If you enjoyed our hitting talk and want to learn more, click the link below to check out our new course explaining our step-by-step system to building an elite swing and over 25 drills! antonellibaseball.mykajabi.com/buildingtheeliteswing-lp
51 years old and still playing ball and I have been guilty of not only teaching what you said not to do but doing it myself ,never to old to learn thank you so much from Australia
BROOO i just realized.... Ive been trying to start with my hands to far behind my elbow which made me wanna connect the bat when its already disconnected... Which is impossible. So i wanted to connect it moving diangol backwards rather than just backwards. 6months it took me to finally find that problem... Jesus christ.
I'm trying to fix my "arm bar." Instead of fixing the arm bar my coach said i needed to work on slotting the elbow and keeping my hands inside. I pulled one somewhere between 280 - 310 feet foul in a wooden bat tournament. Rising Sophmore, 5'9 135 pounds and my work out routine looks like. Workout, Baseball, Baseball, Training, Something else random like doctors office, workout, workout, random thing you get the point. My rage level is a 100 on trying to fix it. Ill figure it out though. I wanna be able to hit those in fair territory by the time school-ball come around. Then i can rub it in that one kids face that said ill never be better than him. (I usually hit 210 foot linedrives with metal and 270 ft when i hit the ball well. I measure it out from where i saw it land and its somewhere in between 280-310. No fucking clue where it came from.)
This is great wish I had a coach that knew this when I was playing ball in high school and college. I am now a professional golfer and I teach my students principles that are almost identical. Great work!!
I’ve been a big fan of you content and I gotta tell you, this video by itself has completely fixed my swing. At least for me I found myself catching more barrels regardless early or late. Thank you coach Antonelli
So funny because I hit ground balls to the left side and pop ups to the right just as you were saying! I'm working on my swing with my jugs soft toss right now trying to correct 58 years of doing it wrong. I'm in the Houston Hardball League and been playing since I was 7 years old. Thanks Matt!
Fantastic! This and the video of the old school 2 tee drill blew me away. You nailed all the grounders and weak right side pop up that my son was doing with the swing I tought him. Now on plane after watching your videos he is ripping the gaps and confidence is through the roof. No more timing issues. THANK YOU!
I’m giving my first hitting camp over the weekend. I have been studying you all week. Absorbing all the amazing info you give. Thanks for everything coach! We appreciate you 🤘🏽❤️
It's like you were reading our minds that we needed a reminder on this. Thanks, and like a lot of comments say, really appreciate you sharing your experiences and knowledge. Honestly, not really sure why anyone would thumbs down this...it's theoretically sound, you've got the experience and it's clearly explained. Thanks Matt.
Honestly, I don't know why you put this videos on for free. I've been teaching my 13 old, your methods and he knows more then a lot of high schoolers now. I greatly appreciate all we have learned from you. Thank you.
Coach, I played baseball in the 80's and was taught to point the knob of my bat "kinda" toward home plate. Jump ahead 25 years, and coaches teach my son to turn the know toward the catcher. From this video it appears you are doing what I was taught. It seems to me, that pointing the knob at the catcher promotes pushing the barrel. Thank you, Joe
Brilliant! This is a superb explanation and demonstration of hitting mechanics. I've been tasked with coaching t-ball and don't know anything about the specific and proper mechanics of hitting, throwing, catching, etc. I've been schooling myself for 3 days now, devouring videos on mechanics, and this is the best and easiest to understand on hitting, so far. I was really able to see what you were talking about and mimic your entire swing, arms, legs, stance, rotation, spacing, etc to get a sense of the basic motion and movements. With this great demonstration and straight forward talk, I feel confident about demonstrating the basic hitting mechanics as well as knowing what to look for while observing the players in practice and game (4-6 yrs). Thanks for this very helpful demonstration!
