I Tried The Barry Bonds / Christian Yelich Drill for One Week...here's how it changed my swing

[@TrollBot-dv1rk]

This is literally the only video of anyone actually doing this drill on the entire internets. People post their “thoughts” on it but no one else has actually done it.

[@MattsBaseballWorld]

Maybe because lots have tried it, and nobody bothered to film their lack of success? Just a thought. Not knocking the swing, but here is 1 case study: About a dozen players of various ages tried to migrate to this swing, drills and in-game use. Power was certainly up, when your sole focus is rotational acceleration, you'll get good at that part of it. Unfortunately, batting average suffered, a lot, due to multiple foul balls. So players would get to 2 strikes pretty quick, and then subject to the strikeout pitch. With lack of of back leg movement forward, the barrel is not in the strike zone long enough to compensate for bad timing, and where the foul balls come from. And with all-in rotational acceleration, barrel control is VERY difficult, and not something younger players should try, until upper body strength is there to for barrel control. Every hitter is different, and why no single swing works for everyone, if this stuff works for you, great, but understand why it may not work for some. Yeah, Bonds was crazy on this swing, but he was an anomally, and only a handful of players in MLB use this swing, for a reason.

[@Jackmerius_Tacktheritrix5733]

It’s “literally” not. It’s a side toss with a shirt chopping down motion

[@lotsaringwear]

Nice to see such an honest realistic video. Not 10 year olds hitting moon shots with -5 Hype Fires

[@darrylcline2083]

You have so much passion for hitting, it's awesome! If you ever come to San Antonio, let's go hit some baseballs!

[@andrewbats8523]

Sounds good! I should be down in Houston and Austin later this year, so I'll be fairly close

[@darrylcline2083]

@@andrewbats8523 hit me up before you get to Austin. We'll work something out. I've got some Xl1's and plenty of baseballs to hit with.

[@bcpitch5]

The secret is letting the ball get deep and not push your swing...bat speed comes from behind the head

[@RobM-g8l]

Absolutely

[@shutss1]

Not pushing is true but can't let a inside pitch get deep. U have to hit in front of the plate. That's is the problem with what coaching leave out to young hitters

[@simpleagain1]

Exactly‼️

[@bcpitch5]

@@shutss1 You still don't push at an inside pitch. That's all timing...it's the same swing.

[@petekuranchie652]

great video! what pitching machines are you using?

[@PinkwaveGamer]

I learned so much about what makes good batting here. I definitely didn't realize there were this many techniques and tactics ⚾😮 This whole thing was awesome.

[@chrislewis5069]

There is an endless amount of train going, techniques and theories about hitting. It’s changed over of the years from what Ted Williams taught in his book “the science of hitting” To Charlie lau who was a popular hitting guru of the 80s and early 90s to all the new age terms today like launch angle, bat path and so forth. Irony is there is no exact way to put the sweet spot on the ball and that’s the only universal rule

[@juicicles5881]

@@chrislewis5069 Let me know when a high launch angle swinger hits .400, Buddy. :) Ted explained it in the book and vids? Short, compact step. You don't really need to load (in fact, it just increases your chance of getting off-balance), just get your hands back when you stride. Swing with a slightly upward swing path. The idea is to get the sweet spot in the hitting zone as long as possible. Move it on the plane of the pitch. Hands break after contact, finish high and balanced. That's how to not have holes all over your swing and hit for avg. AND power.

[@Baseball2287]

@@juicicles5881let me know when anyone hits 400. Your point doesn’t make sense

[@simpleagain1]

@@Baseball2287-hitting Ninja says it makes perfect sense

[@Baseball2287]

@@simpleagain1 this is a really old thread. I don’t remember the context

[@joelmonge3252]

Thanks so much for sharing how all the data is connected- you’ve helped my son and I understand more about blast data in your video than all the blast instructional videos we’ve watched. Thanks

[@Mrgood189]

Wasnt it hitting it into the plate off a tee?

[@peterwyattmiddleton]

When you're getting it well you're getting that backfoot inward shift. Sheffield does that, Hank aaron does that, Willie Mays does that. Its a good move.

[@itzzzsss]

When I use to go to batting cages, spending a good 5 hours, I'd take a small hop and pull my bat back a bit so all that kinetic energy would fade. Right hand swing was similar to Jose Bautista. Left was like Mickey Tettleton. Had to use Mark McGwire's grip. Without it, the skin on my hand would rub so hard into the gloves I'd end up getting water blisters

[@stoneyj1a1]

Great demo. I love hitting as well. You ever try the Sklz Lighting Bolt with the mini baseballs? Also are you in a Sandlot Baseball league?

