The Better P4P Hitters Seem to be "Tossing" Rather Than Pushing

[@AnHebrewChild]

I love what you say at 2:15 "imagine that you're going to toss the bat as far as you can... we intuitively know our body needs to be completely into it" So much expert training in athletics and other things starts with "I know it's going to seem completely counter-intuitive but..." I intuitively know that very often (not always) but VERY often there's a reason things seem counter-intuitive! I'm not an expert on baseball at all, but I appreciate level headed, natural approaches to things and that's what I hear from you. Also, I'm a film junkie myself. When I played basketball, I religiously watched film of the best players such that I wore out VCR players! To your point tho in another video, it's AMAZING what you can learn from deep-level (obsessive-level) film analysis. Cheers

[@theswingmechanic]

100%. I was obsessed with the swing and knew it there must be something simple behind a great swing, since all the greatest hitters I knew of made it look more simple than everyone else. Thanks for your comment.

[@stoneyj1a1]

Thinking about hitting can drive you nuts, for a hitter. Smooth, fluid movements with power (without thinking) are the best way to hit well. If you ask me. Just grip and rip.

[@bnalder22]

My remarks here are relative to youth hitters, call it 8-11 years of age as I'm around many of them daily/weekly. I think this along with front arm compression are the two things most young hitters don't incorporate into their swings. And, as a result, they don't hit the ball hard or far. If the goal is to hit the ball as hard as you can there has to be some sort of acceleration. Sitting back, no-stride, and that type approach may (or may not depends on the hitter) produce more contact but it, by the laws of physics, won't result in harder/farther. There are a few 10/11's I work with that incorporate this type of acceleration into their swings and these are the only kids hitting the ball 200+ routinely, most of the kids 150 on a perfect/perfect contact. It's just not there without generating this type of movement into the ball. Good stuff as usual Jaime.

[@David-l2l4o]

If a forward swing takes ¼ sec from 0-65MPH a way the bat path can be changed is by how we start the bat at launch, vertical for a large radius or acute for a tighter radius. Another is by head position, up for a top hand long swing or down a for bottom hand shorter swing.

[@chrispatterson1496]

Just had a thought I wanted to share.. Picture someone hitting fly balls for outfielders to shag. Almost everyone does this the exact same way. They toss the ball up then pull back with their lead hand, with the lead arm pretty much straight and close to the body. They get into their legs without even thinking about it. The lead hand naturally flattens out and the barrel tips back. They rotate their body, keeping the front arm straight and close to the chest. Doing this, almost everyone can hit the ball at least 200-250 feet from a still position, with minimal effort and with zero help from pitched velocity. It seems intuitive that adapting this structure and directing it towards a pitched ball would be an efficient way to generate a lot of power.

[@theswingmechanic]

100%. This is actually a great way to practice - self toss at a field going for distance with a slightly heavy wood bat. It's actually the way Ruth developed his swing. He loved the way his "hero," Brother Mathias hit towering fly balls to kids, and he tried to emulate it.

[@Lukeypookie-q4i]

I know I'm late but do you have a breakdown of matt Olson anywhere?. I've been trying to replicate his swing with the A's and getting lots of front arm compression and I feel so athletic and powerful through the zone.

[@theswingmechanic]

@@Lukeypookie-q4i I believe I have before but I’ll try to get to him again. He’s got a very good swing.

[@Lukeypookie-q4i]

@@theswingmechanic appreciate it. In my opinion he has one of the smoothest looking swings from the left side since griffey.

[@David-l2l4o]

All these movements you speak about take place in less than a blink of the eye. Fortunately, we have an automatic nervous system that takes care of these things. If the batter tries to override, things won't go well.

[@theswingmechanic]

So you're not in favor of swing change at all?

[@David-l2l4o]

​@@theswingmechanicIf the swing needs changing it can be made at launch by bat angle and holding the hands high or low. BTW TW discusses in section "To the Drawing Board". During the swing, because the Body Follows the Head, changing head position changes the forward swing. Judge controls his backward tilt with his head. You can try it in slo-mo at home.

[@danielhoward4566]

@@David-l2l4o Why is everything always about Judge. He's a monster.

[@janmikaeljohnson665]

I love Greg walkers swing

[@theswingmechanic]

So many ways to have a great swing. Think about how different it is from someone like Albert Belle.

[@TheBaseballSwing]

To me the feeling of a toss allows the hitter to NOT focus on a "hit" and consequently they're not steering or deceleration rotation unnaturally

[@rewindone]

Nice video Jamie. Good work.

[@JParentiImports]

Another great video!

[@Apalm12]

It’s a whipping action like throwing a bait caster with two hands

[@theswingmechanic]

whipping action is almost always a better, more powerful way to move in sports. I'm not too familiar with fishing movements but...

[@chrislewis5069]

Dear Jamie I’ve heard you make the point that judge is a big guy and that’s why Richard had been successful with him. I agree it’s a smaller field for a huge guy but that doesn’t explain how he’s hit over .300 the last 3-4 years. He’s a good hitter that happens to be big

[@theswingmechanic]

Batting average is also based in large part on how hard you hit the ball. You're going to hit the ball harder the bigger you are. I'm not saying it's ALL size that makes Judge great, but it's a huge part of it.

[@danielVonMises]

The is one glaring issue. You’re advocating a highly complex, extremely rate motion to everyone. This doesn’t work for the masses and I have tried your way vs Schenk’s way with a youngster. The results from the systematic approach were way more reliable, creates better contact/control and led to him crushing the machine set way above his level (he never has difficulty with pitchers). The P4P method left him late and pushing off to right all the time. Switched him back to the Ferris and merry go round of Schenk, solves the problem immediately. Yes, what you advocate should get more power but it’s for those with great natural ability which leaves the average Joe with problems.

[@theswingmechanic]

Schencks method is better for hitting off a machine, I’ll give him that. Unfortunately machines have been ruining swings since the sixties, and baseball isn’t about hitting off machines.

[@danielhoward4566]

Schenk teaches against the merry go round for one. And you just can't switch immediately from one to the other and get good results. You have to work at it. And Jaime's swing is not highly complex where Schenks is. Extremely "rate" motion? And what does "pushing off to right" mean?