Rotational Swing Analysis

[hheellllooiittssmmee]

Stats say it all:

Ted Williams: AB 7706, SO 709 (highest: 64, year 1939), AVG .334

Babe Ruth: AB 8399, SO 1330 (highest: 93, year 1923), AVG .342

David Ortiz: AB 6215, SO 1335 (highest: 145!, year 2010), AVG .283

Mark McGwire: AB 6187, SO 1596 (highest: 159!, year 1997), AVG .263

[hheellllooiittssmmee]

Leaning back and swinging with a down and then up motion? That's why modern ballplayers (especially clean-up hitters) get so many strike-outs (something that apparently isn't shameful anymore)!

If you look at the swings of players like Ted Williams or Babe Ruth, for example, you'll notice that they were more level with the pitch--almost horizontal.

[supersaiyaunko]

so which is better?please someone tell me.i cant hear eng well

[seattlehawkins]

@supersaiyaunko Gooks are slightly better than niggers. IMHO

[ivaldez13]

This is horrible! I am a professional instructor and telling people you want your front elbow to be that high is ridiculous and you should never be allowed to teach. Plus, in the second video, he jammed himself too. You do not want your first movement with your hands to go straight down. Be careful people who you listen to!

[friarfanatic11]

the hands are suppose to start above the shoulder and fire down towards the front hip, not down immediatly then out. if your talking about hitting back spin line drives, this is an awful example.

[1gsfan1]

I'm betting that this hitter had weak contact on both examples. Yes, swinging on plane is important. But "rotational" hitting is not just spinning and being "on plane". It's about powering with the core, and this swing is not close. Tilt comes from hitting against a strong front side, not just leaning back.

[28MRobles]

Get in the cage and show us the results. I am not sure if it is wrong or right but we'll determine after watching you hit.

[dinuccij]

he had bat drag before

[jpetey13]

So what is the software called that you are using to direct the swing?

[tomitstube]

nice work, great adjustment and explanation. get the arc set right. and balance.

i also noticed with your pitching video, not only is balance and technique important, but you should remain as tight as possible. explode into the motion, under control of course.

[FatFatBob14]

Slihmproduction I know exactly what u mean and it's not swing speed it's swing mass if that makes sense...using the bigger muscles for ur swing not wrists

[TheSlihmproduction]

I think i've been having a problem similar do this. I can hit the sht out of balls but the dont seem to carry at all. The only hard hit balls i can produce is the liners that drop between outfielders. Then i see me team mate go up and do this weak ass swing and he hits it a mile. I dont completely understand the physics behind "ball carry". NEED SOME HELP, any one?

[charlie123517]

His main problem at first was bringing his head to the ball like you would in a linear swing. Gotta' tilt the head and keep everything back.

[hinkie07]

His swing plane and hands are perfectly normal.The problem can be solved simply by changing his timing. Have your hands be pulled by your body to begin your swing. Pull the bat dont push it and you will see quicker "hands" as a result which really means fast hips and a more complete finish.

[TheNastyaaron]

nice vid. and thx!!!

[the209producers]

he's making contact before his hips are even 80% through the zone, two your not supposed to lean back like that your suppossed to be balanced. three after contact his hips still arent 90% through the zone that back toe should be pointing toward the pitcher. four you just taught him how to hit a fly ball. 5 the point of the game is to hit line drives through the infield and out deep into the outfield nice job on teaching him how to hit pop ups.

[ginkers1]

If you are going to show the "Tilt" difference in his swing at least have your lines drawn correctly on the video... In the "before" frame you draw the line from the top of the head to the back knee, and then in the "after" you go to his front knee... That right there completely discredits your whole video.

[06222426]

LOOK UP PERRINE BASEBALL ADRIEN#24

[zengolfer0819]

Coach Jeff Pinkman:

My wife and I want to thank you for helping our son make his high school baseball team. Three years ago, at age 13, we flew from Dallas to Washington DC for 3 hitting lessons. He made the team in his freshman season and started at 1st base. He's now playing summer ball at one of the premiere 15U travel teams in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area at the recommendation of his assistant varsity coach. We believe that this wouldn't have been possible without your help. Thank you.

[PinkmanBaseball]

If you are referring to the 2nd clip prior to him beginnig his move forward yes, he is dropping his hands. In order for any hitter to begin their movement to the ball the back elbow seals against the body & then turns. The hands then extend to the ball. Take a look at any hitter in the MLB who begin with their hands at their shoulder or above. Their 1st movement is back elbow in then turn.

