Siggy's Baseball & Fastpitch Tips
The following information summarizes my current (Nov 2005)
understanding and provides other resources to help bettter
understand the proper way to swing the bat and throw the ball.
I've consolidated this information here hoping to help others wade
through the "fog of instruction" a bit quicker than I was able
to.
In case you're wondering, I have no affiliation with
any of the folks I recommend other than the fact that I've used
and/or like their products. Any useful information is thanks to
them, any problems are likely due to my misinterpretation of
their teaching methods.
Contents:
Swing Mechanics 101
Clearly swing mechanics are just one element of hitting -
albeit an important one. Hitting includes swing mechanics plus the
mental aspect (strategic knowledge, intent), and athleticism
(timing, reaction time, strength, etc.). Most of the discussion on
these pages has to do with "swing training" or improving swing
mechanics as opposed to the other areas of "hitting".
Understanding Proper Swing Mechanics is as Easy as P-C-R
When trying to understand swing mechanics, I
believe the best approach is one which has recently become
popularly known as P-C-R. PCR is an acronym which stands
for Posture, Connection, and Rotation. The important relationship
of PCR elements within high-level swing mechanics was first
described by Paul Nyman after analyzing the underlying function of
elite hitters' swings. Unlike other systems which frequently
describe "form", (i.e., the rear leg makes an "L"), often through
cues (i.e., "squish the bug", "stay tall"), the PCR model
describes "function". For example, the turn driven from the
middle is what is important and the rear leg forming an "L" or
rear foot turning as if it "squished a bug" is not what is
important, but rather a response to the turn of the middle.
(Why is this distinction important? Because you can teach
"PCR" mechanics in a variety of ways. PCR is what a hitter does.
Not a technique. PCR proponents teach in different ways. But
their goal is the same thing - the elite swing.)
So what is meant by Posture, Connection, and Rotation?
- Posture - is positioning the body to properly &
efficiently set the swing plane as well as loading the
hips/shoulders. Also, properly described as "setting the
angles correctly". One indicator of proper swing plane
posture is that the bat
path is perpendicular to the spine (parallel to the
shoulders) during the swing. Cleary this indicates the
shoulders cannot remain level, which unfortunately is still
taught by some instructors. Another aspect of posture is
properly loading
the core muscles such they can efficiently drive the
swing. A couple of great examples of postural adjustments
can be seen with this Adam
Dunn clip and this clip of Troy
Glauss postural adjustments to hit 3 pitches at different
locations.
- Connection - involves connecting the bat to the
rotating torso rather than allowing the hands/arms to work
independently of the power source. An indicator of good
connection is to see if the hitter "maintains
the box" - that is, the basic shape of the forearms,
upper front arm, and shoulders remains very close to the
same throughout the initial phases of the swing. As opposed
to pushing
the hands to the ball independent of the body. This clip
of Rose from above is another good example of a hitter
maintaining the box.
- Rotation - is properly unloading those previously
loaded core muscles to turn the body (and bat) into the
ball. PCR rotation includes transferring the weight to a
firm front leg and rotating around the front hip. The
high-level swing does not include "squishing the bug",
"spinning", or driving the swing from the rear leg - as
evidenced by the fact that most elite hitter's rear
foot is off the ground at contact.
The PCR terminology will be unfamiliar to most and the
descriptions above are obviously too brief for anyone to truly
understand why this model is the best to use for
teaching/understanding hitting. It is much better described in other
places - especially Steve Englishbey's DVD set or Paul Nyman's
CD. I recommend you check these out as well as Englishbey's
hitting forums if you want to really understand the best method
for teaching hitting (see below for links).
Common Swing Mechanics Flaws
Need to add better descriptions, grouping of common items (disconnection), images and/or video showing each hitting flaw, and possible fixes for each one day when I get time...
- Lack of intent - too many hitters simply to don't swing hard. Sometimes caused by coaches/parents over emphasis on making contact rather than hitting the ball hard.
