baseball demands such a large amount of lateral bending that the pelvis must be rocked as well.  It is this requirement that precipitates the characteristic lift of the left leg before the throw.”

One of the key differences to hitting is the shoulder angle (lateral bend).  Hitters need to move the front shoulder slightly down to hit the ball up.  I get this with my hitters by cuing them to raise the back elbow at or above the top hand (see Trout photo above).

Whereas baseball pitching athletes, like 2014 NL Cy Young and MVP Award winner Clayton Kershaw, and Roger Federer need to angle the front shoulder up before throwing or hitting the ball down.

One last thought from Dr. Serge Gracovetsky about proper spinal engine mechanics for explosive rotational athletes:

“The axial rotation of the spine cannot happen unless the spine is flexed by the right amount on the correct side.  Coaching an athlete to throw without a proper spinal position is an invitation to severe torsional injuries.”

STOP Early Hip Rotation & Using Lower Half Correctly Increase Power In Baseball Or Softball Swing?

Discover if STOPPING early hip rotation and using the lower half correctly increases power in the baseball or softball swing.  Learn hitting drills to do at home.

Softball Hitting Tips Fastpitch: Is Power ALL In The Hips?

 

 

This is Part-3 of a 3-part softball hitting tips fastpitch video series coming straight out of the Catapult Loading System online video mini-course…

The Catapult Loading System

Sick of struggling with getting your hitters to hit the ball hard with more consistency?  This is a simple 7-module online video mini-course that will help hitters weighing less than 100-pounds, hit the ball consistently over 300-feet in 60 days.  You’ll be able to dramatically increase power without sacrificing swing quality.

CLICK the Link below to…

Get Access to The Catapult Loading System Mini-Course

 

In this softball hitting tips fastpitch video post, we’re going to answer one of my reader’s questions…

“Ways to use your hips to create bat speed?”

Before I get to the #1 Biggest Lie In Hitting, we’ll cover:

  • Inward hip turn towards catcher to load?
  • Springy ‘X’ Pattern, and
  • Landing open with the front foot.

 

Inward Hip Turn Towards Catcher To Load?

Softball Hitting Tips Fastpitch: Lauren Chamberlain Hitting

Are Lauren Chamberlain’s hips firing on their own, or was her spine pre-loaded earlier by her shoulders? Photo courtesy: YT user – Paul Arebalo

I picked up on this in High School after reading Ted Williams’s book The Science Of Hitting.

But is this really necessary?

After reading Thomas Myers’s book Anatomy Trains, I don’t believe that it is.

To me, ‘Loading the hips’ by turning the pelvis inward towards the catcher creates more challenges, than benefits.

The biggest challenge is that if the timing isn’t right, the hitter will get stuck landing with a closed front leg at landing (front toe less than a 45-degree angle).

CLICK HERE for a Zepp swing experiment I did on landing closed versus open, and the affect on average bat speed.

Olympic Javelin Throwers, Boxers, and Sprinters do just fine without using an inward turn of the pelvis, away from their target, before throwing, punching, or running.

 

Springy ‘X’ Pattern

I don’t want to beat a dead horse, so here are two great video blog posts I did, that apply to softball hitting tips fastpitch, talking about the Springy ‘X’ Pattern:

 

Landing Open with the Front Foot

The guys at ZenoLink are awesome!  They find the truth behind human movement science.  This video discusses how the lower body position or stride setup will dictate how well you create and utilized ground reaction force to initiate the swing process and develop power and bat speed.

They found the optimal degree that the stride foot must be open at landing to be around 65-degrees (watch around the 2:00 mark)…

 

 

So WHY are we teaching our young hitters to stride closed?!!

To summarize…

‘Loading and exploding the hips’ by inwardly turning the pelvis towards the catcher can cause the hitter to land closed.  If the hitter lands closed, then bat speed WILL go down, according to the results of my Zepp swing experiment, and to the guys at ZenoLink.  As a result of bat speed going down, so will Ball Exit Speed.