You and John Madden do a good job teaching this, though you're more rigorous and exacting. John had an MLB player on showing their batting mechanics. The player seemed to me, to advocate pushing down to the ball plane, then changing the swing plane to match the ball, like a hybrid of turning and pushing. It seems impossible to suddenly change velocity from a push to a turn, mid-stroke. When I slowed the game clips in the beginning of the video down of this player actually batting in game, it appears to me he is turning the barrel, not pushing at any point. He seems to think or feel like he is pushing to the plane then turning, but I think he's doing what you and John advocate, turning the barrel. Am I crazy? ua-cam.com/video/Qn6OG9mOEGI/v-deo.html
Hey man, I was a little skeptical about this, but had a bp session with my team yesterday and was killing the ball doing this. Appreciate you fixing my swing!
Great explanation! A lot of misconception with turn the barrel and creating lag through the zone. I think this will help me to better explain what I've been trying to talk to my 8 year old about.
I'm glad I found you. Not many hitting instructors teaching what you do. Most MLB players are dumb when they try to explain what it is they do vs. watching what they do....IE The recent A-Rod interview with Mike Trout. Unbelievable...because too many coaches and parents will teach their kids/players that rubbish with even A-Rod saying, "One more time for the kids at home." UnFreakinReal! Thank you! I am posting this to my Inside Corner softball page. Anyone interested in hearing the real deal...IT IS HERE!!!!
I'm a big believer of what you're talking about here and played for a guy for 6 years that preached rotational mechanics over linear mechanics, but I always found in personal experience that thinking about making the barrel go back in that way won't get the result you're intending for. It's not really a conscious thing for the hitters that do it well. There are other ways to get that action, however, like thinking about turning on an axis, having a strong front arm that pulls back as your back arm tries to rotate the bat onto the plane. I always found thinking about creating a similar rotation but thinking more with the top wrist/forearm turning sort of outward and back rather than up and moving the bat backwards helps me get the rotational mechanics I'm aiming at. This top wrist/forearm action is what supplements the pulling of the front arm/elbow, and keeping its angles as solidly as you can. The complementing forces get you rotating on a steady axis rather than being too linear or swaying. If you look at a guy like bonds, you could put a pole through his head to the ground and he's just rotating on this axis.
This is great in concept for a higher level, more experienced player and it works! However, I would suggest that many younger players and less experienced players don't bring the bat through the zone as you suggest, they drive their back elbow under the knob and drop the barrel too far causing a severe undercut. In my opinion, this caused by two factors. One, trying to achieve what they believe is the proper launch angle and two, swinging with a bat that is too heavy for them. I would welcome your feedback on how to coach this up on younger and less experienced players. Thanks for the great channel!
Ive been known to give u some shit and disagree with some of your takes, but this is an excellent video and demonstration of how to swing a bat. You do yeomans work and it’s appreciated!
Great material. Tony Gwynn has a video which discusses (in different vernacular) this same idea. He calls it having the knob lead the barrel, not the barrel leading the knob.
Good advice. Best tool I found for young players is taking my cell phone and making a slow motion video of their swing. I can then show them right after what their issue is and how to correct it
Very helpful. One of my issues right now is that I'm attempting to help my son (7) with his baseball swing, and my daughter (9) with her fastpitch softball swing. The mechanics are exactly opposite. For fastpitch softball, the ball is rising. So it's essential that the plane of the swing is downward (essentially the "push" swing you're talking about). For baseball, the plane needs to be flat or slightly upward. Everything else about the timing, rotation, etc is basically the same. This video helps clarify what's happening with the bat that differentiates the baseball swing from the softball swing.
Snapping the trailing wrist over the front wrist within the hit zone accelerates the bat like a whiplash/elliptical path more so than the circular path of these swings. It's harder to hit the ball at the wrist snapover because the bat bumps up a little. But with a lot of practice you add a bunch more velocity onto your swing.
I have always been a good contact, lead off hitter. But a defensive one, with an inside out swing. I tried this off a tee and in my old timers fastpitch league last weekend, and hit the snot out of the ball, including on the dreaded high inside pitch (triple over the right fielder’s head). Wish I would’ve been taught this in college! Will implement like crazy coaching HS ball now.
Thanks this is the slump buster for me. Your exactly right. Some how I got more in to the downward motion and it has really messed me up. I think I'm back on track now with all of your videos. Thanks again.
@LosCastrosBros watch this. This guy played in the MLB, and he did not have a long carrier in the big leagues but it's amazing what he teaches. it's awesome. My regards to this guy from the Dominican Republic.