If you continue to throw insults without knowing the facts you will continue to be a horrible student.

[noahmcdx]

@PinkmanBaseball But the difference is mlb hitters rotate their hands, back hip, and back shoulder at the same time. The elbow does not have to collapse. That will happen anyways, unless you want the bat to stick straight up in the air at contact. That doesn't have to be emphasized. All they have to do is rotate and maintain elbow angles. That's why it's called rotational hitting. This hitter in both swings leads with his back elbow, because he drops his hands and does knob of the bat.

[zeuspath]

he still drops hands idiot goddamn ur a horrible teacher

[DemonicMarauder]

I really feel bad for these kids who pay a lot of money and being shown the wrong way to swing ... coaching 101 you tweak his swing not change it 100%...I bet he pops up most of the time...

[DemonicMarauder]

there is only one human that can swing leaning back and uppercutting ... Mark Charles Teixeira....

[718Gilbert]

The first swing was much better you don't want to lean back and uppercut the

ball. You want to stay balanced and swing level.

If you saw a picture of Albert pujols at contact the line from his head to his back

knee is straight up and down.

[TitaniumShin]

@xxlittlemacxx HAH before you talk trash make sure your not a fat nerd who plays video games then trys to critic real sports get a life blob i took this advice and my swing has improved so as for making video game videos make a swing video video showing your talents

[DemonicMarauder]

he isnt finishing his swing anyways

[quepasarick]

where are you located at? do u have a website?

[GavinEdgell]

Your Wrong!!!

[seattlehawkins]

@GavinEdgell No! "You're Illiterate" XD

[xxlittlemacxx]

his hands are locked up on both swings more so after ur "lesson" unless ur looking fastball in, theres no way he catches up. just look at his right arm. no way to get power.

[ajlepisto]

@xxlittlemacxx Power doesn't come from extending the arms dude. That's the whole point. You use your body to generate the power and make sure you don't lose it in your arms. It's physics man. Obviously your body will react and let your arms fly out to meet a pitch if it's away. These videos teach power form, but you can't always swing like this for every pitch. Most of the time, esp with 2 strikes, you just gotta see ball, hit ball. Why do people always think they know everything?

[PinkmanBaseball]

It has been my experience that when confronted with the truth or an opinion that does not fall in line with theirs, uneducated people tend to throw insults at people instead of forming a rational thought or argument. It is comments like these that have baseball stuck in the dark ages, people unwilling to unbiasedly look at information presented for the purposes of education due to their ego. I guess some people out there still want no part of getting better, they're content with mediocrity.

[MrPrezident4]

oh and as for the picture of the pros with the same finish. im willing to bet that if you paused the video at point of contact, then you will see the balance im talking about. sorry if this came off as harsh criticism. no offense was intended.

[MrPrezident4]

(continued) and then you pop up more often. same thing with the green line you drew as balance. the line probably should be straight up and down and not tilted. a rotational hitter uses that line that goes straight through his body as his axis, or the point that he rotates around. you bend your upperbody back, and then your swing gets more upward, pop flies. you cant, rather, its tough, to lose your upper half going backwards and still maintain a downward swing.

[PinkmanBaseball]

I really wish you would understand that this is not something that we are making up, everything we talk about in these videos is based on what we see when we watch the most successful players succeed. Please show me evidence of a successful pro hitter that swings down to get "back spin". I am baffled that you can look at video of great swings and still insist they swing down...just before contact, through contact, and after contact they are swing on the plane of the pitch...slightly up.

[ajlepisto]

@MrPrezident4 Ted Williams would argue against a downward swing. You don't chop at a ball to put backspin on it. Backspin will naturally happen in situations where you are below the ball at contact.

That's the difference. You don't swing down at a ball, you just adjust your plane.

[MrPrezident4]

after reading the comments. couple things i want to share. take them for what you want. you DO want to swing down through the ball because thats what gives you that backspin and much further distances. but know that when i say down through the ball im not talking a steep downward angle. think level and then slightly tilted. the other thing was the part about his front elbow being up. now from my own experience, when you "fly open" as its called, your front elbow comes up and your bathead falls.

[PinkmanBaseball]

the swing does travel down at the beginning to get the hands into a launching position, but when the knob of the bat and the barrel get level BEFORE contact, the remainder of the swing is up on the plane of the pitch. In almost ALL cases. You can still get back spin by matching the plane of the pitch, in fact you will hit the ball further because it is not a glancing blow, you dont want to cut the ball to get back spin you will lose actual force into the ball.