- Improper initial position - this is a very general flaw that encompasses parts of some of the following flaws, but a poor starting position almost guarantees an improper swing. Starting position here means the position as the hitter begins to turn into the ball, not the setup position which occurs well before the swing actually begins.
- Poor vertical load - not pre-loading the core muscles properly to provide the necessary energy to power the swing. A form of poor posture.
- Dropping the hands to set swing plane - a form of incorrect posture where the hitter sets their swing plane by lowering the hands. Often caused by the "level swing", "level shoulders", or "stay upright" cues. A cue to correct this problem might be "tilt over, stick your butt out, and then just turn into the ball".
- Bat drag - back arm externally rotates at the elbow - like you're losing in arm wrestling - and the rear elbow ends up getting ahead of the hands during the early portion of the swing. Causes a long, slow swing - albeit one which often has a lot of power when solid contact does occur.
- Hands to the ball - a form of disconnection where the hands/arms are moving independent of the body's rotation. Often caused by poor posture and even worse instruction ("knob to the ball" drills).
- Disconnection of the front arm/elbow - elbow acts independently of the body.
- Looping swing - swinging the bat in a path which is downward and then upward relative to the spine, rather than quickly getting to and maintaining the bat perpendicular to the spine in the shoulder's momentum plane. Common in young hitters who don't understand that the "uppercut" segment seen in a swing is due to the upper body tilt (i.e., posture) and instead they are trying to solve that problem with their arms.
- Improper elbow slotting - a form of disconnection where the elbow tucks to the side as the hitter begins to swing. Usually evident as the knob of the bat is not moving forward while the bat is leveling or the hitter is beginning to rotate.
- Premature loss of the hinge angle - the hinge angle is a term for the angle between the bat and hand - aka: cocking the wrist. The angle should be maintained at close to 90 degrees until the transfer of momentum causes the bat to whip into the ball. Loosing it early, whether during the swing or at setup,
- Hip slide - hips moving forward after the rotation beging. Reduces power and creates a long swing.
- Premature opening of the front leg - lower-level hitters frequently open the front hip to clear the way for their rotation, draining their rotation of a significant amount of power.
- Squishing the bug - rotation by turning the back leg, rather than using the middle. In extreme cases, you'll find the rear leg turns in without any hip rotation!
- Spinning rotation - a "revolving door" style rotation (i.e., around an imaginary central axis splitting body in half) rather than "closing a gate" rotation (i.e., around the front hip joint and then slamming the gate/rear-hip "shut"). Spinners often pivot on the balls of their feet and/or haven't properly firmed front leg/foot - in very bad cases ending up sort of squishing the bug with both legs at the same time.
Training
Drills
Unquestionably the place to get many, many more effective drills and other training methods is Englishbey - either his DVDs or his forum. But here are a few that are out in the public domain that I use on a regular basis.
All of these drills were picked up from folks willing to share on open forums. (One of these days hopefully I'll add descriptions, clips of the drill, and maybe even more drills...)
- Tilt and turn to different tee heights (emphasizes swing plane/posture) - tilt over to align so bat will be perpendicular to tee at contact, then turn into the ball. Vary speeds of the turn: slow, medium, full-speed. On slow swings, turn into the ball and then slowly back to original position.
- High Tee (emphasizes connection, removes swing plane issues) - tee setup chest high, at front knee, and inside
- High, Deep, & Close Tee (emphasizes connection, removes swing plane issues) - tee setup chest high, at front knee, and inside
- Open top-hand drill (emphasizes connection & rotation) - rear hand does not grip the bat but instead "supports" it by having it lie between the thumb and forefinger. Swing like normal otherwise. Very helpful for the rear-arm dominate hitter (which is very common). A variation is to hook the shirt near the chest/arm-pit area with the thumb and hold on as long as possible... this particular variation is helpful for those who really want to extend the arms to the ball.
- Rope and Hinge Bats (emphasizes connection & rotation) - you can't push a rope.
- Slow motion swings (helps comprehend actual swing movements) - swing in slow motion focused on performing the action perfectly.