‘Firing the hips’ is an over-coached cue, if anything, let’s ‘load and explode the shoulders’, not the hips.  Us hitting coaches MUST shift our focus above the pelvis, into the shoulders by way of the Springy ‘X’ Pattern.

So, what is the #1 Biggest Lie In Hitting, as it relates to softball hitting tips fastpitch?

That we MUST ‘load and explode the hips’.

You see,

We have to get away from learning inside baseball and softball hitting circles.  We must first learn human movement science, then break away, and begin thinking creatively about how to apply these human movement “rules”, that are validated by science, to hitting a ball.

Swing Weight On Back Foot, Transfer, Distribution, And Stance Footwork Hitting Drills For Baseball & Softball Batting

Discover the secret to swing weight on the back foot, weight transfer, distribution, and stance footwork hitting drills for baseball and softball batting.

Baseball Hitting Drills For Youth: DO NOT Be “That Guy”

 

So, this is what I have to deal with on a weekly basis.  I also want to apologize in advance, this is a little bit of a rant.  Before going into the baseball hitting drills for youth, here’s some context, it all started when I posted this image of Buster Posey in his ‘Float’ position on Twitter (CLICK HERE for Twitter thread):

Baseball Hitting Drills for Youth: Buster Posey 'Floating'

Buster Posey photo courtesy: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

The caption I put over the Twitter image stated: “Hitting Misconception: ‘Keep the back knee inside the foot’. Buster Posey is ‘floating’ with his knee over ankle…”

This is when my conversation with @13tys started…

@13tys: his knee is inside his foot! No?

@hitperformlab (Me): nope, knee floating slightly off center of ankle.

@13tys: just showed the same pic to my 11yr old and asked him, reply “are you stupid? His knee is inside his ankle”.

(This is when I get the feeling that I was dealing with “that guy”)

@hitperformlab: he’s kind of bias don’t you think? Lol

@13tys: just showed the pic and asked. I usually use my 9 and 11 yr olds to call a spade a spade. They don’t know baseball politics.

@hitperformlab: it’s not the ideal angle, I’ll find another. You believe in keeping the knee inside at all costs?

@13tys: you don’t have to, but the further back it goes, the tougher u make hitting. Already tough enough w/o that much movement!

@hitperformlab: C’mon man! Had to prove to your 10yo I’m not “stupid” lol. Just did simple Google image search.

(Here are the two images of Buster Posey I posted to the baseball hitting drills for youth Twitter thread)...

Baseball Hitting Drills for Youth: Buster Posey 'Floating'

Buster Posey photo courtesy: www.BayAreaSportsGuy.com

AND

Baseball Hitting Drills for Youth: Buster Posey 'Floating'

Buster Posey photo courtesy: InWriteField.com

@13tys: still, we are looking at the same thing and seeing different things. To me, that knee is still not on top of the ankle.

(by the way, in the beginning of our Twitter conversation, I said “knee floating slightly off center of ankle”)…

@hitperformlab: let me get my 2 year old to comment on your comment lol

@hitperformlab: Posey is creating torque in his back hip. Also depends on the severity of the leg kick, Posey’s is about medium…hope this helps

@13tys: creating torque?? Seriously? This is y kids are so confused by their “hitting coaches” #keepitsimple

(Then like the “good American citizen” he is, posts a screenshot of the definition of “Torque”)…

@hitperformlab: I’m talking to you, not to kids. Read Dr. Kelly Starrett’s book The Supple Leopard.

@13tys: sorry, My experience and knowledge come from yrs in cages & video w/ the best hitters ever, some come from books on crossfit

@hitperformlab: book that’ll rock you’re isolated hitting world? Anatomy Trains by Thomas Myers.

(Then there was radio silence…)

FIRST of all, if spending years in the cages AND analyzing video of the best hitters ever, magically made you know EVERYTHING you need to know about effective hitting, then we wouldn’t have the problem we do today with guys like this, coming up with effective baseball hitting drills for youth hitters.

