I have seen a lot of interesting things on twitter from some hitting people that seem to think the only way they can become relevant is by reinventing the wheel, and providing something that hasn't been said before that logically makes no sense when you watch the best swings in the world. One that is absolutely beyond me is that hitting should be done on one leg. There are literally people out there that are saying your front side is irrelevant...
Hitting is an athletic move. Any athletic move out there whether it's playing defense in basketball, a linebacker in football, or a hitter, you have an athletic base, with leverage into the ground. In hitting it is especially important to understand that your backside is only as good as your front side, and your front side is only as good as your backside. In order to be directional and process energy that we gather in our load through the baseball coming from in front of us is to have the ability to hit into something. Your front side is everything when it comes to directionally processing energy through an object that is coming from in front of you.
Many young hitters lose ground contact (and leverage) with their front foot as they launch to the baseball. This could be the result of many things: 1) Hands not maintaining a tight path to contact, 2) starting the rotational part of the swing before establishing leverage in the ground, 3) simply not getting into the ground enough with our front side (keeping too much weight on the back side during the load to stride phase...this would be "spinning")...to name a few. A spin swing will allow you to potentially hit the ball, more than likely to the pull side, if the pitch is in the right spot and you are on time...but there is almost ZERO adjustability with these swings. A directional/leveraged swing will allow you to hit to all fields, and have adjustability when facing a pitcher who is trying to keep you off balanced.
Here are some of the best hitters at heel plant, and then at the point of contact. Take a look at their front foot.
What I notice:
1) At heel plant, there is bend in both legs. It's athletic, balanced (head in middle of the feet), and leveraged.
2) At contact, the front leg straightens out, which is a result of a back side driving into a strong front leg. This keeps the head in the middle of the body and allows for a swing that is in the zone early, and extends. AKA a swing that is directional with a lot of force through the point of contact.
3) At contact, the front foot is holding true. It is not spinning with the back hip acceleration as they get to contact (I know you can't see the whole launch phase of the swing with these two pics but the front foot is relatively in the same spot at contact as it was at heel plant). The front foot may move some depending on the amount of force being brought by the backside, but as you can see in these pictures, the foot is still in the ground and allowing for proper energy transfer through the baseball coming from in front.
One important thing to note... If you watch these videos all the way through, you may eventually see the hitter roll over the front foot some...AFTER CONTACT. This is a result of the explosiveness these hitters poses, and the back hip acceleration into their strong front side. Pitch location and height also can impact the action of the front foot, but the one consistency of the best hitters is they do have leverage, and the front side IS just as important as their backside, and at contact, they are hitting into something...a strong front leg.
To say the front leg is not important in hitting is ludicrous. I don't want hitters that just spin to the pull side, I want hitters that can do damage to all fields. Rotation and spinning are very different. Rotation starts with the legs and leverage into the ground. Sitting on one leg and spinning to contact will open up holes. If you run into it you may see if fly, but the best pitchers will be able to take advantage of these hitters as there will be many holes to expose.
Keeping an open mind is important; nobody has all the answers, but for me, there is no reason to reinvent things. What's new creates interest, but be careful, because there are a lot of people out there that are preaching things that defy logic. How about we watch the hitters that are the best at their craft, and teach the things they all do very well?
Please understand, that in order to grow I think it is incredibly important to gather info from many people. Most of my philosophy that continues to evolve is not original thought. I have read a lot, listened to a lot of great baseball minds, and had a lot of trial and error. I do not have all the answers, but I do think if the best hitters are doing relative moves, then there has to be some importance in teaching that.
Last thing, not all hitters should be Miguel Cabrera, and I should not teach all hitters to look exactly like Miguel Cabrera. Every hitter needs to own their swing. There is a lot of uniqueness to every athlete, and we need to welcome that uniqueness; but when you see the best hitters having common similarities with what they are doing, we as coaches can help guide these unique individuals to understand those essentials.