[friarfanatic11]

this was an awful video analysis. you cant fix his swinf if you dont fix his hands. his hands dropped right away below his shoulders making it impossible to make solid contact

[PinkmanBaseball]

In all cases the hands drop just slightly in order to hit the pitch below the chest, as the hitter rotates, the hands pull the knob of the bat forward and the hands work up through the ball matching the plane of the pitch. If you pause at 0:16 - 0:17 then again at 0:26 - 0:27 you will see his hands drop much less. Please provide evidence of what your attempting to prove otherwise your insulting comments will be deleted.

[ajlepisto]

@friarfanatic11 You know, everyone says this stuff, but you can only do this off of a high pitch or a tee.

I'm always amazed at how people seem to COMPLETELY forget about simply logic and reasoning, as well as any physics or math that would clearly express how wrong they are.

Hands HAVE to drop because you are swinging something only at max, 34" inches long. Depending on your position you either have to extend to meet a ball, or keep them in. Have you ever hit a ball?

[Brewersown2323]

his back side is terrible, very very long swing, looks like he is chopping wood, or taking a golf swing, back foot needs to be on the toe or even off. ( Albert pujols come off his back foot, its not even on the ground sometimes.) also his hip rotation is terrible. back hip goes tword the pitcher while front side stays same.

[dadeuces22]

This kid has a garbage swing!!

[PinkmanBaseball]

We often receive pure opinion based comments. We on the other hand must site our sources and rely on current scientific research that is available to everyone who seek to learn. But try thinking about this from a pitchers prospective. The pitcher's main goal is to get the batter to shift his weight to his front foot and obtain a ground ball within the first three pitches. To those batters whose goal is to swing down on the ball and hit a ground ball.......pitchers say thankyou.

[uvmplayer09]

this is terrible. u showed a picture from teh homerun derby, which is an upper cut swing. not what u want that just creates pop ups and the"pros" do it because theyre strong enough to be able to do anything the want almost. u dont want to lean back what so ever. u shouldnt be teaching kids how to swing at all...

[coachesviewproduct]

Go look at Joe Mauer's swing mechanics here on YouTube. Third best BA in the AL last year. Pure rotational. Keep an open mind guys. Don't let your egos get in the way. Rotational hitters can hit ground balls, and can hit the outside pitch. And hit it harder. Go visit Mike Epstein's site and don't hesitate to order his video. It's a great investment.

[20jwink]

I watch this video and as a high school coach all I hear is infielders saying "I got it, I got it." waiting for the pop up to return. By the way the professional hitter you put at the end to show that the finish is the same is in the home run derby. OF COURSE he is finishing high he is TRYING to hit the ball in the air. How about some footage from just a regular game. Not bomb dropping scenarios.

[hithardernow]

you gotta be kidding me. that leaning back causes negative body speed and decreases exit velocity. the bat is on plane with the ball for less time. this swing might work in little league when the ball a slow but at 90 + mph this swing produces pop flies and weak ground balls when the hitters are not on time.

[PinkmanBaseball]

if you listen carefully i never say leaning back, because that is not what happens, the head stays still and the body tilts as the back side rotates forward...the tilt is what gets the bat on plane along w/ working the front elbow and knob of the bat slightly up and out...i would like to see any evidence you have of a big league hitter not doing this...also i would really like to see the swing that produces line drives when you are not on time

[physicsballers1]

@PinkmanBaseball u stupid if he was hitting ground balls u should of told him to adjust his sights and hit under the white read (hit to your potential) by steve ferroli written with ted williams he explains it

[timliddledesign]

@hithardernow - I couldn't have said it better myself. I think tilt was a word I heard used. The tilt is way over done here. The front "soft toss" to the hitter on the right, looks like it is tossed at a 25 or more degree angle. It may work if we are talking "Softball" . The "pro swing" photo looks as though it was from a Home Run Derby. The batter doesn't have a helmet on. Right? Evidence- A pretty good Professional hitter. Youtube video. "Baseball Pros Swing Analysis - Albert Pujols".

