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Thanks I appreciate it! Barry Bonds is one of the few players that actually kept his head extremely still during the entire hitting process. Most players have some movement forward with their head during their stride and then keep it still during rotation. The problem with most young players is when they try to keep their head still the entire hitting process they often times never transfer their weight properly. They keep all their weight back and then spin.
this is exactly what my hitting guy talks about, to be able to hit a 90 mph fastball you need to get the hands going early and your body moving forward. I know they teach this at Wake, as my hitting coach went there. Cano is a perfect example of loading back and moving forward like a pendulum.
Thanks! Glad you like it! I am working on putting some drills together online because I get asked for them so frequently. Hopefully I can get it on here soon for you. They are tough to explain without physically showing them.
I just picked Cano because I was asked to analyze his swing. Cano does have a decent amount of linear movement but I wouldn't say he is the exception. There are a lot of players that move as much or more than Cano. I would never tell anyone to try to hit just like Cano, or any other Major League hitter, but almost every hitter has some linear move in their swing.
I really enjoy how thoroughly you explain what is going on in the swing. I never noticed that the back foot actually comes off the ground briefly when the back leg turns. Ideally though, would we rather keep our heads in the same place throughout the swing? I know there's a short swing analysis on youtube that shows Barry Bonds keeping his head in the same spot from start to finish.
Yes the Happy Gilmore drill if done correctly is good for that. You have to think about actually moving your body like I show Cano do when he takes his stride. You also have to learn how to get weight off of your back leg. A lot of younger players keep all their weight on their back leg when they stride and hit so all they can do is spin and squish the bug.
One thing that will help is you need to let the ball travel deeper into the hitting zone. The other part comes down to your hitting mechanics. It is tough without seeing your swing but my guess is your swing is kind of "pushy" with your upper body and hands instead of rotating and staying connected.
Well you may just not be letting the ball travel into the hitting zone far enough. You can also change your sights. I don't know where you are trying to hit the ball right now in your mind, but whatever it is change it to more of the middle of the field or even at the 2nd baseman. I imagine myself hitting the ball back at the pitcher, but if I'm pulling a lot I will change to where I am trying to drive the ball through the 2nd baseman. It also may be your swing that is getting u around the ball.
Some players do it more than others. It depends on where you start your hands. If you start with your hands further back they aren't going to travel back very much further. If you start with your hands closer towards the pitcher they are going to have to go back and you move forward. Hope this helps!
I love this video and analysis. Thank you for telling kids to not swing down on the ball! What is the best way or drill to do to get kids to swing up and through the ball. Thanks!
It depends. How old are you? It also could be mechanics. Mechanics can have a huge impact on bat speed. Your swing may look good but you could be doing a few things that are slowing down your bat speed.
Yeah the top hand has to roll over but you want it to roll over after contact not through contact. The really great hitters are able to keep the top hand palm up for a long time.
There are a lot of players that let go of the bat and a lot of players that hold onto it. It is kind of a personal preference thing. As long as young players aren't letting go to early I think it is fine.
I don't understand what you mean. Are you saying to roll your wrists directly after contact. From what I see and hear from other hitters and feel as a hitter, we are trying to stay through the ball by keeping the top palm up through contact then the hand naturally turns over after contact.
Great! It is tough to say exactly what is happening without seeing the actually swing. Having the front foot open up slightly is not a big deal and many players do it. I believe the front foot should be pointed towards 1st base for a RH hitter and 3rd for a LH hitter so it is open somewhat.
Good video, but it is the hands moving down that causes the bat to level before the upswing. Because swinging down also turns (supinates) the top hand the bat levels. Leveling the bat without a down swing will greatly increase the length of the swing and decrease its quickness. Linear hitting is to rotational hitting as the down swing is to the up swing.
I see that most high level players including Cano, let go of the bat after contact. Is that a good thing to do as a young player? I hear a lot of coaches say not to. Really curious on the benefits of it. Thanks so much for answering all my questions!
