You and I have a very similar story with our swings. About two or three years ago I was one of the top 5 hitters in my league until that next summer I didn't practice one day because I thought I would just be this good for the rest of my life. Then came tryouts for my middle school team. Since I didn't have any practice I barley hit close to 3 baseballs the whole week. Turns out I didn't come close to making the middle school team at all so every single day up until that next year I went down to my basement and fixed everything the middle school coach said I was doing wrong. I even found your channel and applied your tips to my game. 8th grade year, tryouts came again. I was back into my groove and landed a starting spot in center field for our opening day game. Matt, thank you for making these amazing videos and helping me change my game drastically!
Dammit man! I'm a little league coach (9 & 10 year olds) and I'm afraid I've been working REALLY hard on teaching the kids incorrect swing mechanics. I learned everything you speak against: hands to the ball, stay on top of the ball, which puts the bat on plane for a REALLY short time. In order to square a ball up you have to be PERFECT. I just recently found your channel, and I've become obsessed with understanding this swing. The idea of it makes sense, but it is SO contrary to everything I've learned all my life, that my brain is having trouble mimicking the mechanics. It's like trying to write left handed! Anyway, great work, keep it up. I'll keep working with my 9 year old...and keep you posted on his swing. ✌
Keep your right elbow level (as a righty) and point your left elbow at the pitcher (from your perspective as a hitter) and you will blast balls ..... If it matters I was drafted too, batted .600 in high school - at the same time I've never tried this idea out on a pitcher that has ever pitched in the majors, however I will say it worked for me and I learned this technique from my dad and my coach in little league and later high school started implementing it.... So yea, if you're a right batter - keep your right arm level and point your left elbow (from your perspective) at the pitcher and see how that works.... You're going to pull a lot of balls but you're gong to be impressed ......
It is very interesting and I feel what you're saying man--it's really easy to get into that mode where you are making all of these adjustments and your swing ends up being worse than when you started. Where you golfing more frequently when the video on the left was taken? Golfing really messed up my swing and made it look similar to the video on the left. The swing on the right looks like a swing with your body and bat doing all the work as opposed to your hands in the first one. Thanks again for the awesome videos!
Thanks!!! I just kind of fell into bad habits over years of not really monitoring what I was doing and also working with a bunch of different coaches that were all kind of telling me to do or try different things
Hey, I'm a 40 year old with the passion to play of an 18 year old. I've struggled hitting the ball the last 2 years. I tend to hit a lot of ground balls to 3rd base. I've video taped myself and played it back in slow mo, and I noticed that I don't get into the zone with my bat early enough. I tend to come down on the ball as a consequence I chop the ball. now I've video taped myself batting lefty and it's the complete opposite. I get the bat easily in the trajectory of the ball early. The problem is that I'm a right-handed. I don't think I take my hands to the ball, moreover I'm very cognizant of rotating. I accomplish rotating by pulling the nob. It works perfectly batting lefty, but righty I can't get in plane of the pitch early enough. what do you suggest to fix this flaw?
Great testimonial! I've been coaching little league and teaching batting lessons for several years. This 'hands to the ball' swing is an epidemic in youth baseball. It makes no sense, of course, but coaches are too lazy to look at reality, admit they're wrong and change. Youth coaching is satisfied with grounders, pop ups and strike outs. I'm amazed at how many games go by and almost no player can hit the ball over the infield. I haven't made many friends because I won't compromise and give into that old linear bat path. On the other hand, parents that want their ball player to hit better call me for private lessons. One thing I've learned is the pre turn (shoulders across the pitch path), then the swing turn need to be right. The pre turn is simple... show your numbers, etc. The swing turn is where kids can goof things up quick. Don't open up to early. I teach kids to 'feel closed' (back shoulder still behind the front shoulder) as their hands begin to pass thru the hitting zone. They are a bit unsure at first but become a believer as the shoulders catch up and the bat releases. The longer we keep the back mechanics lagging... bat speed picks up and the body rotation meets the ball with power.