[physicsballers1]

@hithardernow ur wrong it depends how far u go back once the pitch is thrown u step and if u time it correctly u should land to balance it just depends how fast or slow he is picthing for how far u go back

[texasmusicfan03]

im never was a very big guy, 6'2 165, but i had a quick bat swing but with no power. and as a junior all i hit were mostly grounders but i was quick to get to first, and i still ended up with a .397 avg. for my jr. year. over the summer i had someone work with me and he showed me this method and IT WORKS!! i went from never hitting a homer in my life to hitting 8 my senior year and my avg. went to .483, made offensive mvp of the district, too bad a bad auto accident ended my chances at college..

[rod272727]

the first few seconds show alot.......he is still dropping his hands albeit better than before. Why talk about the rest if the beginning can still be improved? Not bad for a few lessons.

[donervin1]

Some of you fellas have the right idea of how important it is to keep the head upright, still, not tilted & centered between the shoulders, hips and feet for good posture & balance, The head is the culprit that forces premature body weight shift out over the front foot, I suggest that batters learn to approach each pitched ball in the same manner & learn to adjust accordingly to non-fast balls & to leave all non-fast balls alone with less than two strikes.

Don Ervin

kom_ervin@yahoo.com

[TheDIEGOayala09]

@AngelsfanDS watch any successful major leaguer bro, they use the rotational swing, don't look at david eckstein or some singles hitter, watch a solid pro you'll see this swing!!

[NRCC23]

i find it funny that you say no one in the MLB uses these mechanics. my brother is a minor league catcher and its all the same, and to the comment that his swing is still long if you watch his hands he goes thru the ball instead of rolling his wrist over. so please if you have something to say about hitting atleast have some knowledge of what your saying. other wise you come off as an idiot.

[afahfa]

I generally like the Mike Epstein swing, however I believe, from video I have seen, that most hitters do not lean back at contact. I think only Ian Kinsler, and perhaps several others do so. I do believe that the hinging of the knee is the more important thing in getting "on plane" with the pitch.

[abfive]

"No one uses these mechanics in the MLB." here are a few Mauer, A-Rod, Griffey, Bonds, Ted Williams, Joe D, The Babe, Don Mattingly, Wade Boggs, Cano, Wright. Can go on and on....I think the left side looks like his hands are too inside the ball and there may be too much weight on his back foot, I don't like the arch of his back. This is one video watch the other PB videos and learn.....kudos to Pinkman, you want to learn how to hit down (create backspin, a joke) move to Japan....

[donervin1]

Those of you who would like to learn how the combination of linear and rotational hitting is accomplished go out and acquire"TED WILLIAMS" book, "THE SCIENCE OF HITTING," study the pictorial diagrams of how the step is executed in relation to the initial reverse, negative rotation, load up of the hips, as he taught us "THE HIPS LEAD THE WAY" throughout the total hitting movement. Actually a simple front foot toe touch heel pick up to heel down pivot is fine.

kom_ervin@yahoo.com

[Nettel1]

Good Video!

[PromoterLockerz]

He must be late on a lot of pitches

[LongGone141]

it looks like he drops his hands though. and i always heard that youd get burnt on the fastball up if you put that dip in your shoulders. idk im just wondering.

[AngelsfanDS]

His swing is so long

[45zee]

hitting isnt all rotational it is both rotational and linear because you have to rotate to contact then go linear after so you finish twords the pitcher

[LearnToTurn7]

@45zee Sorry, but you've got it backwards. there's a linear move in your stride when you move your body and shift your weight twoards the pitcher. Then, when your front heel plants, your forward movement is blocked and you begin to rotate around a stationary axis. but you were right when you said that there is both rotational and linear components in a good baseball swing

[GBDiddy]

I think this is brilliant actually.

[PinkmanBaseball]

actually he is pretty strong, at this point i think he was a soph in high school and already hitting the ball out of the park, he just wasn't doing it consistently.  Level shoulders will only help for the higher pitches, look at any hitter when they hit the lower pitches well, shoulders are not level...you don't need to be a big strong meat head to hit for "more power", it means hitting the ball harder & farther, not always just HR's...don't make such large assumptions on a 2 min youtube clip

[joshstever]

where do i start...

-his swing is still very long! he doesn't have any elbow drive

-his body angle that you taught him is a bad habit i like to call the inverted C. It keeps him from hitting through the ball with his full power.

-without the elbow drive he is forced to be very long and is caused to swing with his body other than his hands which is much weaker and slower.