I totally agree about your comment regarding it working in golf too. In the golf swing they call it “dropping the club in the slot” to describe the first move at the transition from backswing to forward swing. The baseball swing is similar as far as the dropping of the bat into the slot, that basically just means to get your right elbow tucked into your right hip (for a right handed player) which gets the bat (or golf club) on plane and in a position to maximize bat/clubhead speed. It also prevents you from casting the bat which is a speed killer.
Your the man! I am the awesome beer league player that is grateful for people like you that give away your hard earned knowledge for nothing. Without people like you I wouldn't be a fraction as good and a dominant force in beer league baseball. All jokes aside thank you and fully understand that all facets like running, foot placement and even smaller components are all very much important to becoming the complete package. In terms of thought process during game is there a method such playing scenarios in your head that help sharpen your reactions or give you a mental edge or expectancy while waiting on ball? I play three quarters of the game in my head which I feel sharpens my awareness and also allows me to train specific movements that I apply in the game. What type of mental preparation do you suggest if any?
Thanks!!! On defense I am always expecting the ball. I like to track the ball in and make sure I'm landing just as ball is crossing hitting zone. I've made a few videos on it. See if you can find them in our playlists. Thanks again for commenting and watching!
So perfectly presented. So much of the other thing being taught. Live in the middle. Too much downward plane being taught in addition to towering Homer launch angle.., which which leads to barrel dump pop ups and strike outs. Great Job
Great episode --- what do you think the difference in bat swing speed is from pushing versus turning ..... and ultimately the difference in exit speed?
The key is to coil of the shoulders. This is a very effective start to the swing. The front shoulder dips a slightly as the back shoulder rises. This causes latissimus dorsi to stretch like a rubber band, giving further impetus to the swing. This movement enables good leverage of the bat and gets it into the hitting window very quickly. This is an extremely effective way to get the bat head shallow early.
It seems to me that pushing the bat is a bottom hand dominant approach while your approach to turning the bat is much more top hand - you very definitely switched hands as you modeled the change. A visual cue would seem to be whether the bat/label starts above the trapezius versus the bat/label starting above the shoulder itself. The other thing I think I saw is that pushing the bat led you to have a racing back elbow - which for my guys leads to the barrel dropping into a nasty upper cut - whereas in the bat turn your rear elbow stayed much tighter to the back hip. Last, I like that in the barrel turning approach, the barrel head starts closer to vertical and then falls back as the turn occurs. A lot of my U13 guys want to start the barrel parallel to the ground and raise it up as they start their swing. Hopefully, this example will help me help them with this.
I think you may have that backwards. The bottom hand can't push the bat forward, it would pull it. If the bottom hand pushed the bat, the barrel would come over the top like you were throwing an axe. The top hand pushes the bat either backward, if the player is top hand dominant as in casting, or it will finish the swing pushing through the Contact-Extension point. As far as the back elbow staying tighter to the back hip, the isn't necessarily a good thing depending on when the elbow gets along the side of the body.
When I was taught to hit, a lot of the conversation was about getting "on the plane of the pitch early." It sounds like here you're talking about "getting in the zone of the pitch," and your demonstration is very similar to how I was taught. Are they effectively the same thing? Some slight differences, such as: you talk about the barrel going back, where I was taught to literally whip it through the zone with the wrists and hips, with the bat reaching perpendicular to the plate as the hips have already driven through. My hitting coach lovingly referred to the position at 3:42 as the "Manny" in reference to Manny Ramirez's impeccable mechanics. For clarification I am a softball player so there are some obvious differences about the path of the pitch, and trying to get lift (for home runs) is definitely new since I played, so I'm curious if this is just new vernacular or a completely new approach to hitting in the home run era?
It's the same,, but even here he's talking about getting on plane with the pitch. He's just showing the proper way to do so and get your barrel into the hitting zone and on plane to maximize your chances. The way I teach or explain this to my hitters is the 1,2, or 3 ball.....1 being late, 2 being on time, and 3 being early..... by getting in the hitting zone and on plane with the pitch you allow yourself to be 1 a little late, 2 on time, or 3 a little early and still be a productive hitter...