Thank you. I am guessing a slightly upward swing, besides the advantages you mention in the video-which seem good enough already- allows the ball to travel longer while keeping it a line drive. Besides, if I swing downwards I feel that I am countering the momentum I generate with my lower body, thus I would lose some power. Just guessing, though. Thank you for your videos though, they give stuff to work on.
At what point would Cano's hand roll over? Or do they? Great emphasis on the lower half and the torque created by his lower/upper separation, but I am curious about his "follow through." Thanks for a great analysis!
I think this all goes into the debate of liniar vs rotational hitting. As a hitting coach developing my own theory of hitting (so you can take this with a grain of salt) i believe that both linear movement along with rotational force create a good swing. Some players like Cano have more linear movement than some others but i dont feel that makes him an exception just different. I believe there are some absolutes with hitting. Like touchemall states is having your bat on plane for as you can.
It is tough to use a drill without really knowing the problem. It could be something in your swing that is not allowing you to get to the inside pitch.
Awesome video, as always. I have a question though: you say the bat has to stay in the zone as long as possible, so we want to swing in line with the pitch. If you have a fastball in excess of 85 mph I agree with this, but if we have a slower ball or a breaking ball -where the trajectory is more of an arch- would you still swing in line? Would that not yield a high fly ball?
Well your swing should be slightly uphill. They measure the average big league swing to be about 6 to 8 degrees uphill through the hitting zone because the average pitch is traveling 6 to 8 degrees downhill. Every pitch is traveling on a downward path to the pitch, whether its a fastball, change up, curveball, etc, so it makes sense to swing slightly uphill. There are some other benefits to swinging slightly up as opposed to swinging down, but it don't have enough room on here.
Every swing starts with a downward trajectory. Every single swing. Your hands start high with the barrel above your head. In order to hit a baseball at your waist, you must first pull the barrel down! As your core rotates on its tilted axis and the hitter controls the bat head, the swing trajectory changes from down to up. The barrel will level according to the plane set. A strike at the knees will generate a higher upward angular degree than a pitch at the waist or a pitch in the letters would. Swinging DOWNWARD is NECESSARY! IF not, than why dont hitters start with their hands at or below their waist and swing uphill?? I will wait.
i really think the international players(dominican or asian) or more likely to have the most linear movement.. in my experience with younger players, they are a lot more consistent with less linear movement... seems to me that most of the younger mlb american players really have less linear movement than cano or other long striding hitters... i think you're right on with the hands back being the key...
Yeah. Take a tee and place it in front of your lead leg. Next, you want to visualize a curve ball and hit the ball down the left/right field line. Keep the ball in fair territory and drive the ball (line drive/ back spin). Keep doing it without opening up your front side. Good Luck!
Pronation/rollover/whip as soon after contact is an indicator that energy has been given to the hands and ball. The sooner after contact, the higher level. I will try to send video if you want me to. This is the end of the kinetic sequence - palm up palm down as long as possible is not founded in science or reality of high level hitters. The weight of the bat or contact of the ball might appear to slow pronation at times.
Hey Coach, I do a great job of picking up my back foot! But what happens is that my back foot doesnt always want to rotate. If my back foot does rotate, then my front foot opens up. How do i fix this? Thanks
You sound like you know swings quite well, so I wanted to ask you a question: Cano is an exceptional hitter, but wouldn't you agree that he can be beat on fastballs up in the zone? I mean pitches that are strikes, but good heat, about 94 and up around the chest. I also feel he can only pull fastballs that are in, whereas you look at a hitter like Texeira (who I'll admit has a pull swing), he's able to pull pitches that Cano either hits up the middle or the other way. Cano could really maximize
We have over 100 videos on hitting mechanics. It is tough to go over everything right here, but if you go through you will see different videos on the different topics I talk about on the Cano video. And I haven't seen natural hitting so I am not sure, sorry about that.
himself by learning to pull the ball at the stadium. I don't think he's a bad fastball hitter. He is good at golfing down and in pitches no matter how fast they come, and that's what a hitter should do since down and in is a pull pitch if its a fastball. I like him a lot, but I feel he could benefit from being quicker on pulling the ball and getting the bat around on plus fastballs. Do you agree with anything I've said?