“That guy” is a soaked sponge, and has reached his ceiling of knowledge when it comes to hitting.

If experience, cage work, and analysis were the only standard of learning the swing, then we’d all have to accept what Alex Rodriguez shared about the secret to his swing during the 2015 World Series FOX Sports broadcast…

How he talked about keeping the barrel above his hands when hitting.  And we ALL know how well that little tip would help our hitters 😛

And SECOND, this “talking down to you” TWEETitude, is a sure sign of an inferior coach, nevertheless, a knucklehead for a human being.

Slightly off topic…

Read this Business Insider article titled, “4 behaviors are the most reliable predictors of divorce”.

Guess which one of the ‘4 horsemen of the apocalypse’ is the worst offender in marriages…

CONTEMPT (aka, the “talking down to you” attitude).

Okay, back on topic…

Look, if we as coaches don’t have a solid foundation in human movement principles, validated by science, then we’re pissing in the wind!  Without this foundation, conversations about hitting would model a Merry-Go-Round.  Many of you have experienced this ridiculous insanity in popular online hitting forums.

Look at this slow motion video of Buster Posey.  Look at the difference of the back knee position (over the ankle, slightly off center) at the 0:03 video mark, versus at the 0:09 video mark during the fall forward…

 

 

Here’s the holdup with hitting coaches, even ones I agree with on a majority of things,

They think that the back knee MUST stay inside the foot at ALL times.  So, they teach ALL their hitters to do this, often putting the hitter’s back knee in an unnatural and awkward position before Forward Momentum.

If you think this knee position is healthy, then CLICK HERE to learn how bad putting the knee into a ‘knee valgus’ position is to our youth athletes from FunctionalMovement.com.

In addition,

These same instructors may also suggest and teach there hitters that when the back knee gets over the ankle, that it’s a BAD thing.

This couldn’t be further from the truth.

The shifting of the knee back over the ankle should have a purpose.  A couple baseball hitting drills for youth concepts:

  1. A timing mechanism that I like to call the ‘Float’, AND
  2. Creating torque, or stability, in the back hip.

 

Baseball Hitting Drills for Youth #1: Using the ‘Float’

A ‘Float’ is a timing mechanism the hitter uses just before falling forward.  It generally can be observed as a slight weight shift back towards the catcher before falling forward.

With the ‘Float’, the severity of the knee shift will depend on the leg kick.  The higher the leg kick, the more the shifting of the knee over the ankle may have to happen.

For example, Willie Mays didn’t have much of a weight shift (or Float) back, he just fell forward with a slide step:

 

 

However, watch slow motion video of Josh Donaldson, who has a high leg kick, and you’ll see him virtually ‘pause’ on one leg, before his fall forward:

 

 

Baseball Hitting Drills for Youth #2: Creating Hip Torque & Stability

Okay, so what is creating torque to stabilize the back hip mean?  Let Dr. Kelly Starrett, Physical Therapist and owner of San Francisco CrossFit, at MobilityWOD.com explain its importance:

 

 

Here’s a baseball hitting drills for youth coaching cue that I use…

Borrowed from Dr. Kelly Starrett, I say to my hitters “screw the back ankle into the foot”.  I also advise them to point the back toe slightly inward towards the pitcher at setup, and to keep it there while screwing the ankle in.  The keyword is slight, not a lot.

Take a look at this video of Jose Bautista fouling a ball off, and watch how he ‘bows’ his back knee in, but at about the 0:06 second mark (when he begins his fall forward), the back knee starts to shift back towards the catcher…his back hip and thigh bone are searching for stability after being put in an unstable internally rotated (knee valgus) position at setup:

 

 

Now, CLICK HERE to watch this video clip of Ted Williams, and keep an eye on the back knee action between the 0:06-0:15 video mark.  Sorry, this YouTuber disabled the embed code so I couldn’t embed the video here.

What did arguably one of the best hitters of all time do with his back knee prior to Forward Momentum.  Boy, didn’t it shift back over the ankle?!