[@stanton7651]

🧬 This is fantastic job man kudos ‼️

[@danielsnell9516]

bonds drill is done on a tee why no tee drill?

[@hatcher2262]

Great video! Thanks for sharing!

[@RichardMcdonald-cg5yu]

Get a HitAway , hit the ball 10 times as fast as you could( only let the ball unwind once) do in repetition you build up good dexterity, it will fasten up your hands and keep your bat path level all in 1.

[@Nohandle2500]

I’m vaguely familiar with this hitting program. I’m a former pro player- before metrics took over the game. My question is - does your back foot stay planted for a reason.? I just noticed your back foot didn’t rotate along with your body so I’m assuming you did that on purpose as part of the drill. I never got a chance to play against bonds - A) cause I didn’t play past AA B) I was drafted by st Louis & our SPT was in St. Pete & he had been just traded to giants - obviously they’re in Arizona for spring . Can I ask where you currently play? My son in true freshman at Rutgers-everyday player as 1B. He’s having a great year - big 10 freshman of week in march

[@crackerjackB]

Deeeez what’s your sons name? How old was he when he started playing or hitting? How often did you train with him in the back yard

[@jeffsimpson1969]

what is the device in your arms? Great video!

[@jessetaylor8912]

Link for the pitching machine?

[@andrewbats8523]

Heater Slider Lite 360 www.heatersports.com/responsive/product_details.php?id=SL129BB&c=Pitching%20Machines I think I mentioned it in video but it doesn't do well in the rain. I also use a 200w Flashfish Battery pack to power it www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07SG4QG47?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

[@rconley40]

What the name of the pitching machine(s) you are using?

[@RoosterNutz12]

Try to learn the 'Teacherman swing'.

[@seanmore]

This is so awesome.

[@GearUpAviation-YT]

where can one find this machine?

[@phillip8472]

Game time results?

[@chrislewis5069]

I like you’re swing and the way you “throw the frisbee” with your top hand. Did you have help or influence from someone with you swing? Doesn’t look natural untrained mechanics and I mean that in a good way

[@andrewbats8523]

Definitely not natural! I had a problem, swinging too fast, rolling over a lot. My hands would take over. Basically my cue for that was for my top hand to "finish palm up through center field." That fixed a lot of issues very easily and created a lot better contact. I've struggled with it since injuring my wrist as I dont have the strength built up in it to finish that way at the moment but I'd like to get back there. I'm not sure if it was specifically from one tip someone gave me or just seeing it over and over. A guy I played with years ago, Trey Hannam puts out a lot of good hitting stuff and it seems a lot of his guys swing like that. Arenado does it a little (seems more natural for him) and a guy like Tatis does it to the extreme sometimes.

[@C0achC0rey]

what the pitching machine and what kind of balls do you hit?

[@andrewbats8523]

Pitching machine is Heater Slider Lite 360, it throws light baseballs slightly heavier than wiffle balls but its very portable and I use a small battery pack to power it. ($180 for machine and $130? For battery pack) The soft toss machine is a sklz catapult, and I use driveline smash factor balls with it. The machine throws these balls slightly better trajectory wise and with all the rain we get here it's a great solution to ruining baseballs all the time

[@joelmonge3252]

Thank you so much for sharing the information on the equipment you use! I’ve been using smash factor balls with my son all through high school and they’ve saved a lot of money on broken bats! My son is excited about getting the machine! Thanks again and good luck on your baseball journeys

[@tsteins1579]

I see in other comments you mentioned the Heater Slider Lite 360 and the Sklz soft toss as your machines. How did you get the numbers for your swing? Rotation acceleration, bat speed, etc.

[@andrewbats8523]

It's a Blast Motion sensor, I made a video going over it because I had realized I didn't go over it well in the progress videos

[@DBDonBoogie]

Ay bro what’s the dimensions of your cage and also what type of pitching machine is that. Different pitches is elite

[@shutss1]

Its hard to generate more power with the back foot sliding back

[@ryandaquila8490]

How many swings did you take each day? Could you break that down for me how many and what per drill was? Thanks

[@ericsolis4509]

What do you have between your arms when hitting?

[@andrewbats8523]

Its called the LC 1 Linear Compression trainer. Basically it helped me get less hand dominant and use my lower half better. There's another similar tool called the perfect connextion, I just liked the straps on the LC1 tool

[@mr.regentsdude5621]

@@andrewbats8523 the one for golf?