Hey Matt, pitcher by trade and often looking for guidance for my son. He seems to have this move down very consistently. However, he is having a heck of a hard time timing the pitch. He is often early and making relatively weak contact. He is a strong, athletic 13 year old, albeit not a manchild you may see at some of these torunaments. How do we get him timing his swing better? I've taken away his stride thinking this might simplify his swing and allow him a simpler timing mechanism (alla Albert Pujols and others). Appreciate your work and all you do with the youth of this generation, keep up the good work!
Love this video. This has been a huge help to my son who had been a slump. Since implementing this he has yet to strikeout in five games. (Yes I know it's still new and a work in progress) My question is, do you feel the hands should be held high, low or neutral or doesn't matter? In relation to getting on the swing path quicker.
Thanks!!! I'd say most guys launch from around their armpit height, but there are some lower and some higher. Thanks for watching!!! Good luck to your son!
Tremendous video! What you described is the most important "secret" for great hitting, in my opinion. I inadvertently stumbled upon this move during a soft toss session, and my swing was immediately transformed.
Quick question: Are we trying to advocate flattening our bat during the hitting sequence? And can you describe what collision hitting means? Just curious because I'm considering coaching advise and do not want to sound too vague nor confuse any batters when using terms and phrases
That all sounds fine and dandy but dropping the barrel behind you often leads to dragging or casting. just get your top hand palm up as soon as possible the barrel will follow.
Yea I agree he kinda exaggerates what the barrel does immediately. But getting your palm up causes the bat to drop. Kinda taught backwards. Also I am a fan of bat drag. Get the hands quick and it makes for more bat speed. Like a whip.
I've got 4-5 kids that all have the issue of dropping the barrel and never getting back up to hit the baseball. The extention happens after the turn. In the beginning of the video he is showing extention right away before turning. of course it looks bad then. If you teach kids to drop the barrel they will all swing up and try to hit homeruns.
Matt what role does the front arm do to maintain the proper swing plane? Should the front arm and rear arm maintain a consistent triangle and not collapse? Just thinking that if they don't and rear elbow collapses the path of barrel will drop out of plane under ball. Does this make sense.
Welp I am now going to drag my 12u team to the batting cages where I will pretend to have always known and understood this key to proper swing initiation. Thanks Coach!
You don’t want to drop the elbow. The back elbows angle really never change throughout the swing. It’s true the hack elbow will drop into a slot but a much more common problem is people leading with their back elbow and the top hand lagging behind it. I’ve always found think about keeping the elbow from leading helps with rotational mechanics but I can’t imagine you could do that while thinking about dropping the back elbow.
I see that one swing (which you call turning the barrel for some reason) gets the bat on the plane of the ball from the back of the plate to the front of the plate, giving a chance to hit the ball over about 2 ft of the swing, whereas the other swing is never on the plane of the ball and can only hit the ball if it happens to cross the plane of the ball at just the right moment. But how do you make yourself turn the barrel as you call it? And isn't it the same as dropping the barrel, which is supposed to be a swing flaw that kids have?
Coach, my 10YO had a very compact swing that was contrary to what you coach against, he would fire his hands and chop down as he was taught the fastest way to a destination is a direct line, it's probably his more natural stroke, when he does drop the barrel back and "turn" the barrel he seems to scoop and or drag the bat being long to the ball. He tends to open his front shoulder too often and rotates before squaring the ball up. I widened his stance to combat this and he didn't rotate as fast and squared the ball up more. He doesn't hit for a ton of power but tends to want to pull everything and ends up rolling over a lot. He's very lean, athletic, makes contact often and rarely strikes out but I'm trying to get more "pop" out of his hits, thoughts?
I think the swing is really complicated and sometimes when players try to get the bat to work more on path or more behind them they aren’t really sure how to do it and it can lead to some issues. It’s tough to say though without seeing the actually swing. Thanks for watching and commenting!
I agree with everything you say in this video, but do you think it would ALSO make sense to keep the front shoulder low for just a few milliseconds at the beginning of the swing in order to fight any tendency to drop the back shoulder too much too early? It seems to me that when that front shoulder pops up too early the barrel of the bat often drops towards the catcher rather than behind the hitter where it belongs as you have demonstrated.
