Swing Analysis

[wild12]

Hey all,

Been reading lots of info on this forum for some time and am stoked about finally being able to post! Just wondering if you all might be willing to take a look at my swing and let me know what needs work. Thanks!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXDQZ_-97Lw


**Don't know how to upload my .gif version, any help would be appreciated

[DukeK]

Do you have the *.gif version?

Just open a free photobucket account, drop your *.gif in it, and then post the picture here using the direct link option. (click on the "Insert Image" icon and paste the direct link address from photbucket)

[conky149er]

hahhaaha i had to turn my head to watch it

[Swing Coach]

This boy needs to hit standing on his feet..instead of swinging from his side. How does he do that?

[DukeK]

http://i390.photobucket.com/albums/oo343/johnpav_photos/Hitting/JP%20Edit%20Hitting/FullSpeedSwing.gif

Quick analysis:

Kind of a hard angle to analyze, hands appear to go back as front foot goes forward.

The hands appear to be too far away from body at load, and then I see a lot of bat drag. As the hands come away from the body the rear elbow comes in front of the hands and then into your belly button.

There is a little, but not much, hip seperation when you start but then the shoulders seem to overtake the hips.

Swing plane is ok but you still need to work on weight transfer forward, still a bit too much squishing the bug.

[wild12]

Ok, thanks for the advice DukeK. Do you know any particular drills that could be done to help me with these issues in my swing?

1)As my foot goes forward, do I wan't my hands to be stationary? or moving forward with my body? or what?

2)Any idea how to reduce the bat drag and get my hands closer to my body?

3)How do I go about getting more hip seperation? Is this just focusing more on trying to lead with the hips?

Thanks for the quick analysis...and thanks for making it into a gif for me!

[Swing Coach]

your swing plane is definitely not okay. You are swinging down through the ball and not getting on plane with the ball (almost) until you make contact. You are hitting in a small zone. Learn how to get your elbow in the slot, tilt your shoulders and drop the bat head to get in plane with the pitch early on.
63761

Your swing resembles the player in the blue, who swings down at the ball, causing a small hitting zone (where your bat is on plane with the pitch).

63764

Do you understand this? The reason you are squishing the bug is your downward swing plane to the ball.

SC

[wild12]

Ya, that makes sense

[DukeK]

Start here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmzsBIaRJ0I

http://members.cox.net/msanda/Loading%20Sequence.htm

Make sure you study the other recent swing analysis posts. And listen to Swing Coach, I'm fairly new at this.

Swing Coach - how come I can never see your attachments? Does everybody else see them?

[Swing Coach]

i don't know...I can't see them on my slow, older computer at home. they may be too big of files???? I wish i knew too.

[DukeK]

SC - How big are the files?

Have you tried setting up a free photobucket account? Then you could post the direct link and they'd show up as a picture instead of a hyperlink.

Wild - I do see you dropping the bat head and dragging it up through the strike zone, should look more like this:

http://i390.photobucket.com/albums/oo343/johnpav_photos/Hitting/AAA_mannyswingplane.gif

[wild12]

Thanks for the links. And about the swing plane, do you figure that will work itself out in a way when I get my hands closer to my body (not allowing them to drift out and "force" me to drag the bat through the zone?

[wild12]

Are there any particular drills that you think could help my swing out? Help me get the bat travelling through the right plane, or keeping my hands closer to my body, or helping me to get some more seperation between my upper and lower body? And even something to help me reduce the amount of "bug squishing" that I am currently doing?

Any help would be appreciated, knowing what my flaws are will help...but knowing some particular drills designed to correct some of these flaws would be great. Thanks a lot!

[Mikjary]

Wild,

Before you go looking for any drills to work on I would suggest a little bit of a back to basics approach. You might take a closer look at your stance. It won't do you any good to work on your swingplane if you are standing straight up swinging without any athletic 'tilt' or posture to begin with. Take a look at the BBF thread called "Definitive Swingplane Angle" on 1/07/09. It has alot of good info in it after you get past the ego driven posts. I think it's a good place to start for your swing remodel.

Good luck!
Mike

[wild12]

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction!