[PinkmanBaseball]

well then, i guess a large % of major league hitters don't hit "through the ball" cuz a vast majority finish the way he does and the pro in the clip near the end...if you can show me hitters that don't finish like that i'd be more than happy to hear your theory, but arrogance & conventional "coach words" do very little to actually help hitters get better...you start off ur statement with a very confident "where do i start..." then proceed to provide only 2 very weak points

[GLMbackwards]

@PinkmanBaseball The picture you showed was not during a game. It was during warmups/homerun derby(guessing HR derby cause of fans in the back) where they are trying to use their lower half more often. The pictures at 0:40 just embarrassed yourself. The photo of him on the left is clearly better form but he just isn't incorporating his lower half. The photo on the right shows him using his lower half, but the form is just way worse.

[rightwinggunnut1]

@PinkmanBaseball Sir, aren't you glad there are so many nay sayers? Rotational hitting has changed my son's baseball life. You don't swing down at a ball that's coming down. To hit the pitch squarely you must be in line with the pitch.....You're exactly right. As you said, the Pros do this...and it's the right thing to do, my son hit about .100 points higher last season after switching to this method at the age of 14 (before season. He is now a starter on his varsity HS team as a freshman.

[carnypimp]

@joshstever But the elbow drive will cause you to miss the outside corner everytime. It is not all about power. Little power, good bat speed, arm extension, wrist flick, driving with the back foot leads to dangerous hits and homeruns. I should no I shaped my kid into the most dangerous hitter in the leauge. He hit the umpire in the smoache and left a welt the size of at least four grape fruits and can hit the ball over 300ft at 13 years old.

[Kamakazi242012]

just to let you know, pro players were a lot skinnier back in the day. Hank Aaron did not work out as hard as some players are today but he is still a better hitter than them because he has better mechanics. Ted Williams has the best swing in the history of baseball and he is not nearly as strong as most pros today because they didn't have the kinds of workouts and equipment we have today

[herbiesnerd]

I had to watch this a couple of times. He appears jammed. His legs are fine, his hands are inside the plate, but his extension at contact is too late. His back arm is not extended fully until his follow through. Contact is the single most important point of the swing. Everything is supposed to be unleashed on the ball at contact. This swing can't do that. Once the bat has rotated around the axis and is moving forward hand and arm extension should explode forward fully then follow through.

[Kamakazi242012]

@herbiesnerd rotational hitting is like a rubber band. you create torque between your lower half and upper half. The hips are slightly open when your upper half is still held back which creates tension, or torque. Once you open your lower half, the upper half has to come around because it's impossible to keep it there. This is how the power is generated...not by using your arms to "throw" your power at the ball

[awilson2525]

do you think he was a little to far out front with his body rotation? If he rotated a little less like Pujols does, do you think he would have more power?

[cmbsuks]

hmm, what exactly are u asking? kinda confusing

[cmbsuks]

he had a few problems but main one was that his back foot wasnt perpendicular to thee ground at the point of contact

if it was, it would be a result of powerful hip rotation

[Diamondz4562]

rotational hitting is great you get even more drive through the ball.

[dean101792]

one thing i saw. the kid isn't driving the back knee, as this he just spins on his toe. and that takes away from the transfer of the weight from back leg to front leg. if he can get all the way up on his tip toe, he might be able to generate a little more power

[wogdoggy]

much better swing great improvement doesnt really get the hip thrust he could have..look at his back foot.if he had more thrust he wouldnt bug squish..great swing though..

[ohedd]

wow very nice.

[DethklokFog]

ok this guy looks alot like how i swing the bat before the got some lessons. I have a more flat swing and can't seem to get my weight distribution right. I'm strong so i can still hit be ball out of the park but i want to perfect my swing...any tips other than what's on the video? thanks

[AZss15]

Don't try to be perfect... No one has a perfect swing!

[32sta]

my advise would be to stay rotational.think about it if you swing level u will slice the ball everytime if you match the plane of the bat to the ball you will hit good

look at all the pros

[baseballer0848]

You should all let it go right down the middle instead of swinging. Then neither type of swing works better. Thats what I suggest

[SportyBoy454]

If you are thinking that your arms have to be extended at the point of contact a.k.a poc, then you're mistaken, actually extension is the effect of a powerful swing and not the cause. This is not common knowledge so I can see how you could make an incorrect assessment on the preceding topic.

[Kmac434]

LittePopi:

Seeing how rotational hitting is used by nearly every guy in the MLB, I'm pretty sure it works outside of Little League. Watch a video of Pujols' swing. He does not swing completely level, nor do any professionals. They swing up through the ball. There is a difference between an uppercut and swinging up through the ball.