One of the most uncanny home run hitters with a Taylor made home run swing I have ever seen was Boston's Big Poppy David Ortiz, can you break down his swing as compared to say a Mantle or Ruth's swing?
Question for Antonelli...why must the hands be above the barrell at point of contact? This makes sense for low pitches or away but I'm notnsire for other pitches. Thanks.
Is this swing the same approach you would use with 2 strikes? Also, does this swing style allow a proper check-swing? I've seen most of your videos and this one is at the top. Thx
When I saw this video, I'm thinking Strawberry, Canseco, Ramirez, Bonds. Jim Thome would be the exception. He could go straight at it and still pound it.
I understand getting that bat path into the zone but how do you prevent bat lag and preventing the barrel dropping through the zone causing to pop out a lot?
It depends why the bat is dropping or lagging. There can be a bunch of different reasons for it, so it's tough to pinpoint without seeing the exact swing. Thanks for commenting and watching!
Good stuff. I need ways to or drills to better explain to my 13U players. I have about 3 players who see a hitting instructor that what looks to me pushing the barrel. These 3 hit a lot of ground balls. It only works against mediocre pitching or not so good pitching.
I think a big disadvantage of the pushing is that you can only develop any power way out front and to the pull side. occasionally a pusher (or out front whipper) will catch one out front and hit a bomb but you can't cover all of the zone that way.
If you enjoyed our hitting talk and want to learn more, click the link below to check out our new course explaining our step-by-step system to building an elite swing and over 25 drills!
antonellibaseball.mykajabi.com/buildingtheeliteswing-lp
51 years old and still playing ball and I have been guilty of not only teaching what you said not to do but doing it myself ,never to old to learn thank you so much from Australia
Ima go pro thank you
How would you smoothly incorporate this technique into doing cambat tee work drills?
BROOO i just realized....
Ive been trying to start with my hands to far behind my elbow which made me wanna connect the bat when its already disconnected... Which is impossible.
So i wanted to connect it moving diangol backwards rather than just backwards.
6months it took me to finally find that problem... Jesus christ.
I'm trying to fix my "arm bar."
Instead of fixing the arm bar my coach said i needed to work on slotting the elbow and keeping my hands inside.
I pulled one somewhere between 280 - 310 feet foul in a wooden bat tournament. Rising Sophmore, 5'9 135 pounds and my work out routine looks like.
Workout, Baseball, Baseball, Training, Something else random like doctors office, workout, workout, random thing
you get the point.
My rage level is a 100 on trying to fix it. Ill figure it out though. I wanna be able to hit those in fair territory by the time school-ball come around. Then i can rub it in that one kids face that said ill never be better than him.
(I usually hit 210 foot linedrives with metal and 270 ft when i hit the ball well. I measure it out from where i saw it land and its somewhere in between 280-310. No fucking clue where it came from.)
This is great wish I had a coach that knew this when I was playing ball in high school and college. I am now a professional golfer and I teach my students principles that are almost identical. Great work!!
Thanks so much!!! Thanks for watching!
I’ve been a big fan of you content and I gotta tell you, this video by itself has completely fixed my swing. At least for me I found myself catching more barrels regardless early or late. Thank you coach Antonelli
Spot on. Not too many teaching the truth. Well done.
Thanks a bunch!!
Well he wants your subs
So funny because I hit ground balls to the left side and pop ups to the right just as you were saying! I'm working on my swing with my jugs soft toss right now trying to correct 58 years of doing it wrong. I'm in the Houston Hardball League and been playing since I was 7 years old. Thanks Matt!
This is one of the best baseball swing videos out there
Fantastic! This and the video of the old school 2 tee drill blew me away. You nailed all the grounders and weak right side pop up that my son was doing with the swing I tought him. Now on plane after watching your videos he is ripping the gaps and confidence is through the roof. No more timing issues. THANK YOU!
Awesome glad they helped!!! Thanks for watching and commenting!
One of my favorite videos of all time. You describe exactly what I've always felt was right in such a simple and concise way. Thanks
Agreed!!!