yes, the set up is shoulders slightly closed to the pitcher and angled down... the triangle formed by the elbows and hands rotates away from the pitcher (show the numbers) and the bat will tilt forward (across the fore head). This pre-swing motion is part of the overall load. Every great hitter uses this pre-swing movement to overcome the moment of inertia: Bonds, Williams, Aaron, JD, etc... takes less energy to move an object that is in motion; takes more energy (and time) to start a bat that is in a static position. Check out Antonelli at 14:52. You see his barrel tilt forward. Most people assume this is just a natural movement because the batter is loading but no... it's a very specific skill that all the good hitters have. The old swing on the left has no pre-swing bat movement... he starts the bat from a static position. I was watching San Jose Giants hitters warming up in their batting cage. The hitting coach stepped in to help a player with this very skill. As a drill he had his hitter rotate the bat forward (tilt) across his eyes. It was amazing how the bat speed number on their machine jumped about 7 mph. That is a lot! Watch Oakland A's JD... then compare Bluejays JD... Bautista is similiar. Williams really emphasized this element: the shoulders turn, the back elbow pulls back creating this pre-swing tilt. Check Hitterish on you tube. Sean does a great job teaching this skill. I want to add that Antonelli's frank honesty is so refreshing. He's a rare gem in a foggy world of online baseball instruction.
Hey, I totally agree with you with everything here,but my problem is that here are so many people teach the wrong thing. I wish that more people here were to listen to you. I played PRO like you and I believe that one need to have a good swing. And the funny thing is that you will find coaches in even in the PRO teaching the wrong thing no helping as one deserve to learn,so please watch what you listen too. Thank you for you trying to help so many here,God bless.
The difference in the Japanese Swing? There's something special about their hip placement and movement that I find different yet effective when going opposite field.
Great video, what are some drills that I can work with my son to get the swing on the right. He actually looks identical to your swing on the left? Would love any insight or drills to do thank you.
Hey Matt, I was wondering if you could check if there's anything wrong with my swing in one of my videos on my channel, especially one of the my UCLA bp videos. Hope you can reply and give me some feedback, and thanks for uploading the videos you do today I have learned a lot.
Hey Antonelli i am 13 and playing with a red dirt league for going into high school or 8th grade and I'm currently hitting 500 with 32 ab but I am not crushing the ball im getting a hits like down the line or found a hole is this common for kids my age or is this just something I have to change
Why do hitters take their shin guards off when they get on base? Why not just leave it on until he gets back to the dugout? They take it off when they get a single, double or triple. Yet when he hits a home run they run the bases with it on. Please explain.
Matt, so in college when u were raking and in A ball, was the swing on the left successful or are you saying for whatever reason you fell into those bad habits and the swing on the right was the swing you had your success with and you just had to find it again?
I believe he was saying that he had a slightly better swing then on the left during his college and A ball days, but he also mentions that for years he had learned a lot of bad swinging habits from various coaches. Yet at the college and A ball levels, even with a flawed swing he had always naturally been able to hit the ball well enough, that for years he thought he was using proper hitting mechanics.... So he didn't think much of his swing mechanics, until he reached AAA and couldnt hit the ball anymore the way that he was use to being able to.... which then forced him to work with good hitting coaches that broke down and built back up his mechanics, so he could actually compete with the pitching at that level.... hes said it in many of his videos that a swing like on the left is acceptable/good enough up until a certain level of play and then hitters are forced to improve there mechanics if they want to stay competitive.
My swing on the right was much closer to what my swing looked like during the first year or so of my professional career. The swing on the left was what my swing looked like after years of falling into bad habits. Then the swing on the right was what my swing looked like again after fixing it. If that makes sense lol
makes perfect sense... especially considering you said that you were trying to throw your hands (or knob) at the ball ... that motion gets the bat on pitch plan late, barrel path is generally descending and the forearm and the bat usually don't form a straight line at contact (frontal pitchers view).
I am super busy right now with a ton of online lessons but you can try. I may not be able to get it back to you for a while and can probably only give you some quick tips. Are you the Kenneth Cruz from NY that I talked to while I was coaching at Holy Cross?
You and I have a very similar story with our swings. About two or three years ago I was one of the top 5 hitters in my league until that next summer I didn't practice one day because I thought I would just be this good for the rest of my life. Then came tryouts for my middle school team. Since I didn't have any practice I barley hit close to 3 baseballs the whole week. Turns out I didn't come close to making the middle school team at all so every single day up until that next year I went down to my basement and fixed everything the middle school coach said I was doing wrong. I even found your channel and applied your tips to my game. 8th grade year, tryouts came again. I was back into my groove and landed a starting spot in center field for our opening day game.
Matt, thank you for making these amazing videos and helping me change my game drastically!