- Overloaded swings (emphasizes connection) - many use power fins, heavy bats, etc. but I prefer to use heavy duty bungies, a medicine ball with handle, or a pully-weight-stack attached to the wall on one end and the front wrist at the other. Take a swing (as normal as possible). The resisted swings help the hitter become aware that using the body is a much more efficient method to swing. Key point to watch for is that the knob should be moving absolutely in sync with the body.
- Self-toss line drives for distance (emphasizes intent, coordination) - toss the ball up and see how far you can
- Close range high-speed cage drill (emphasizes quickness, removing of slop) - swing at max speed. Then scoot up about 15-20 feet and figure out how to get around on the ball.
- Slow-speed cage or live pitch drill (a form of variable training, teaches waiting on the ball) - hit significantly slower than normal speed pitches.
Commonly Used Drills to Avoid
Various drills which I don't recommend and the reasons why.
- Two tees lines up back to back with ball on front tee (or similar drills with special tees created for the same purpose). Hitter is supposed to hit the ball without hitting the back tee. The goal of the drill is a "level swing" but the problem is forces an incorrect swing plane unless the tees are aligned chest high.
- Knob to the ball - using knob of ball to hit ball off tee. Goal of this drill is usually either to reinforce swinging down or get the hands/arms more active in the swing - both are major causes of disconnection.
- Rear arm only swings - I dislike these because almost every hitter I work with seems to be rear arm dominate. I usually work a lot of front-arm only (or open top-hand drills) to try to correct the rear arm pushing that I encounter.
- Hitter's rear foot moves a ball or other object which is pressed against the outside of the foot prior to swing. Goal is typically to ensure the hitter's foot is turning during the swing. Unfortunately a lot of hitters end up "squishing the bug" without getting any real rotation. (In fact, as mentioned earlier, most hitter's rear feet move forward or come off the ground while swinging, so a slightly better version of this drill would be that hitter's should not move a ball placed against the outside of the rear foot!)
- Fence drill - bat-length away from fence, take a swing with the goal of not hitting the fence. The goal is actually a pretty good one, but unfortunately most hitter's modify their swings in ways that are not good. Here's an example of what can happen at the end of the swing of a fence drill.
Do What They Do, Not What They Say
If you've ever compared what most MLB hitters say they do
against video of what they actually do when swinging the bat,
you've probably noticed the two often don't match. There are many
well-known cases of this such as Bonds describing his taking his
hands to the ball or swinging down on the ball. This is what is
known as the action-perception gap - what they do
vs. what they think they do. And it is very much a problem
with young hitters as well - what they think they are doing is
frequently not what they are doing. To combat this, there are a
few axioms I follow when instructing:
- Prefer video evidence over verbal descriptions from elite
hitters when trying to decide what is really happening.
- Use slow motion video to show hitters what they are doing -
as opposed to letting them rely on their undeveloped kinesthetic
awareness of what they are doing.
- If your swing sucks (like mine does), show your
hitters video rather than demonstrating improper mechanics to
them. Hitters will emulate what they see - and unless you played
at a very high-level and still swing regularly, it's quite likely
you have the same action-perception gap issues that they do, which
means you are probably not showing them what you think you are.
Not Much Time
Something to always keep in mind while trying to grasp the
complexity of hitting mechanics is the limited amount of time
available to a hitter. Hitting is reactive - unlike most other
ballistic activities (pitching, golf, throwing a discus, etc.). At
higher levels of play, you typically only have approximately 0.1
seconds to decide to hit and then approximately 0.2 seconds
from the start of your swing to contact. Which is why swing
quickness is every bit as important to me as bat speed at
contact. A quicker swing means you have a little more time to
decide whether to swing or not.
One implication of this to me is that you need to do everything
possible to keep things things simple when teaching swing
mechanics. Long complex motor patterns are going to difficult to
teach, repeat, and perform in a satisfactory amount of
time. Anytime someone gives you the "forty-one steps" that
a hitter should be performing duing the .2 seconds of the
ballistic movement, be extremely skeptical. Teach the hitter how
to align the swing plane and load (the lower body, should
complex), so that they can "simply" unload into the ball
effectively.