I’m giving my first hitting camp over the weekend. I have been studying you all week. Absorbing all the amazing info you give. Thanks for everything coach! We appreciate you 🤘🏽❤️
It's like you were reading our minds that we needed a reminder on this. Thanks, and like a lot of comments say, really appreciate you sharing your experiences and knowledge. Honestly, not really sure why anyone would thumbs down this...it's theoretically sound, you've got the experience and it's clearly explained. Thanks Matt.
Thanks so much I appreciate it!!!
This video makes me extremely happy. Giddy you could say. This is the exact information that needs to be taught at ALL levels.
Honestly, I don't know why you put this videos on for free. I've been teaching my 13 old, your methods and he knows more then a lot of high schoolers now. I greatly appreciate all we have learned from you. Thank you.
Haha thanks I appreciate it! Thanks for commenting and watching!
Now, this is something that I think baseball forgot for a while. Glad to see you teaching it
Thanks!!! Thanks for watching and commenting!
Killer. I was testing this a few weeks ago, real deal.
Coach, I played baseball in the 80's and was taught to point the knob of my bat "kinda" toward home plate. Jump ahead 25 years, and coaches teach my son to turn the know toward the catcher. From this video it appears you are doing what I was taught. It seems to me, that pointing the knob at the catcher promotes pushing the barrel. Thank you, Joe
No, elite hitters point to catcher watch
Brilliant! This is a superb explanation and demonstration of hitting mechanics. I've been tasked with coaching t-ball and don't know anything about the specific and proper mechanics of hitting, throwing, catching, etc. I've been schooling myself for 3 days now, devouring videos on mechanics, and this is the best and easiest to understand on hitting, so far. I was really able to see what you were talking about and mimic your entire swing, arms, legs, stance, rotation, spacing, etc to get a sense of the basic motion and movements. With this great demonstration and straight forward talk, I feel confident about demonstrating the basic hitting mechanics as well as knowing what to look for while observing the players in practice and game (4-6 yrs). Thanks for this very helpful demonstration!
Thanks!!! Good luck to you! Thanks for watching!
You and John Madden do a good job teaching this, though you're more rigorous and exacting. John had an MLB player on showing their batting mechanics. The player seemed to me, to advocate pushing down to the ball plane, then changing the swing plane to match the ball, like a hybrid of turning and pushing. It seems impossible to suddenly change velocity from a push to a turn, mid-stroke.
When I slowed the game clips in the beginning of the video down of this player actually batting in game, it appears to me he is turning the barrel, not pushing at any point. He seems to think or feel like he is pushing to the plane then turning, but I think he's doing what you and John advocate, turning the barrel. Am I crazy? ua-cam.com/video/Qn6OG9mOEGI/v-deo.html
Best hitting coach ever !!
Hey man, I was a little skeptical about this, but had a bp session with my team yesterday and was killing the ball doing this. Appreciate you fixing my swing!
Awesome!!!
Great explanation! A lot of misconception with turn the barrel and creating lag through the zone. I think this will help me to better explain what I've been trying to talk to my 8 year old about.
I'm glad I found you. Not many hitting instructors teaching what you do. Most MLB players are dumb when they try to explain what it is they do vs. watching what they do....IE The recent A-Rod interview with Mike Trout. Unbelievable...because too many coaches and parents will teach their kids/players that rubbish with even A-Rod saying, "One more time for the kids at home." UnFreakinReal! Thank you! I am posting this to my Inside Corner softball page. Anyone interested in hearing the real deal...IT IS HERE!!!!
Thanks so much I really appreciate that!!!
Absolutely solid breakdown.
I'm a big believer of what you're talking about here and played for a guy for 6 years that preached rotational mechanics over linear mechanics, but I always found in personal experience that thinking about making the barrel go back in that way won't get the result you're intending for. It's not really a conscious thing for the hitters that do it well. There are other ways to get that action, however, like thinking about turning on an axis, having a strong front arm that pulls back as your back arm tries to rotate the bat onto the plane. I always found thinking about creating a similar rotation but thinking more with the top wrist/forearm turning sort of outward and back rather than up and moving the bat backwards helps me get the rotational mechanics I'm aiming at. This top wrist/forearm action is what supplements the pulling of the front arm/elbow, and keeping its angles as solidly as you can. The complementing forces get you rotating on a steady axis rather than being too linear or swaying. If you look at a guy like bonds, you could put a pole through his head to the ground and he's just rotating on this axis.