[icecubez007]

u cant really argue what swing is right and what swing is wrong

there isn't just ONE swing in the world that works for everybody

everybody has a swing that works for them

fortunately this rotational analysis swing works for me.

but i don't recommend it to everyone because i know some people who hit very well chopping or swinging on a flat plane and etc.

[baseballer0848]

Yep, LittlePopi2 I'm sure its not too hard to be a beast when the pitchers and fielders suck so don't get too cocky.

[Hurley1494]

Edit my last post.

If you havent heard of Bryce Harper, which why wouldnt you have already? See for yourself again.

Area Code Game look at that swing not his homerun derby ones

[Hurley1494]

you can look up most of the top high school prospects such as : Jeff Malm who is absolutley savage and see for yourself.

I once used this rotational hitting technique and it led to back problems.

Now I stay tall and through the ball

If you cant find Jeff Malm, type in VegasScout and look at all his videos

[ACornyProduction]

13u is 13 y/o's and under right? Well if I'm not mistaken then you will play on a regulation field...

If I'm correct then it is nearly impossable to hit a home run in your leage and age.

These kids you are talking about though are over exagerating this and are probably dropping their hands and everything... If this is what they are doing to do this it is bad...

Done properly though this is a very helpful techneique.

[ACornyProduction]

This is great and that is what you are suppose to do but you can not over exagerate this to the point that you are only hitting pop ups either...

[prizzle26]

I am a student of the pinkmans. I will admit that i have not hit a home run with the rotational style that they teach. However, i i play at the ncaa div III level and i have hit over .300 both years that i have been a starter. The reason for this is that i am able to hit the ball on a line with the upward swing. the hitters that are successful match the plane of the pitch. if you are not convinved look at any tennis player and see how gd they are swinging down on the ball and getting it over.

[impactbat]

In the video on the left he is not square at contact. Try and use the Impactbat to help achieve this.

[herbiesnerd]

Hi Pinkman, Good Epstein disciple and your analysis is well thought out. May I give you a prudent suggestion: Don't get sucked into commenting on profanity and bad behavior. Just delete those comments. Stay objective to what you do, teach and analyze batting technique and nothing else on your YouTube channel. Your the pro, stay professional. If you get sucked into responding and admonishing all the idiots out there, it turns into a pissing contest and your message - BATTING - gets lost.

[piepieyum]

good point

[comeththemoment]

if he really wants to see a huge improvement he has to keep his hands more inside and not open his shoulders so soon. doing that completely throws you off and you miss half the plate.

also, on his fallow through if he let go with his right arm it creates more of a sweep covering more of the zone. the only downside is that it takes a toll on a weak arm...

[longhornfan6794]

I took batting lessons from a rotational swing batting coach, and it really improved my hitting.

[RawlingsCatcher]

Why is it that all of these rotational hitting camps look at all professional hitters and say "Look he's a rotational hitter."

Every swing has linear movements and movements or rotation in them. Throw a rotational hitter a couple of offspeed pitches and then a high fastball if you want to get them out.

[PinkmanBaseball]

UM...you just described how to get just about every hitter in the workd out...offspeed pitches are not easy to hit, BY ANYBODY!!! Look at how many pro/college/high school/youth players look foolish on offspeed pitches. That's like saying if you hit the ball over the fence...its a home run...very observant, show me a person who can hit an good offspeed pitch well, consistently, and i'll show you next greatest hitter in the world, everbody gets fooled, everyone can be beat by your method

[bboybert619]

@PinkmanBaseball well its baseball if ur getting beat by offspeed stuff that means ur load is slow which means even if you get a fastball ur gonna be late? having ur foot down early helps recognize pitches early

[physicsballers1]

@PinkmanBaseball steve ferroli could kill u hes the best hitter and ted williams successor he s written two books with ted and hes 50 and can still hit a major league pitch offspeed or fast he can hit it all

[bAs3baLLKiNG305]

thats what being patient and learning how to hit an of speed pitch comes in. it has nothing to do with your swing type

[FastWalkToFresno]

@RawlingsCatcher Because nearly all [good] MLB hitters ARE rotational hitters. Mike Epstein, the man who coined the phrase "rotational hitting" is the first to tell you that there are both rotational and linear aspects to most good swings. The rotational label isn't meant to mean that 100 percent of the movements are rotational. It's just describing a particular type of swing. No swing can be totally rotational, nor can it be totally linear. Charley Lau's "linear" swing still had rotation....