Are You Describing Baseball or Fastpitch Softball Mechanics Here?
Yes! :)
They are the same. Over the past few years, Candrea, Enquist, and a host of other high-level fastpitch softball coaches have come to the belief that high-level swings of the two sports are identical as well. Mike and Sue state their beliefs in this clip from RVP software.
Hitting Resources
Swing Mechanics Instruction, CDs, and Videos
- Steve
Englishbey's DVDs - based on PCR concepts, these DVDs will get
you up to speed faster than any other information (short of
bringing Steve in personally). Clear instruction with a large
number of drills & movements to teach hitters how to create an
elite swing. Steve is unquestionably the best hitting instructor
I've ever encountered - and I'm not alone - a simple search around
a few hitting-oriented forums will show many others feel the same
way. And just as importantly, his customer service is incredible -
he does it all himself, so it may be a little slow at times, but
you will get incredible personalized service from Steve. DVD price
is $150 for a 2-DVD set and worth every single penny. (Steve also
sells an intro DVD for $95 which I've not yet seen.)
- SETPRO
Swing Instructor - SETPRO Instructor's Swing Training Program
CD from Paul Nyman. More information can be found in Paul's forums
here
and here.
Paul was the one who originated using the PCR concepts as the
model for the high-level swing originally and he has some great
information on his CD - very detailed, quality information
covering PCR concepts and more. The only real negatives with this
CD IMO are:
- the huge number of typos all throughout the CD. They're
not just distracting, they actually cause misinterpretation of his
information in many cases.
- a lack of clear, concise information on how to apply
this this information when instructing a hitter - especially when
compared to Englishbey's drill-packed DVD set. It's clear that
Paul doesn't think much of "drills" per se for teaching, but
rather believes that implicit learning (just swing and use
feedback from his batspeed/reaction time equipment to let you know
if you're improving, for example) is the more effective approach -
so it's not too surprising that he doesn't have a lot of
drills. (You're probably best off using a combination of both
IMO.)
But to be clear, the detailed explanations of what the PCR model is
will give you a great understanding of what you want a hitter to
do and not do. IMO this is the 2nd best information available on
hitting today. Price is $250 - if you can get it (see next paragraph).
Caveat Emptor! Purchasing from SETPRO typically
stretches your patience (very slow, often NO response to emails
and/or phone calls). Also, in the past year, there have been a
number of complaints on various hitting forums stating that he has
cashed checks without always delivering product. So in summary,
very good CD, if you can get it.
- Baseball Science
- from Dr. Chris Yeager, who is part of the San Diego
organization. Very interesting biomechanical analysis of the swing
and very reasonably priced tapes - a nice addition to a hitting
enthusiasts library. Information is not really distilled down to
"how to teach it". Based on Dr. Yeager's research which is a study
of the kinetic link's application to the ballistic motion of
swinging a bat. Price is $95 for a DVD on the Kinetics and three
DVDs including analysis of MLBers swings. The main DVD is $55 by
itself.
- Righview Pro Software - a video-based product line from Don Slaught (former MLBer, now Detroit Tigers hitting coach). RVP products include:
- IP300 - instructional
player - instructional CDs based on Don Slaught's hitting mechanics - ($75). The fastpitch softball instruction CD is explained by Mike Candrea & Sue Enquist who share their recently revised views on fastpitch hitting - which can be summed up that the mechanics for fastpitch and baseball are the same.
- PV300 - video
clip player ($125) to view RVP clips or those a coach shares with you ($125)
- CV300 - video clip capture &
viewer ($250) includes all features of for entering & analyzing your own clips and comparing
them to MLBers. The software itself is very outdated and clunky to use, but
functionally it works pretty well and includes the ability to read clips at
60-frames/sec - double the normal rate - which is excellent for analyzing videe - and includes a number of hitting clips.
- Hitting clip libraries - several CDs consisting of hitting clips of MLB or Olympian fastpitch players. MLB throwing clips are available now also.