Dammit man! I'm a little league coach (9 & 10 year olds) and I'm afraid I've been working REALLY hard on teaching the kids incorrect swing mechanics. I learned everything you speak against: hands to the ball, stay on top of the ball, which puts the bat on plane for a REALLY short time. In order to square a ball up you have to be PERFECT. I just recently found your channel, and I've become obsessed with understanding this swing. The idea of it makes sense, but it is SO contrary to everything I've learned all my life, that my brain is having trouble mimicking the mechanics. It's like trying to write left handed! Anyway, great work, keep it up. I'll keep working with my 9 year old...and keep you posted on his swing. ✌
Keep your right elbow level (as a righty) and point your left elbow at the pitcher (from your perspective as a hitter) and you will blast balls ..... If it matters I was drafted too, batted .600 in high school - at the same time I've never tried this idea out on a pitcher that has ever pitched in the majors, however I will say it worked for me and I learned this technique from my dad and my coach in little league and later high school started implementing it....
So yea, if you're a right batter - keep your right arm level and point your left elbow (from your perspective) at the pitcher and see how that works.... You're going to pull a lot of balls but you're gong to be impressed ......
What do u mean keep right arm level
It is very interesting and I feel what you're saying man--it's really easy to get into that mode where you are making all of these adjustments and your swing ends up being worse than when you started. Where you golfing more frequently when the video on the left was taken? Golfing really messed up my swing and made it look similar to the video on the left. The swing on the right looks like a swing with your body and bat doing all the work as opposed to your hands in the first one. Thanks again for the awesome videos!
Thanks!!! I just kind of fell into bad habits over years of not really monitoring what I was doing and also working with a bunch of different coaches that were all kind of telling me to do or try different things
+Antonelli Baseball what where some of the things Sean had you work on?
Hey, I'm a 40 year old with the passion to play of an 18 year old. I've struggled hitting the ball the last 2 years. I tend to hit a lot of ground balls to 3rd base. I've video taped myself and played it back in slow mo, and I noticed that I don't get into the zone with my bat early enough. I tend to come down on the ball as a consequence I chop the ball. now I've video taped myself batting lefty and it's the complete opposite. I get the bat easily in the trajectory of the ball early. The problem is that I'm a right-handed. I don't think I take my hands to the ball, moreover I'm very cognizant of rotating. I accomplish rotating by pulling the nob. It works perfectly batting lefty, but righty I can't get in plane of the pitch early enough. what do you suggest to fix this flaw?
Great testimonial! I've been coaching little league and teaching batting lessons for several years. This 'hands to the ball' swing is an epidemic in youth baseball. It makes no sense, of course, but coaches are too lazy to look at reality, admit they're wrong and change. Youth coaching is satisfied with grounders, pop ups and strike outs. I'm amazed at how many games go by and almost no player can hit the ball over the infield. I haven't made many friends because I won't compromise and give into that old linear bat path. On the other hand, parents that want their ball player to hit better call me for private lessons.
One thing I've learned is the pre turn (shoulders across the pitch path), then the swing turn need to be right. The pre turn is simple... show your numbers, etc. The swing turn is where kids can goof things up quick. Don't open up to early. I teach kids to 'feel closed' (back shoulder still behind the front shoulder) as their hands begin to pass thru the hitting zone. They are a bit unsure at first but become a believer as the shoulders catch up and the bat releases. The longer we keep the back mechanics lagging... bat speed picks up and the body rotation meets the ball with power.
telekev1 Could you explain what you mean by the pre-turn?
yes, the set up is shoulders slightly closed to the pitcher and angled down... the triangle formed by the elbows and hands rotates away from the pitcher (show the numbers) and the bat will tilt forward (across the fore head). This pre-swing motion is part of the overall load. Every great hitter uses this pre-swing movement to overcome the moment of inertia: Bonds, Williams, Aaron, JD, etc... takes less energy to move an object that is in motion; takes more energy (and time) to start a bat that is in a static position. Check out Antonelli at 14:52. You see his barrel tilt forward. Most people assume this is just a natural movement because the batter is loading but no... it's a very specific skill that all the good hitters have. The old swing on the left has no pre-swing bat movement... he starts the bat from a static position.
I was watching San Jose Giants hitters warming up in their batting cage. The hitting coach stepped in to help a player with this very skill. As a drill he had his hitter rotate the bat forward (tilt) across his eyes. It was amazing how the bat speed number on their machine jumped about 7 mph. That is a lot! Watch Oakland A's JD... then compare Bluejays JD... Bautista is similiar. Williams really emphasized this element: the shoulders turn, the back elbow pulls back creating this pre-swing tilt. Check Hitterish on you tube. Sean does a great job teaching this skill.