[@IcyUuUu]

It also doesn’t look like you can walk out of your swing but these are just me playing devils advocate man wishing you nothing but success

[@burtfiasco]

Ima check your other vids but if you haven't yet you should try integrating the Shohei lead foot action into this. Keep that lead foot down, loaded heavy on rear foot wide stance, stay on ball of lead foot lightly, heel facing pitcher, then let it rotate back into position so when the heel STRIKES down on the ground it uncoils upward to the hips.

[@cbs196]

Did u ever hit it off the plate?

[@akaredcrossbow]

Is this the Teacherman swing? If so my 9 almost 10 year old son has had a huge improvement with hitting the ball farther, harder and more consistent with that swing. Now if he could only improve his throwing arm to second from home lol. Thank you for the video!

[@bobl8687]

I don't think so... Teacherman teaches barrel down then out/whip... whereas the BB drill is more chopping down.

[@akaredcrossbow]

@@bobl8687 👍🏻

[@MuffinMcFluffin]

Definitely not Teacherman. He takes away any aspect of "swinging down," even though he says he is emulating Barry Bonds to a tee (no pun intended). They both have ways to get to the ideal/perfect swing, but they are exaggerating different aspects of it completely.

[@tightpockets1]

He teaches both tho. Hes got videos about how A rod and Bonds swing down off 1 leg and shows how to do it.

[@simpleagain1]

This is most definitely NOT the Teacherman swing

[@aarond3947]

The biggest thing with this sort of swing, is that you need to be very strong, or you will start to have oblique injuries. Also, if you aren't strong enough, then this sort of swing isn't going to work for you. This guy in the video clearly has a good enough build for this sort of swing.

[@dirtsgt1028]

what machines are you using

[@CoolIHandIMatt]

What machines and balls are you using??

[@markpolo5618]

you still push the barrel

[@scooter3739]

I got .14 from heel plant to contact

[@iii_EazyLou_iii]

What’s the machine called

[@braydenmayo7273]

what machine are you using

[@strawhatdabber]

Balance, biggest difference before Berry whispered in your ear

[@vutunglam3934]

your balls sound like foam balls, can you give more product info about it? and can you review the softoss machine from SKLZ that you r using?

[@andrewbats8523]

Yes the baseballs are foam, they are the Driveline Smashfactor baseballs. I use them a lot because of the constant rain we get, it stops me from ruining baseballs. I've had them almost a year now and they're still going strong (only use on soft toss not on an actual machine) And I can definitely do a review of the soft toss machine!

[@IceCreamCornDawg]

In my opinion, you're getting ready too late. Try coiling a bit earlier. Also, you're pushing your swing instead of snapping your wrists and you are putting too much weight on your front leg.

[@strawhatdabber]

Nelson Cruz was a great example of this late in his career.

[@vincentmartin1658]

What’s that machine you use

[@andrewbats8523]

Soft toss is Sklz Catapult. Machine is Heater Slider Lite 360, only throws light balls. Only the white lite balls work well out of the machine

[@akivafox3588]

Your weight is all wrong - it's all too far forward, so you're hitting with your arms. Stay back, with your weight on the back leg, and use your wrists.

[@hiker-uy1bi]

My opinion: your back arm is too active and you're not getting enough hand depth, so your bat path is more directly to the ball, which is no beuno. Try swinging with just your front arm for a while, then add your back arm in.

[@twmccoy100]

Your feet look so close together, and you don't seem to be getting much hip or leg involvement in your swing. All arms. The open stance looks awkward. You're probably leaving quite a bit of power on the table.

[@IcyUuUu]

Hold the bat in a straight up plane that is another technique that was emphasized

[@Goat_Edits953]

I am that thinks he looks like Jonah Hiem on the rangers

[@thephilosopharian]

I’m dead Lolololol 💀🤣💀

[@thenext9537]

Teacherman Hitting - Judges hit coach for a while.

[@simpleagain1]

Teacherman says “N-O”‼️ You need to get one legged. You’re worried too much about math numbers and not focusing enough on body/hand/ leg position

[@lancecapozzoli9816]

POOR SHIFT

[@petsquirrelable]

This is not the way to swing a bat.

[@raphaeldavis6858]

You should have took steroids

[@andrewbats8523]

🤣🤣🤣 that would be much more effective

[@simpleagain1]

😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣 always room for a smartass 😂🤣😂🤣

[@mikemurphy8996]

You have good bat speed but your swing is not good bro.

[@Thatruth56]

Your doing it wrong.