- Dixon
Discoveries - the late Jim Dixon wrote a terrific little book
called "The Exceptional Athlete" (out of print) which has some
incredible insight into what high-level athletes do different than
the rest of us. Get hold of it if you can. Nyman has a nice tribute
to Dixon here with several informative Dixon-related threads.
- Mike
Epstein videos - Epstein is one of original proponents of the
"rotational" style swing. His mass market approach gets a lot of
folks introduced/interested in improving mechanics. Various DVDs &
a CD - prices are $49 for the single CD or DVD and $90 for a newer
3-DVD set.
- The Final
Arc - video from Jack Mankin of Batspeed.com. Mankin was
relentless in recommending the CHP (circular hand path) concepts
before it was popular - concepts which are now recognized as a
cornerstone of "rotational hitting". $40.
Online Hitting Video Clips
Thanks to Mark Hanson who got me started reviewing clips by his constant
"compare everything someone tells you to what you see in slow
motion video". And it's turned out to be incredibly good
advice. Get yourself a good video viewer (Quicktime, Jasc
Animation, etc) and do some frame-by-frame analysis - chances are you'll learn
something!
- Siggy's
Hitting clips - these are clips & animations I've found
especially useful (snagged from freely available forums or created or taken myself)
- MLB Video
Clips - from the Youth Baseball Coaching website. Great clips
to study here!!!
- Mark Hanson's Clips - various videos of fastpitch, MLBers, etc
- NorthCal
Shockers website - scroll down to see some nice hitting videos
of collegiate fastpitch hitters and such, provided by Scott Sarginson
- Ernie Parker Hitting Clips
- Bonds clips - love him or hate him, he is the gold standard of hitting.
Hitting Forums and Websites
The Best
- Steve Englishbey's
Hitting forum - Steve's newly opened forum have already
shown the amount of quality information there is second to
none. From what I've seen so far, it seems this will quickly
become the best hitting forum available.
- SETPRO forums - for
$10/month you can get access to the old SETPRO,
hitting-mechanics.org, and pitching-mechanics.org forums which
used to be the place to be for advanced hitting/throwing
mechanics discussions. It still has the great info from the past
to dig into - but unfortunately not nearly as much useful newer
information coming as most contributors have moved elsewhere.
- SwingTraining.net - nice hitting site from Jeff Albert
Hit and Miss
- Baseball
Fever - this general forum has turned out to have a lot of
good information at times. Since the opening of Englishbey's
forums, the quality has dropped IMO, but BBFever forums have some
great archival info and are still frequented by some pretty sharp
folks who will try to help you understand swinging and/or hitting
better.
- Shawn
Bell's Hitting Forum - yet another fastpitch hitting forum for
those wanting to discuss the right way to swing a bat.
- Eteamz forums - decent hitting info posted at times including
some good introductions.
- Batspeed.com - Jack
Mankin's hitting website. Jack was one of the original
"rotational swing" promoters and there's still some interesting
information here.
- HS Baseball
Web forums - yet another forum which mixes in some useful
hitting & throwing discussions among all the other arguments from
time to time
- Mike Epstein
Hitting - website and forum supported by Epstein
Swing Training Equipment
- Batspeed Computers & Reaction Trainers
- SETPRO
Batspeed Reaction Trainers - measure batspeed and reaction
times. Nyman has developed some very good products including a
batspeed computer (the SPRT5A) for which measures bat tip speed
and his own enhanced SpeedTrac known as the SpeedtracX-RQ. Both
of these products include support for enhanced training modes
(count and average swings for training), reaction training
(gives you response time of your swing), and anticipation
training modes (measures how well you time your swing to an
imaginary pitch). See caveat above for info about ordering from SETPRO.
- BatMaxx
- from TechnaSport, laser-based device which includes batspeed &
reaction measurements
- Batspeed.com
SwingMate - an adapted golf clubspeed unit. I had less than
stellar results with this product!
