Another Swing to Analyze - 13 YO

[271]

Please take a look at my son's swing if you don't mind. Any advice/feedback is appreciated.

He is 13 and now starting to use a BBCOR bat as he preps for HS tryouts next spring/summer.

http://www.eteamz.com/ladist4/videos/HNT5110312.mov

Thanks

[omg]

If that's the swing he uses in the game it looks fine.

[songtitle]

Looks good to me.

[d-mac]

Is he swinging the new Combat B4? If so, what are your thoughts on that bat?

[271]

Thanks - appreciate the compliments.

Don't have any game footage, but this is pretty typical for a middle/middle pitch.

Here is another clip with a couple more swings for review. It appears to me there is some disconnection in the back arm at launch creating a long swing, but would like others opinions as well. There are more things to work on too, but was hoping for ideas from others.

Yes on the Combat B4 BBCOR. Can't answer about the pop as it's his first attempt with BBCOR. He just moved up from 12 YO ball (small diamond) and this is the heaviest bat he's used. He does like it though and as far as I can tell, it hits in the cage as well as other big-barrels but he lacks the same barrel control with the drop 3 as he had with the drop 8s, 10s & such so he doesn't square up quite as much.

[pstein]

He's shoving the hands forward. The lower body isn't powering anything.

[271]

He's shoving the hands forward. The lower body isn't powering anything.

Thanks - any suggestions on how to improve?

[skipper5]

He's shoving the hands forward. The lower body isn't powering anything.

I respectfully disagree. I see the hips firing, and the swing "connected". I don't see the hands leading the swing.
IMO, when nothing's broken, don't fix it.

[tradosaurus]

Slow it down to about 25% speed so those of us without calibrated eyes can see.

[mudvnine]

While the "look" is OK, the barrel path is still "down and to" the ball, instead of "behind and through" it. Click here for an example of the differences.

Move the tee back so it's at (or even better inside) his front knee before his stride, and instruct him to try to "hit a line drive to the back of the net" (top of the L-screen if one is in the cage).

Some coaches will even start a hitter with the tee at his groin and work from there. While that even forces the "behind" earlier, and thus better....it is much more difficult. While I'll eventually move the tee rearward to that spot, I don't always start it there, it's something that all depends on the talent/ability of the hitter I'm working with.

The drill the two young hitters are using in the link above is another way of getting it, but knowledge of how to correctly accomplish the drill is also a must to not create other potential problems.

Best of luck,
mud -

[271]

Thanks all,

Mud - I'll need to spend time digesting those clips to understand the subtle differences between the various hitters, but I think I understand what you're driving at in regards to getting the barrel on path and driving through the ball.

Moving the tee back in his stance is just a drill to help him understand getting on plane quickly and then driving through the ball, right? We're not trying to teach him that the actual contact zone for a middle pitch is that deep - did I understand that part correctly?

If so, that drill might also help improve his occasional tendency to "run out of bat" on off speed pitches as his barrel is not in the hitting zone very long. We occasionally will work on that by placing two tees, one about 6" directly in front of the other and have him hit both balls hard, but I can envision that just having one tee deeper in the zone will force him to get on plane quicker and helping to drive through the ball.

Gotta admit though, the drill the two kids are doing in your clip is over my head. Still trying to figure that out.

Skip, I see the front shoulder/hips and rear heal all start the swing at the same time, so I wonder if that's where pstein is coming from. I'd like to see some separation in the timing between the rear heal, rear knee, hips and shoulders, but don't know how to work on that. So, I'm with you in that I don't see the hands "pushing", I do agree that the lower body isn't providing as much power as it should. Pstein, sorry if that's not exactly what you meant!

While this is just my 4th post, I've been lurking long enough to know that it's really easy to misunderstand someone's comments on the internet - so I'm trying hard not to mess up here.

Which leads me to tradosaurus - what?

Thanks so much for the help!

[skipper5]

, I do agree that the lower body isn't providing as much power as it should.

!

It could be that a fair sample of his game-swings would show more lower body power.
Most batters swing somewhat less aggressively off the tee.
Sometimes intentionally, to slow it down and "feel" something they're working on; sometimes for no particular reason...habit?
The swing-clips I've seen of MLB'ers (e.g., Arod and Pujols) off the tee show them swinging less aggessively than their game swings.
For sure, that's intentional on their part.
When my son hits off the tee, he grunts with effort.
I assume his lower body off the tee matches his game-swing.
I'm not saying that full-effort tee swings are best.

BTW, in terms of keeping the bat in the contact zone longer:
One approach is to place the tee deeper on the plate to get the bat on plane sooner.
Another approach is to place the tee farther out front of the plate (trying to hit it up the middle to entice the batter to get off the backside, etc., to keep the bat on plane longer (as opposed to "spinning off the ball.")
When I hit off the tee, I experiment with both.

[NoonTime]

Buh Bye BBF!

[songtitle]

You can play youtube by frame now. Hit 'pause', then 'right' or 'left' arrows.

[pstein]

Thanks - any suggestions on how to improve?

Coil the rear hip and stretch the hands from the rear hip. Use the back arm (scapula) to bring the hands back. Scapular retraction is the technical name for it. Turn the barrel with the "hands" (not anatomical sense, baseball sense) and then the body will move the barrel to the ball.

This is why people see "maintain the hinge angle", because their (MLB player's) hands are in the same position in space relative to the body.