Thanks!!! Thanks for watching and commenting!
Great instructional video on batting - one of the best I've seen! 👍💥💯
This is great in concept for a higher level, more experienced player and it works! However, I would suggest that many younger players and less experienced players don't bring the bat through the zone as you suggest, they drive their back elbow under the knob and drop the barrel too far causing a severe undercut. In my opinion, this caused by two factors. One, trying to achieve what they believe is the proper launch angle and two, swinging with a bat that is too heavy for them. I would welcome your feedback on how to coach this up on younger and less experienced players. Thanks for the great channel!
Ive been known to give u some shit and disagree with some of your takes, but this is an excellent video and demonstration of how to swing a bat. You do yeomans work and it’s appreciated!
Great material. Tony Gwynn has a video which discusses (in different vernacular) this same idea. He calls it having the knob lead the barrel, not the barrel leading the knob.
Good advice. Best tool I found for young players is taking my cell phone and making a slow motion video of their swing. I can then show them right after what their issue is and how to correct it
Very helpful. One of my issues right now is that I'm attempting to help my son (7) with his baseball swing, and my daughter (9) with her fastpitch softball swing. The mechanics are exactly opposite. For fastpitch softball, the ball is rising. So it's essential that the plane of the swing is downward (essentially the "push" swing you're talking about). For baseball, the plane needs to be flat or slightly upward. Everything else about the timing, rotation, etc is basically the same. This video helps clarify what's happening with the bat that differentiates the baseball swing from the softball swing.
I’m sure you’ve figured out by now that the softball doesn’t actually rise. Women and men should use the same approach.
Was definitely pushing the barrel at the cages. Kept hitting weak pop ups to the right. Going to try this out all season. Thanks!
Snapping the trailing wrist over the front wrist within the hit zone accelerates the bat like a whiplash/elliptical path more so than the circular path of these swings. It's harder to hit the ball at the wrist snapover because the bat bumps up a little. But with a lot of practice you add a bunch more velocity onto your swing.
Spot on... always teach my players how to get palm up palm down as quick as possible before contact.
I have always been a good contact, lead off hitter. But a defensive one, with an inside out swing. I tried this off a tee and in my old timers fastpitch league last weekend, and hit the snot out of the ball, including on the dreaded high inside pitch (triple over the right fielder’s head). Wish I would’ve been taught this in college! Will implement like crazy coaching HS ball now.
Man!!!! Can you teach my son lol I've been watching tons of videos to help his swing, this one is really good.
Thanks so much!!! Thanks for watching and commenting!
Really like the emphasis on ticking the barrel back vertically vs. "wrapping" around the head by pushing the knob to the catcher.
Thanks this is the slump buster for me. Your exactly right. Some how I got more in to the downward motion and it has really messed me up. I think I'm back on track now with all of your videos. Thanks again.
Great! Glad it helped! Thanks for watching and commenting!
@LosCastrosBros watch this. This guy played in the MLB, and he did not have a long carrier in the big leagues but it's amazing what he teaches. it's awesome. My regards to this guy from the Dominican Republic.
This works in golf too ,watch my golfswing , I call it a reverse armcircle ...great stuff!
I totally agree about your comment regarding it working in golf too. In the golf swing they call it “dropping the club in the slot” to describe the first move at the transition from backswing to forward swing. The baseball swing is similar as far as the dropping of the bat into the slot, that basically just means to get your right elbow tucked into your right hip (for a right handed player) which gets the bat (or golf club) on plane and in a position to maximize bat/clubhead speed. It also prevents you from casting the bat which is a speed killer.
@Antonelli Baseball
This is applicable to golf also ... you have to shallow out the club so you can wprk it around you ... great video!!
Very interesting!! Thanks for watching and commenting!!!
