How Does the Hitter’s Front Side Effect His Swing?
In baseball, we talk a lot about the backside. We insure our students keep their weight back, turn their back hip, and thrust their hips from the back side. Whether it is hitting or pitching, I would say 90% of power conversations are all back side induced movements.
What happened to the front side?
Sometimes as instructors we have to catch ourselves and remind our students we need to use our front leg, or “side,” and not be afraid of it. That being said, trouble occurs when our body mass is pushed up onto our front side. If you have read anything on this blog, you know this is a BIG no no.
We know that where a hitter starts his swing can mean everything. Most People get caught up in what Mike Epstien calls ‘Style’ or the stance of a hitter. Kevin Youkilis stands in the box flinching and twitching with a huge gap in his hands. Then, just before his forward swing starts, his hands come together, his stride foot hits, and he’s in perfect Double Inside Load Position.
Case Study 2: Josh Horton, Oakland A’s Minor Leaguer
Case Study: Josh Horton
Josh Horton, AAA player for the Oakland Athletics, walked into I.T.S. Baseball on October 4th of 2011. Josh played at the local high school where he was an All American, then headed to UNC Chapel Hill where he was also an All American and even won the ACC batting title. Josh came in looking for a place to hit in the off season, perhaps someone to throw him some batting practice, and was genuinely happy to see that a baseball facility had opened so close to his house and in his hometown.
I told Josh I’d like to take a look at his swing on video and let him know what I thought and we’d go from there. I was excited to work with Josh, an excellent player, and to learn from him and what he’d learned during his very successful career to this point.
BEFORE: This is Josh’s first day video:
Row Til You GO, Back Shoulder Row and More Bat Speed
Back Shoulder Row and the Top Level Swing
Many people teach a hands first downward plane swing. As readers of the Baseball Hitting Rebellion know, we are not part of that group. The truly amazing thing about the Top Level Swing (in baseball and softball) is that there are almost NO examples of players utilizing the knob pull or a downward swing and having any type of success, yet linear hands first hitting is the predominant thought taught at all formative levels of baseball and softball.
As I was going through the process of figuring out what I wanted to write about next, I kept coming back to the separation of the lead hip and the back shoulder. The true engine of the Top Level Swing is the stretching action of the muscles of the torso, and how that action is created and maximized for a suddenly explosive and accelerated swing. Paul Reddick, a former scout, starts his hitting product ‘sales pitch’ by saying, ‘everybody knows that hitting power is the result of the separation of the hips and shoulders’, and if you’ve read my stuff, you know I’m on board with that as well.
However, I think it’s really important that people understand that this torque creating move doesn’t just stop at a hip turn.
Robinson Cano BHR Blind Case Study
The Rebels ask, and the Rebels shall receive!
Recently, I was asked to diagram a Robinson Cano swing, so I took some time to do that. I made sure that the video was NOT one currently in my video library, because I wanted a pure test of my theories on hitting and if Cano would exhibit everything or only some things that the Baseball Hitting Rebellion preaches.
Here are the results:
Super Thrust, Robinson Cano, and PHYSICS!?!
Super Thrust is a Must, but Fundamentals Reign Supreme!
Hello everyone! Hopefully everyone enjoyed the 2011 HR Derby, I know I did. The HR Derby is like Christmas come early for me every year, especially since the invention of HD tv and the SUPER SLOW MO cameras they use. I wasn’t a big fan of the yellow and red lines or the behind home plate from 150 feet up view they kept showing, but hey, at least they’re trying to keep it fresh.
Now, onto my analysis.
This is going to be a fun article, with some technique stuff in it, but when the HR Derby happens, I gotta talk about it. Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I picked Jose Bautista to win the thing…(shows what I know) but I did think that Cano could possibly make the 2nd round (GREAT PICK)!