Looking to identify the swing components that all great hitters have in common. Not claiming my content is original just attempting to piece it all together.
"We are like dwarfs sitting on the shoulders of giants. We see more, and things that are more distant, than they did, not because our sight is superior or because we are taller than they, but because they raise us up, and by their great stature add to ours."
Sir Isaac Newton
Mookie Betts uses his front leg for leverage and front foot for ground reaction force. Notice his back foot skip as he transfers his weight forward into contact.
This book from 1994 gave us four things that are now integral parts of hitting fundamentals and conversation:
1) inside the ball (Ben Hines, p.56)
2) the law of the conservation of angular momentum (p.16)
3) coiling action of the back hip (p.59)
4) not cloning hitters (p.73)
@uTeeBaseball
@Teacherman1986
Bregman is a high-level hitter, just not HLP. This is not new. Watch Roberto Clemente.
Back hip coil is for the stability needed to move forward in the stride, especially with a leg lift. See Justin Turner. Dr. Kelly Starrett explains it here.
@Chapel14Billy
@iZOOM7
Went through all that with that guy all weekend. How come Ruth, Williams, Mays, Mantle, Maris, Clemente, Aaron, Allen, etc, didn't hit with HLP? They were as High Level as you could get.
Albert Pujols does NOT start his swing by "snapping" the barrel back toward the catcher or sideways. He starts down. Then, he uses his core, obliques included, to turn the barrel.
@notgaetti
Could you imagine Travis Kelce doing that to the Detroit Lions Coach, Dan Campbell? That confrontation would be worth the price of a Super Bowl ticket.
@LantzWheeler
Relying on the spinal engine by depriving the individual of ground reaction force. That would be my guess. Otherwise, I have no answer for you.
Diamond overlooked the contribution of Mike Epstein and his son, Jake. Mike likely started "the revolution" that Diamond wrote about. Jake now owns and operates a high tech hitting facility in College Station, TX. Diamond should have consulted Jake about the use of gadgetry.
@Hittingdevolop1
Mickey Mantle said, "Take as little coaching as possible. Yogi Berra asked, "How can you think and hit at the same time?" Ted Williams said,"If you want to be a good hitter, watch good hitters hit." George Brett said, “I can’t tell people how I do
something, just that I do it."
@Fiveframeswing
@bamahurin
@ChrisNowak83
@TewksHitting
@shegone03
Ok, Brett, take that swing, then another one on a pitch breaking low and away, then another on an up and in fastball. Do the three swings in succession. Don't use a tee. Visualize the different pitches and their locations.
No one would have paid attention to any of the guys mentioned by Diamond in SWING KINGS if they studied Ted Williams' book. How did what he said get ignored by so many for over 50 years?
@shegone03
"Ain't no sense worryin' about the things you got control over, 'cause if you got control over 'em, ain't no sense worryin'. And ain't no sense worryin' about the things you don't got control over, 'cause if you don't got control over 'em, ain't no worryin'.' - Mickey Rivers
“I feel that rotational swings are more collision-hitting. You’re in & out the zone so fast when you’re rotational. The more linear you are, the sooner & longer you’re in the zone. There’s more room for error.” Justin Turner
#TalkinHitting
What are the origins of the hitting mechanics endlessly debated, many times ridiculed, on here? Maybe this book can offer some answers.
I loved the author's telling of the unlikely story of these relative unknowns, changing how hitting a baseball is understood and taught.
All-time great hitters share common swing components. From foot plant through contact, they are more similar than dissimilar. We should focus on the commonalities and explain why they do these things. Is there a "science" of hitting? Yes. Identify its components. Teach them.
@TheWiseSultan
@shegone03
Take away the ball bucket and see what gravity does to the kid's barrel. Gravity will keep pulling the barrel down. Does Aaron Judge do this drill?
@gritnj
@TheJudge44
"Just because the lead foot taps down early doesn’t necessarily mean it’s DOWN.
It’s only down AFTER the launch."
Did Betts' swing launch? Pujols? Baez?
@shegone03
He needed a fancy term for his hitting principles, one that made it seem that the best/"high level" hitters used them. If you didn't, he labeled you in a derogatory manner. Those who couldn't take it bought into it all. Clever manipulation, that's all, like any cigarette ad.
@CoachPerk
Merry Christmas to you!
As to the methods, there may be a million and then some, but principles are few. 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
Mickey Mantle's forceful lower half action - forward momentum created by a long stride converted into rotational momentum, then the back leg/foot action adds some more forward momentum.
Mookie Betts from stride to front foot plant:
1. Bend in front knee
2. Pelvis begins to open while the hands stay back
3. Back knee turns in
4. Back foot comes up
5. Downward angle of the front shoulder
6. Lower half opening while upper half is still closed.
@MLBNow
How about an extension of 1B into foul territory? Don't they do that in softball in some cases? That would give the runner his section and the fielder his.
TSOH came out in 1970. In it, Ted Williams talked about much of what hitting circles talk about now. There were many things of importance but what was perhaps the most important? On pages 62-63, he talked about getting on pitch plane for as long as possible and how to do it.
@Balancehitting
"A slight upswing - again, led by the hips coming around and up - puts the bat flush in line with the path of the ball for a longer period - that 12- to 18-inch impact zone."
(TSOH, 1970)