How about this homerun hit by Asdrubal Cabrera (watch the slow motion chest view at the 0:41 second mark)…

 

 

One more video…

Check out Matt Kemp.  As you can see, he starts with his back knee inside his foot, then watch for his back knee action prior to Forward Momentum:

 

 

Now, is this making baseball hitting drills for youth more complicated, like Mr. @13tys said?

Heck no!  It takes about 5 to 10-mins to explain to my 7-year-old hitters, and they begin applying it in their swings.  Easy peasy.

So after looking at all this, here’s the point of my baseball hitting drills for youth rant…

Don’t get caught up drinking the cool-aid of other hitting experts, blowhards, or “That Guy” without questioning what they’re saying.  Remember, we aren’t just observers.  We’re amateur scientists in a way.

I don’t claim to know it all.  And am still learning.  But I know for a fact, I’m on a better road than “That Guy”.

Look, I don’t mind being challenged, but if you don’t back up what you’re saying with human movement principles, that are validated by science, then you’ll lose.  We aren’t debating baseball hitting drills for youth philosophies or theories…we analyze through the lens of validated science.  Physics, Engineering, Bodywork, Biology, Chemistry, and Biomechanics.

I DO NOT care what level you played or coached at.

I DO NOT care if you’ve digested a million hours of slow motion video footage of only the BEST hitters.

I also DO NOT care if you’ve logged more hitting lesson hours than it takes to fly to Mars!!

If you don’t understand the human movement “rules”, then you DO NOT understand high level hitting, or better yet, high level human performance.

I know this may upset some of you out there.  But I don’t care.  The days of being “That Guy” are numbered.  If you aren’t moving with us, then you’ll be left behind.  And that’s the truth.

Best Functional Wrist And Tendon Strengthening Exercises At Home For Pain In Baseball & Softball

Discover the best functional wrist and tendon strengthening exercises you can do at home if you have pain* for baseball and softball players.  Learn the best wrist exercises for advanced grip strength, bat speed, and pitching velocity.

*If you’re having wrist pain, then see a medical professional first before doing any of these exercises.  I am not a medical professional and DO NOT pretend to be one.  This is only my advice after doing the research and connecting the dots.

Wrist Exercises VIDEO: Improve Hitters’ Flexibility & Strength In 2-Weeks

 

 

Wrist Exercises: Wrist Flexibility & Exercises For Hitters

Handstand GymnasticBodies.com. Photo courtesy: GymnasticBodies.com

This wrist exercises post is for Coach David Michael Enciso (DME).  He mentioned having a couple girls that had stiff wrists, and was wondering about stretches.

To those that don’t know, I’ve been doing Gymnastics body-weight strength training through GymnasticBodies.com over the past four months. That link will give you $25 OFF their Fundamentals course.

I don’t get commission on that, I just think what Coach Sommers has put together is excellent training for baseball and softball players!  By the way, Coach Sommers was the former US Olympic men’s Gymnastics coach.  I’ve also recommended his program to quite a few of my hitting students and parents online and off.

I personally finished the Fundamentals 4-week course, and moved onto the Handstand course, which I’ve been working on for the past 2-3 months months.

However, I’d recommend my players completing the Fundamentals course first, then moving onto the Foundation courses, before moving onto Handstand.

In the video above, I show you all the wrist stretches and strengtheners that I do on a daily and bi-weekly basis for my Handstand training.

The wrist stretches alone got rid of a painful pinch on the backside of my right wrist (my throwing hand), that I’ve had for the last 5 years, at the bottom of the push-up position…the pinch was gone in 2-weeks!

Do the THREE stretches EVERYDAY as prescribed in the video,

AND

Do the FOUR exercises 3-sets X 5-repetitions each wrist, 2-3 times per week.

PLEASE keep me updated on any changes you find in your hitters, from these wrist stretches and exercises.

Another training device you should look into is Rotex Motion.  Click Here for an experiment I did on that.

Make sure we’re swinging smarter by moving better 😉