[westie4235]

Doesn't look like they touched on his stride at all...seems to be stepping out rather than straight and also opening up the front foot. He'll gain some power back if he squares off that front foot. Right now, by striding and opening up the foot, he's opening up the hips sooner than he should and taking away some of the power.

Still some work to do, but overall looks pretty good.

[Mapete17]

The first video(the left one) shows a few MAJOR problems. The first part of a swing is your hands. His hands drop dramatically which cause inside balls to be rolled-over and the outside pitch to be missed or mishit. From the left to the right video, his swing is more powerful, but if you taught him to drop his hands onto the ball by driving the handle to the contact point, that would have taken care of any power/ contact problems. He probably will still have the same batting avg. Not bad.

[PinkmanBaseball]

Keep in mind he made these changes is in a 2 hour session, pretty good all things considering...I would like to have his hands pulling forward a little more & not dropping quite as much but he got much better and is well on his way, all of his numbers went up including his batting avg

[Mapete17]

I believe you. 2 hours and that improvement is impressive. If he kept coming in and working on it on a regular basis i think he would become a definite college prospect by time he is a senior in high school. His swing kind of stayed similar to the first video, but his body movement and rotation all improved. Nice work.

[hardyboyz13]

good vid and it would proably help me

you should used a manny rameriz not the

person you used

[realtech9er]

I just don't understand rotational hitting! Im a knob down hitter! And yes i do drop bombs. I don't get the concept yet. I believe there would be more pop ups and weak ground balls then anything with this uppercut approach. As a pitcher, can't i just bang these hitters inside high? or outside low? It looks cool, its just new to me.

[LearnToTurn7]

Oh, that's the deadly mistake that all pitchers make, they think that pitching a rotational hitter a ceritant location they'll get them out, problem with this is that a rotational hitter will adjust to diff. pitch locations and drive pitches, go ask mike epstein

[sponger04]

all he did different on the second photo was pop the ball up not more power his bat head drops right away creating an inconsistent swing any instructor that was any good would see that...anywayz dont want to sound like a downer keep up the good work

[PinkmanBaseball]

Actually not a pop up, a line drive that gets over the infielders...you have to have launch in order to get the ball into the gaps...the hands drop only to get into the launch position then go forward and slightly up to match the plane of the pitch.

[LearnToTurn7]

exactly, you need leverage to drive the ball

[dlo1616]

nice vid

[beastmodeonthefield]

also watch prince fielder game winning swing on youtube and its different than what you teach

[beastmodeonthefield]

one swing that is contrary to this is ryan howards and he goes yahtzee all the time.

[lilraider7]

Pinkman, this is good stuff. Keep posting your stuff. Video doesn't lie. In the first clip, the kid is casting his hands a bit, and his hips rotate late. Second vid, you see his hands in tighter, producing better batspeed. That laid back angle Pinkman speaks of is seen in almost all swings.

Regardless of muscle mass, a swing needs to be optimized. Just because the kid isn't 220 pounds doesn't mean he shouldn't learn a quicker swing that has a plane matching the plane of the pitch.

[beastmodeonthefield]

i find it funny that on your site you talk about bonds doing this well hate to burst your bubble but my hitting coach actually played with bonds and knows him and what he does.

[PinkmanBaseball]

Well i have video clips of Bonds doing exactly this, do you have footage of him doing the contrary?

[favre4ever1995]

Well, not meaning to step into the conversation but pro hitters don't do exactly this. A pro hitter will swing down on the ball and finish high. You have this young man taking uppercuts at the ball, which will need perfect timing to hit. His bat is not in the zone for a long time at all. If you are under the impression that pros do this, then you are wrong.

[LIastros9]

lol why dont you just have jeter come down and teach him his swing...that way, he can have a horrible swing taught to him by a pro...then he can get 85% of his hits to RF

[bmadden0909]

You dont swing at high heat it is a ball.

[favre4ever1995]

its a perfect pitch to drive, i was also reffering to any fastball in the upper 3rd of the strike zone to clarify

[wakeisbeast234]

could opening your hips earlyer help?

[pasoknatayo]

Hello PinkmanBaseball,

Could you post this video in a complete and normal motion. I just want to see how he finishes the swing. Another topic,I bought the Hall of Fame package and my son is going through the drills. The thing that my son hasn't mastered is in regards to the head (it is not staying still). How do you train on that?