[Ursa Major]

Between DukeK and Swingcoach, they've got most of it, but you also just aren't starting the swing with hips and back knee. This picture shows you part way through the swing with your back foot still unturned and your back elbow well in front of your hands ("bat drag").

http://s95294420.onlinehome.us/userfiles/MWild1.jpg

Some of these issues may be alleviated with a better starting set-up and better initial hand position. As far as starting your swing with your hip (and also getting better tilt/posture), you might want to try the "pole drill". Put a broomstick horizontally behind your waist and dangle your arms straight down and hold the stick in place with the crook of your elbows. Then try to hit a tennis or wiffle ball off a low-set tee.

For keeping your hands in near the shoulders, try hitting off a tee by holding your shirt at the point of your shoulder with the thumb and forefinger of your top hand (around the skinny part of the bat handle), letting go only when you're about two-thirds of the way through your swing.

[wild12]

OK, after doing some more reading it almost sounds as if I don't really use the hands until the POC...I'm just trying to clarify a bit. It sounds like I turn the use my hips to rotate my upper body, with my hands in a hitting position (level plane with the ball), and just after the POC I want to use the hands to extend through the ball? Thats just what it sounds like...

[Swing Coach]

two drills to help:

1. Fungo drill. Toss ball up and drive the ball to deep center field.

2. Skip rock drill. If you truly know how to skip a rock (and make it skip on water) then you need to do this drill with a baseball. Skip it into a net one hundred times. Rememebr, you have to get the elbow slotted next to your side, get yor shoulder down and tilt.

Let me know how this feels after you do it.

SC

[Mark H]

Guess I'd have to see a clip of that. To me, skipping a rock is sidearm throwing. Throwing is forming a loop/leading with the elbow to deliver energy. Leading with the elbow with the forearm laid away from the body is, by definition, bat drag=seven frame swing IME. Maybe you skip a rock differently than anyone I've ever seen skip a rock. http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=rock+skipping&hl=en&emb=0&aq=0&oq=rock+skippin#

[Jake Patterson]

Between DukeK and Swingcoach, they've got most of it, but you also just aren't starting the swing with hips and back knee. This picture shows you part way through the swing with your back foot still unturned and your back elbow well in front of your hands ("bat drag").

http://s95294420.onlinehome.us/userfiles/MWild1.jpg

Some of these issues may be alleviated with a better starting set-up and better initial hand position. As far as starting your swing with your hip (and also getting better tilt/posture), you might want to try the "pole drill". Put a broomstick horizontally behind your waist and dangle your arms straight down and hold the stick in place with the crook of your elbows. Then try to hit a tennis or wiffle ball off a low-set tee.

For keeping your hands in near the shoulders, try hitting off a tee by holding your shirt at the point of your shoulder with the thumb and forefinger of your top hand (around the skinny part of the bat handle), letting go only when you're about two-thirds of the way through your swing.
Jim Booth has several drills along these lines that he has posted in the past.

[wild12]

Ok, so I think I am starting to figure out the lower half of my swing a bit...still not really sure what needs to happen with the hands as far as loading and extending and everything though...

[jbooth]

Ok, so I think I am starting to figure out the lower half of my swing a bit...still not really sure what needs to happen with the hands as far as loading and extending and everything though...

Here's a good look at how the arms and hands work at the start of the swing. The hands stay near the back shoulder as the shoulder starts to rotate. You lift the front elbow and drop the back one to get the knob aiming toward the ball, while the hands stay back. Note how the elbows maintain the same distance apart from each other, and the back elbow does not go in front of the back hip.

http://firstpickclub.com/video/mannylaunch.gif

[AltaLomaStorm]

Quick analysis:

Kind of a hard angle to analyze, hands appear to go back as front foot goes forward.
I am curious as to why you think "stretch" is a bad thing, as I see it to some degree in most high level swings...
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm114/cbrcanyoncrver/Bonds18.gif

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm114/cbrcanyoncrver/rowand_9_17_side.gif

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm114/cbrcanyoncrver/Kent2a.gif

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm114/cbrcanyoncrver/ted_side.gif