Will Luis Arraez Hit One Home Run This Year

The basebal swing instruction community made a big deal this offseason about the drills Luis Arraez was working on. These drills are in line with what conventional swing instruction has been selling for decades now, drills that take your body rotation out of the swing and therefore lead to having very little power. Sure, the best at utilizing this kind of swing will have high amounts of consistency, but they will never hit with high amounts of power. Why not go for high amounts of power and consistency by utilizing a more Lead-Arm Dominant swing.
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[@augustusrunyon7392]

Great Video. I liked how you had video of great hitters exemplifying Each point you made. I also think it’s smart that you had multiple hitters from different eras to silence the critics who say the swing only worked in early 1900’s It made it easy to follow and provided inarguable evidence.

[@jkahl5596]

Its physics the basic mechanics to swing stay the same , and adjustments can be made from that, depending on the hitter and pitch thrown

[@raelsackey104]

Who is this dude, and where did he play? This is like criticizing Tony Gwynn. We are individuals, not machines. The game evolves. There are different schools. I guarantee when Arreaz steps up to the plate with the winning run on 3rd, there are a lot of powerful hitters that pitchers would rather face. Why people need to tear down others, to promote themselves, I don’t know.

[@ThekiBoran]

Jaime is not being cruel/mean, he's making cogent arguments against conventional swing instruction.

[@LadoEste9]

He is just being poignant about technique and execution. He isn’t talking about the man personally

[@mojokooistra7056]

Another great vid for the cause!

[@dsmvr4]

Correct 👍

[@seanisty]

Also ^ Nelson Cruz does all of these drills and hits for extreme power he is also 6’4 245 So it works🤷🏽‍♂️

[@solotx8798]

"They trivialize power because they don't understand how it's generated, so they'd rather just play down its importance." This reminds me of boxing trainers who say things like "Power is god-given, it's not something you can teach". They don't want to consider the idea that power punchers simply understand the mechanics of punching better than they do as so-called trainers.

[@DAatDA]

In your opinion does the lead arm progression also help with hand eye coordination ? Seeing as you have to square it up with only one arm steering the bat

[@theswingmechanic]

Yes. I would say it helps with hand eye coordination when/for doing a lead arm dominant action.

[@gporr7004]

I’m getting tired of watching these hitters and coaches with their “ turn the barrel” garbage with the barrel at a 45 degree angle when swinging. How is this optimal? Hitters years ago were level through the zone? Where did this barrel angle start? And this rediculous looking practice push swing those guys do in the box is frustrating. It looks so unnatural and stupid

[@theswingmechanic]

100%

[@dfboiler]

not entirely true. there is a time for a pull swing, but it's only on the inside pitch, hitters who only pull get exposed. He is analyzing an extreme approach and saying it's what everyone is teaching if they talk about top hand dominant. Also, you can do anything you want on a tee because you have all the time in the world to turn that pull swing into something that hits an outside ball and hey you know it's right there, but you won't against pitch pressure or velo, don't have to worry about timing. The pull swing front arm feels great, if feels powerful, it produces great showcase exit velos, and it convinces people it's the right way, what it doesn't do is get you hits when you need them. There is certainly some truth to what he says, but it's a one dimensional hitter. Everyone has some things right, take from multiple sources and use what works for you. But I'm telling you, as a former pitcher, I loved pitching to guys who hit like he suggests, So easy to strike out, the only way they hit was if I made a mistake. Ps nobody is taking rotation or body out of the swing, he's just doing it for that particular drill, you just need to understand the deceleration pattern to launch the hands and when that happens based on pitch location. you can't hit without rotation, but you can't have good direction without that back hand, back hip being dominant. Arraez rotates considerably on the inside pitch but not on the outside pitch when your hips need to stop early to launch the upper body. Also, you can hit very hard using your back side, in fact I'd argue you get more body into the swing than pulling across the ball. You always hit with body over arms. OH and by the way, Ted Williams always wished he either threw left handed or was a right hand hitter because he wished his power hand was his top hand. He states it in his book and in the Sears produced video about Science of Hitting as he shows guys on his Washington Senators team a push with his top hand. Just remember, you aren't Ted Williams. Ted knew better than most what pitch was coming, he guessed at the plate and sold out for it, he was also criticized for not producing when the team needed it (fairly or not), as he'd take a walk if he couldn't drive the ball on a pitch, leaving runners on base.