If you go on our website you can sign up for an online analysis lesson. I get dozens of videos a day so I needed to create a system so I can get through all of them.
Yeah you need to think about your swing as a whole body movement and not just about your arms dominating the swing. The bat needs to be the last thing that comes through the zone, not the first. You need to get your hands back and let your body do the work. It is very hard to explain completely on here. If you want me to look at your swing and tell you what's wrong check out our online video lessons I do them with players all over the country. Good luck!
Yeah I would say you never want to completely stop. You can load slow and controlled, but I don't think you should load back, stop, wait, then try to go again.
I replied but I don't see my reply. I sent you a 26 minute video on pronation to your email compliments of Isobaseball. Glad to provide you information backed up by science that is easy to understand and put into practice if you are open to it. Hope so.
Hands need to finish as soon as possible after contact. w/ Cano you will see his shoulders decelerate just before contact & his energy will be transferred to his arms, hands & bat. He will finish hands(whip, pronate) as soon as possible after contact similar to throwing a baseball.This is a sign that max energy has been transferred to the hands & ball. Palm up palm down as long as possible is just not the case. The timing of pronation becomes evident when a great hitter misses a pitched ball.
Frederico, The shoulders {DO NOT,} {SHOULD NOT} [ROTATE}} during their approach to barrel to ball contact they {have} {should have} {an up and down tilt} on a{ lateral axis} {all on a vertical plane,} The rear knee pivot {NO SQUISHING THE BUG,} activates the hips into their forward rotational movement which in turn activates the necessary up and down shoulder tilt which brings the barrel down into a level plane with/into the downward flight of the incoming ball and as I explained above the hips rotate, the shoulders do not rotate they have an up and tilt on a lateral axis all on a vertical plane, Focus on Cano's body movement in the video above, notice his rear knee and rear hip movement in relation to his non rotational shoulder tilt.
Chief Jr, There have been some very important body change mechanics for batters and pitchers in particular since the days when Ted Williams wrote his book and others taught the game of baseball, what in particular that has not been written in his book or was not taught in those days is the fact that the shoulders do not/should not rotate during their approach to barrel to ball contact they have/should have an up and tilt on a lateral axis all on a vertical plane. I explained the process during my comments above. Great BaseBall-N ]{Don Ervin} ame392002@yahoo.com
Not necessarily. Meaning, hitters first drive through the ball with both hands and then release the top hand when finishing. Basically, if you release to early, then you lose power. Watch Mark Mcqwire
That's another topic. I congratulate you for helping individuals get to the next level. But, why over analyze a professional player? Baseball is simple when you are having fun and a lot of people forget that point. Don't try to down play my comment b/c you feel as if it doesn't have any merit. Hitting to all fields increases your chances of being successful in baseball and develops bat control. Hitting a baseball should be a simple as possible. The game itself is hard.
It is tough to say exactly. There are different causes for pulling off the ball. Without seeing your swing I can't give you a good answer without guessing. If you would like me to analyze your swing for you and tell you what may be the problem I can through our video analysis lessons. If you want to check it out head over to our website, touchemallball . com
But what happens for the millions of kids in the world that aren't good enough to make their high school team or play baseball in college. If it was as easy as saying, don't pull the ball just hit it to all fields, everyone would play baseball for a living.
I’m sorry have to disagree with hands going back when body goes forward....the bat simply stays behind hitter but is coming with the hitter, and no he did not quit transferring his weight at any point during swing and he drops barrel on time not early!!! If your timing isn’t perfect you can’t hit at a high level
Good video, except the longer the bat is in the hitting plane the longer the swing will be (the top hand turns to early and loops the bat). Better to teach a short time to the hitting plane then, by not rolling over, a long time in the hitting plane.
No - it is down and through the baseball or at least level. Why? Every pitch in the strike zone and in correlation to the eyes and hands are down from a logical stand point. Cano doesn't have a uppercut swing. Your welcome :)