I want to add that Antonelli's frank honesty is so refreshing. He's a rare gem in a foggy world of online baseball instruction.
telekev1 Thanks. That was a superb response. And yes, Matt's channel is the best. He talks about subjects few others ever bring up.
telekev1 basically you want to scap load when you load as a cue
Hey, I totally agree with you with everything here,but my problem is that here are so many people teach the wrong thing. I wish that more people here were to listen to you. I played PRO like you and I believe that one need to have a good swing. And the funny thing is that you will find coaches in even in the PRO teaching the wrong thing no helping as one deserve to learn,so please watch what you listen too. Thank you for you trying to help so many here,God bless.
Thanks and I agree!
The difference in the Japanese Swing? There's something special about their hip placement and movement that I find different yet effective when going opposite field.
When they hit, they try to hit singles in 2 strikes which allows them to swing in a unique way!
“A great hitter isn’t born he’s made. He’s made out of fault correction, practice, and confidence.”- Rogers Hornsby
Great video, what are some drills that I can work with my son to get the swing on the right. He actually looks identical to your swing on the left? Would love any insight or drills to do thank you.
I'll try to get some drills up here for you! Thanks for watching and commenting!
Hey Matt, I was wondering if you could check if there's anything wrong with my swing in one of my videos on my channel, especially one of the my UCLA bp videos. Hope you can reply and give me some feedback, and thanks for uploading the videos you do today I have learned a lot.
what would you say is wrong with the swing on the right ?
Hey Antonelli i am 13 and playing with a red dirt league for going into high school or 8th grade and I'm currently hitting 500 with 32 ab but I am not crushing the ball im getting a hits like down the line or found a hole is this common for kids my age or is this just something I have to change
Tough to say! Sounds like there is something going on in your swing, but it's really tough to tell without seeing the swing.
What was your process to go from left to right?
Lots of stuff. Most of the stuff I talk about in our hitting videos. Thanks for watching!!
You can't have a great swing without great mechanics
Why do hitters take their shin guards off when they get on base? Why not just leave it on until he gets back to the dugout? They take it off when they get a single, double or triple. Yet when he hits a home run they run the bases with it on. Please explain.
When you sprint it has a tendency to fall off or get in your way. Thanks for watching!
Matt, so in college when u were raking and in A ball, was the swing on the left successful or are you saying for whatever reason you fell into those bad habits and the swing on the right was the swing you had your success with and you just had to find it again?
Right...the one on the left is the one I struggled with. The bad habits I fell into.
I believe he was saying that he had a slightly better swing then on the left during his college and A ball days, but he also mentions that for years he had learned a lot of bad swinging habits from various coaches. Yet at the college and A ball levels, even with a flawed swing he had always naturally been able to hit the ball well enough, that for years he thought he was using proper hitting mechanics.... So he didn't think much of his swing mechanics, until he reached AAA and couldnt hit the ball anymore the way that he was use to being able to.... which then forced him to work with good hitting coaches that broke down and built back up his mechanics, so he could actually compete with the pitching at that level.... hes said it in many of his videos that a swing like on the left is acceptable/good enough up until a certain level of play and then hitters are forced to improve there mechanics if they want to stay competitive.
My swing on the right was much closer to what my swing looked like during the first year or so of my professional career. The swing on the left was what my swing looked like after years of falling into bad habits. Then the swing on the right was what my swing looked like again after fixing it. If that makes sense lol
makes perfect sense... especially considering you said that you were trying to throw your hands (or knob) at the ball ... that motion gets the bat on pitch plan late, barrel path is generally descending and the forearm and the bat usually don't form a straight line at contact (frontal pitchers view).
Hey Matt, I play baseball at Rutgers University. Can I send you a video of my swing and let me know what you think I could work on?
I am super busy right now with a ton of online lessons but you can try. I may not be able to get it back to you for a while and can probably only give you some quick tips. Are you the Kenneth Cruz from NY that I talked to while I was coaching at Holy Cross?
haha yes I am, great memory!
Still haven't figured out that back toe thing...
What do you mean?
How can someone fix bat drag
It is tough to say without seeing the swing. There is a lot that could be going on in the swing