[@josephturkall2868]

I have seen your videos and have watched a few more lately. I would like to know who is a back arm dominant model, being that you are a front arm dominant model. I obviously saw the player in the video, but would like to compare your model to another teacher model.

[@theswingmechanic]

Absolutely. Good idea for a video.

[@gastonegarrido]

I do not agree , both types of hitters are needed , one sets up the team to the a power hitter to drive more runs

[@theswingmechanic]

@@gastonegarrido that’s conventional thinking.

[@MooreGravy]

"Can he do it? Most experts doubt it." I was listening, not watching, and knew that was from Rocky IV. I've watched it right around Arraez's OPS+ number. It's at 2:33 BTW.

[@erniesteele5130]

Jamie question for you. Do you think that all this tee work is something that promotes these types of mechanics? I've hit off a tee and done a lot of self toss. I definitely think self toss feels more natural and actually makes me swing closer to a real game vs hitting a static target and feeling like I'm chopping

[@theswingmechanic]

I think all you need and all you should do is tee work for your swing mechanics, and live pitching. LIke real live pitching trying to get you out. That's it. If you don't have a tee, I like self toss, but that's it. All this tossing is really a waste of time. You are somewhat working on everything at once and therefore working on nothing.

[@patrickgoodman4576]

Jamie could you do a swing breakdown or both Paul molotar and Joe DiMaggio? Neith had a big cocking action or backswing as you call it but both were incredibly consistent with good power especially joe d

[@theswingmechanic]

That’s a good comparison. They had similar swings if I’m remembering correctly. Very little stride action, barely picking up their foot. Dante Bichette as well.

[@charlescook9052]

Did you have a pov on stride vs no-stride hitting? Wondering if no-stride leads to more slap hitting, butmaybe more contact consistency

[@theswingmechanic]

Probably would lead to a little less power. But there are some P4P greats who had no/little stride - Bagwell and Bichette come to mind.

[@tonysu8860]

What is this guy saying? I listened to Tony Gwynn himself and his conversations with Ted Williams( They were both San Diegans so had conversations) and neither said what this guy is saying they said. Is there a record of those conversations? And Gwynn wasn't a slap hitter his entire career or even every at bat. In his later years he added power and hit a fair number of homers. But of course his trademark was bat control and hitting up the middle and the 3.5 hole.

[@theswingmechanic]

Here it is: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jZqaiY2Na6-LocU

[@christopherb8098]

This “guru” talk drives me nuts. I suspect anyone can cherry pick stats from other players and generations to fit their narrative. Also, the game is so much different now than in the past. I suspect if we took your boy Jimmie Fox in his prime and brought him to the present he’d be out of the league in no time and I have a sneaking suspicion if you dropped Arraez into Fox’s era he’d be just fine. Bet he’d have more home runs too 😂 In my opinion, when it comes to hitting it’s all about what works for the individual athlete. Maybe what Arraez does feels natural to him and gives him confidence. This idea that he should swing like Ken Jr doesn’t mean he’s going to get those results. Maybe it could ruin his swing and career trying to follow what you’re preaching because it doesn’t feel right for him. The same would go for Ken Jr with teacherman “guru” philosophy. If he practiced what he preached it could have ruined him.

[@Traunce]

Jaime is definitely not a swing guru. You really need to watch more of his videos to understand. I thought I understood after watching a few videos, but it's definitely deeper (yet remarkably simpler) than you would assume. Also, yes, each player has his own way to swing. But that doesn't mean physics changes for each player. There IS a perfect way to swing, but each player will be slightly unique doing it.