One of those essentials is the best hitters use their legs...BOTH of them in very effective ways.
Thanks for reading.
Yours in baseball,
Burm
Hitting is an athletic move. Any athletic move out there whether it's playing defense in basketball, a linebacker in football, or a hitter, you have an athletic base, with leverage into the ground. In hitting it is especially important to understand that your backside is only as good as your front side, and your front side is only as good as your backside. In order to be directional and process energy that we gather in our load through the baseball coming from in front of us is to have the ability to hit into something. Your front side is everything when it comes to directionally processing energy through an object that is coming from in front of you.
Many young hitters lose ground contact (and leverage) with their front foot as they launch to the baseball. This could be the result of many things: 1) Hands not maintaining a tight path to contact, 2) starting the rotational part of the swing before establishing leverage in the ground, 3) simply not getting into the ground enough with our front side (keeping too much weight on the back side during the load to stride phase...this would be "spinning")...to name a few. A spin swing will allow you to potentially hit the ball, more than likely to the pull side, if the pitch is in the right spot and you are on time...but there is almost ZERO adjustability with these swings. A directional/leveraged swing will allow you to hit to all fields, and have adjustability when facing a pitcher who is trying to keep you off balanced.
Here are some of the best hitters at heel plant, and then at the point of contact. Take a look at their front foot.
What I notice:
1) At heel plant, there is bend in both legs. It's athletic, balanced (head in middle of the feet), and leveraged.
2) At contact, the front leg straightens out, which is a result of a back side driving into a strong front leg. This keeps the head in the middle of the body and allows for a swing that is in the zone early, and extends. AKA a swing that is directional with a lot of force through the point of contact.
3) At contact, the front foot is holding true. It is not spinning with the back hip acceleration as they get to contact (I know you can't see the whole launch phase of the swing with these two pics but the front foot is relatively in the same spot at contact as it was at heel plant). The front foot may move some depending on the amount of force being brought by the backside, but as you can see in these pictures, the foot is still in the ground and allowing for proper energy transfer through the baseball coming from in front.
One important thing to note... If you watch these videos all the way through, you may eventually see the hitter roll over the front foot some...AFTER CONTACT. This is a result of the explosiveness these hitters poses, and the back hip acceleration into their strong front side. Pitch location and height also can impact the action of the front foot, but the one consistency of the best hitters is they do have leverage, and the front side IS just as important as their backside, and at contact, they are hitting into something...a strong front leg.
To say the front leg is not important in hitting is ludicrous. I don't want hitters that just spin to the pull side, I want hitters that can do damage to all fields. Rotation and spinning are very different. Rotation starts with the legs and leverage into the ground. Sitting on one leg and spinning to contact will open up holes. If you run into it you may see if fly, but the best pitchers will be able to take advantage of these hitters as there will be many holes to expose.
Keeping an open mind is important; nobody has all the answers, but for me, there is no reason to reinvent things. What's new creates interest, but be careful, because there are a lot of people out there that are preaching things that defy logic. How about we watch the hitters that are the best at their craft, and teach the things they all do very well?
Please understand, that in order to grow I think it is incredibly important to gather info from many people. Most of my philosophy that continues to evolve is not original thought. I have read a lot, listened to a lot of great baseball minds, and had a lot of trial and error. I do not have all the answers, but I do think if the best hitters are doing relative moves, then there has to be some importance in teaching that.
Last thing, not all hitters should be Miguel Cabrera, and I should not teach all hitters to look exactly like Miguel Cabrera. Every hitter needs to own their swing. There is a lot of uniqueness to every athlete, and we need to welcome that uniqueness; but when you see the best hitters having common similarities with what they are doing, we as coaches can help guide these unique individuals to understand those essentials.
One of those essentials is the best hitters use their legs...BOTH of them in very effective ways.
Thanks for reading.
Yours in baseball,
Burm
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