[jaylenpopin]

I'm not pinkman, but my 10 year old had the exact same problem with head movement and it destroys the swing. Once we got rid of the head movement it took about 4 days for him to launch his first ball over the fence, and about 10 more pitches to hit his 2nd out. Tell him to imagine a steel rod was just driven through the top of his head into the ground between his legs. There would be no option for head movement, and his body would have to rotate around the rod instead. It worked with my kid

[pasoknatayo]

Thanks Jaylenpopin! We will try your suggestion. I got my son to look at Miguel Cabrera's swing video here in youtube and his head didn't move when he made his rotation. It resulted in a HR. I'll give you a feedback aftger a few days. I'm hoping it will work. Thanks again.

[lilraider7]

There would be no option for head movement because that steel rod driven through the top of his head would, how should I put it, have ended his life =)

Kidding, and yes you're right that keeping that head still not only improves your swing, but lets you see the ball better.

[jamminracer1]

ok im a sophmore in high school and i played varisty my freshman year for half of the season...they changed a lot of my swing...well that swing looks good but in this clip this guy isnt keeping left tricep up and his hands are WAY to low...thats why he may be getting under everything or on top

[wspp60]

His left tricep not high enough? Well... How high do you think it should be? His hands are too low? where do you think his hands should be? Lead Elbow above the hands, the hands above the bat and the bat head down in the strike zone asap and on plane with pitched ball. In the clip on the right, the batter is pretty much right where he should based on this particular pitch.

[Westbaseball11]

watch mlb hitters...you'll see what im talking about

[pugehenis]

What about him dipping the back side. Did you correct that. Many Guys are upright. WHat this guy needs is a better bat path. Down through the ball,hands lead to contact point then finish high.

[PinkmanBaseball]

"TILTING" is far different than "DIPPING"...in order to hit any pitch below the thigh consistently you need to tilt back a slight bit, notice his head doesn't move much if at all, look at the end of clip where he is compared to Mags, very similar "TILT"...a lot of hitters hit upright on high pitches where you need a flatter bat plane....

[wspp60]

Finally some quality instruction on youtube!

Mike and Jake did a great job training your you and your staff! The viewers here on youtube would do well getting instruction like what is shown here, anything less would be waste of time.

Coach Mel, Long Beach, CA.

p.s. Pinkman baseball, ask Jake about my PowerZone Hitting aid.

[Bones3553]

Not bad except that kids bat path is horrible there is no way he can hit a good fastball unless its away and hell just slap it the other way. His bat goes flat right away

[PinkmanBaseball]

Actually he can and does hit good fastballs, if you look carefully his bat goes slightly upward matching the plane of the pitch, if you swing down or try to swing level you limit the number of pitches you can hit with authority (swing down you will likely hit weak grounders, level swing you won't be able to hit the low pitch) not sure how you see his bat path as flat, he finishes high

[HITTINGISCONTAGIOUS]

PinkmanBaseball responded well. I too am not sure how you see a flat bat path. It is obvious he finishes high.

[killagames]

then explain to me why manny ramirez swings upright and doesn't lift his elbow and yet has over 500 home runs

CHECK THE UTUBE VIDEO- frozen ropes building the complete hitter: MANNY RAMIREZ

[HITTINGISCONTAGIOUS]

Unfortunately Manny is not using his normal swing in this video. The pitches are coming in at 50 MPH and are letter high. Just as 95% of all the great hitters in baseball Manny is a rotational hitter and the lower the pitch the more "tilt" you will use. If you want pictures of Manny hitting a low pitch I can send you some or I would suggest doing some research online to see for yourself.

[maliquenhs25]

when you begin to lif the front elbow coudnt that make you pull off the ball?

[Kamakazi242012]

Pull off the ball? Explain

[manofthenorth]

In a true rotational swing, the shoulder rotates around to the front and around.

[PinkmanBaseball]

The term "Pull Off" the ball is an incorrect term in my opinion. I feel if you "Pull Off" the ball it relates to timing, in order to hit the ball with power your chest has to be facing the pitcher and your shoulders have to rotate open, if you do that too early you won't hit the ball as hard. It has more to do with timing and less to do with mechanics.

[wannaplaycatch]

I'm a mike epstein disciple.

I think his way of teaching rotational hitting is the best. I would say the way you describe it, is very, very, similar. You're the only one, other than Mike, that stresses tilt.

Nice job my friend.

John.

[Kamakazi242012]

yups

[SPARQtrainer]

That is a good example...i like how you pause it and show the diffrence between the elbows. That's what was wrong with my swing. Ill practice this

Thank You Very Much,

Ryne