[@christopherb8098]

@@Traunce Im not suggesting he doesn’t have valid input. My point is he has a narrow opinion of what “right” is when it comes to hitting. Also, to claim physics would be to suggest these guys are robots. An athlete’s mental approach, height, weight, vision, flexibility, dexterity and strength are all factors. State your opinion about your philosophy without trying to invalidate a philosophy someone else has. For me, look at how the athlete naturally wants to swing then build from there while taking in a diverse amount of data and using what works for you. As well, please don’t reference film of any hitter recorded on black n white film. The quality of athlete and analysis of the game at that time doesn’t compare to today. Very few if any of those players could step into today’s game and have the success they had in their era. To suggest otherwise is a logical fallacy in my opinion.

[@Traunce]

​@@christopherb8098 You're right, there is no (in my words) "one swing fits all." What I'm saying though is that there actually IS a perfect swing. A perfect swing knows how to use gravity and your body mass properly. A swing that they understood much better a hundred years ago. The most powerful things in nature are often the most beautiful. They say Griffey's swing is the most beautiful yet they fail to actually teach his swing. I highly recommend you to put Ruth's and Griffey Jr.'s swing next to each other and compare them. You'll find that they are identical in all the ways that matter. I believe it as fact that if you took Ruth or Foxx and put them into today's game, they would dominate. Hitters hit and that's a fact.

[@theswingmechanic]

You are being influenced by the mere-exposure human bias, which says that humans tend to be bias toward things that they are familiar with. You are most familiar with players of today and just impetuously assume that they are superior to players of the past.

[@christopherb8098]

@@theswingmechanic bro, you realize any bias argument applies to you as well. Your nostalgia bias. My fundamental argument is that you only ever talk about this lead arm dominance thing. There’s a little more to the swing than the lead arm and there’s more than one way to be a successful hitter. Please do us all a favor and put yourself or some of you students in front of a pitching machine and prove your point. Seems to me you’re just interested in selling some lead arm training bats and your program. You’re not trying to be a serious hitting instructor. As for athletes of today being superior to those of the past, ah yeah, they’re bigger, stronger, faster, train and study relentlessly. How many ball players you see today on a beer and hotdog regiment having success.

[@hiker-uy1bi]

I wonder what the Sabermetrics say about whether Arraez is actually bringing anything valuable to his team.

[@vmigop]

He is bringing value, but Jaime is saying he could be better. And the trouble is these slap hitting drills adversely affect other hitters who try to copy them.

[@theswingmechanic]

100%

[@patrickgoodman4576]

Some of these guys you showed Jamie didn’t have both consistently and power like Stanton and Reggie jackson

[@theswingmechanic]

True. But they had power without consistency and a higher OPS+ than the very best of consistency-only guys.

[@patrickgoodman4576]

@@theswingmechanic touché

[@seanisty]

@@theswingmechanic But Arreaz has consistency without power in a money all way if you were able to have somebody like Aaron judge or Ohani behind him more runs would be created equal more equal more war equal more wins for team equal winners him and an RBI machine would cost less and be worth more than a lot of people I think is he tried to hit for power his ops would be higher but his obp and avg would be lower and make him in term average my point is him being diffrent in todays game makes him more valuable just not by himself.

[@Steve-xy6en]

Seems to me that all he has to do is use lower body with his upper body

[@theswingmechanic]

Pretty much.

[@Steve-xy6en]

@@theswingmechanic Jr was my favorite player. I never tried to copy his or anyone's swing growing up. I'm 45 now and back in baseball again. So I have to adjust to baseball from playing slow pitch. I became a placer and pusher when playing softball. Been checking out different Hitting techniques out there. I find your analysis interesting and have dabbed in it with a sensor. I've found that teachermans approach seems to produce quicker bat speed for me vs yours however, it's harder to square up consistently so exit velo would probably be better if I were using your approach cuz I would be hitting the ball more solid. Just my findings.