- Hitting Machines
- Hitting Devices - tee replacements
- Overload & Overspeed Training Equipment
The Science of Hitting
Baseball Physics
Hitting and Throwing Simulations
- Physics of the Swing simulation - from Nyman of course
- Momentum
- Paul Nyman's THT Simulations - physics of the swing
simulations explaining the unlikelihood (or at least
non-requirement) of top hand torque in
elite hitters.
Kinesiology, Biomechanics, and Motor Learning
Vision
Other Hitting Resources
Throwing Resources
Good overhand throwing mechanics instruction is hard to find. Like
hitting, throwing can be broken down into mechanics, the mental
aspect, and athleticism. Most throwing mechanics information is
combined with baseball pitching advice although the majority of
the information applies to throwing at any position (footwork
differs, of course). The links below will get you started in
understanding proper mechanics, arm action and body mechanics
along with proper training methods to get there which include
Nyman and Wolforth's backward chaining and Jaeger's long toss
program.
Forums and Websites
- SETPRO forums -
some excellent throwing information available here though you will
have to dig to find it. The SETPRO forums used to be the place to
go for throwing & hitting information, but recently have fallen
out of favor primarily because of various personal issues with the
owner Paul Nyman. Paul charges $10/month to read archives - still
a very worthwhile investment. Paul also has some throwing
information which he sells -
ordering details can be found on his forum.
- Ron
Wolforth's "The Athletic Pitcher" CD - Ron has several CDs
which apply a lot Paul Nyman's throwing information
- Alan Jaeger's Thrive on
Throwing CD and program based on long toss - a very useful
program for increasing throwing speed. A couple of good starter articles for long toss:
- Windmill pitching forum for fastpitch softball players
Online Throwing clips
- Siggy's
Throwing clips - a few useful clips I've snagged, taken, or
created. Includes both overhand (baseball and position player) and
windmill (fastpitch) clips.
Throwing equipment
- Speed Trac - hands free radar
- SETPRO products - Nyman uses
overload/underload, reaction tranining, etc. concepts in his
training methods. Worthwhile to look at his approach and the
equipment he recommends using even if you don't use his
program.
General Baseball & Fastpitch Information
The following information is non-hitting/throwing specific
baseball & softball links including equipment, training information,
etc.
Instruction
- Howard Kobata's Softball Skills - Kobata teaches some unique and very effective footwork and fielding
techniques that position players can apply to increase the speed
of getting their throws off. (Personally, I don't recommend most
of the short-arm style throwing techniques he recommends
though... at least not until basic overhand throwing skill is
attained.)
- WebBall - nice website
with all kinds of baseball, softball information including some decent instruction or pointers to instruction.
- Mental Approach
Software Tools for Hitting & Throwing Video Analysis
- RightViewPro - video
analysis software from Don Slaught. Included with the software are
some great hitting clips of MLBers and Olympic fastpitch players
which can be used as examples to strive for. The video is all at
60fps which is twice the normal viewing rate of clips - meaning
you can see more of what's going on. The program itself is dated,
but allows you to do most everything you need to.
- V1 Home - nice
inexpensive motion analysis software
- Skill Technologies
- motion analysis software
- Sports Motion
Athletic Performance & Training
CrossFit - terrific conditioning program. If you have an athletic weakness, CrossFit will expose it!
Dan John - nice simple approach to lifting big weights, not to mention that training for "track & field throws" applies quite well to baseball & softball
Mike's Gym - weightlifting and crossfit workouts with a weightlifting emphasis
Starting Strength - Rippetoe ad Kilgore have the best basic strength program available. Use it and then get their follow-up Practical Programming
ExRx Power Exercises - video clips of power exercises
Anatomy Links from Loyola University Chicago
Mel Siff's Puzzles & Paradoxes
Baseball & Softball Equipment
These are vendors that I've had some sort of positive experience
with when purchasing equipment. Notice eBay is on there... I've
gotten a lot of barely used equipment cheap off eBay.
Hardball - Adult Baseball
Fastpitch Sites
North Texas Area Training Locations