Youre the best. This is what barry does right? Always found it that the push of barrel created more room for error
Just got back from the cages, it was a battle, wish I had seen this video before I went
Good luck to you!!! Thanks for watching and commenting!
So many "Coaches" teach the 'PUSH' move.
Thanks for this!
Never seen or heard this explained like this. Really liked it. Thanks!
Thanks a bunch! I'm glad you liked it! Thanks for commenting and watching!
you'e the only youtube baseball coach I trust
Great video!! Very helpful for myself as a player but also something new I can focus on when coaching the high school kids
Thanks! I appreciate you watching and thanks for the comment!
Your the man! I am the awesome beer league player that is grateful for people like you that give away your hard earned knowledge for nothing. Without people like you I wouldn't be a fraction as good and a dominant force in beer league baseball. All jokes aside thank you and fully understand that all facets like running, foot placement and even smaller components are all very much important to becoming the complete package. In terms of thought process during game is there a method such playing scenarios in your head that help sharpen your reactions or give you a mental edge or expectancy while waiting on ball? I play three quarters of the game in my head which I feel sharpens my awareness and also allows me to train specific movements that I apply in the game. What type of mental preparation do you suggest if any?
Positive Unity you're*
Thanks!!! On defense I am always expecting the ball. I like to track the ball in and make sure I'm landing just as ball is crossing hitting zone. I've made a few videos on it. See if you can find them in our playlists. Thanks again for commenting and watching!
Thank you
5 years later and he still completely fixed my swing
So perfectly presented. So much of the other thing being taught. Live in the middle. Too much downward plane being taught in addition to towering Homer launch angle.., which which leads to barrel dump pop ups and strike outs. Great Job
Great episode --- what do you think the difference in bat swing speed is from pushing versus turning ..... and ultimately the difference in exit speed?
The key is to coil of the shoulders. This is a very effective start to the swing. The front shoulder dips a slightly as the back shoulder rises. This causes latissimus dorsi to stretch like a rubber band, giving further impetus to the swing. This movement enables good leverage of the bat and gets it into the hitting window very quickly. This is an extremely effective way to get the bat head shallow early.
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Correct and good explanation of the turning of the barrel
Thanks!!!
Great video. Have you seen the drill with the two handed frisbee throw? It ensures your hands get down to level or the frisbee won't fly.
This is the perfect video for this method. Great job!
Thanks!!
very helpful explanation on how to generate power vs. just making contact
Great video!! Best I've seen on this topic
Thanks a bunch! And thanks for commenting!
This is a GREAT video!
Great video ! I never understood the push swing concept. Excellent advice.
Thanks!!! Thanks for watching and commenting!
Awesome video!! This helped a lot
Thanks so much for commenting and watching!
It seems to me that pushing the bat is a bottom hand dominant approach while your approach to turning the bat is much more top hand - you very definitely switched hands as you modeled the change.
A visual cue would seem to be whether the bat/label starts above the trapezius versus the bat/label starting above the shoulder itself.
The other thing I think I saw is that pushing the bat led you to have a racing back elbow - which for my guys leads to the barrel dropping into a nasty upper cut - whereas in the bat turn your rear elbow stayed much tighter to the back hip.
Last, I like that in the barrel turning approach, the barrel head starts closer to vertical and then falls back as the turn occurs. A lot of my U13 guys want to start the barrel parallel to the ground and raise it up as they start their swing. Hopefully, this example will help me help them with this.
Lots of very interesting points! I appreciate you commenting and watching! Good luck to your team!
I think you may have that backwards. The bottom hand can't push the bat forward, it would pull it. If the bottom hand pushed the bat, the barrel would come over the top like you were throwing an axe. The top hand pushes the bat either backward, if the player is top hand dominant as in casting, or it will finish the swing pushing through the Contact-Extension point. As far as the back elbow staying tighter to the back hip, the isn't necessarily a good thing depending on when the elbow gets along the side of the body.
When I was taught to hit, a lot of the conversation was about getting "on the plane of the pitch early." It sounds like here you're talking about "getting in the zone of the pitch," and your demonstration is very similar to how I was taught. Are they effectively the same thing? Some slight differences, such as: you talk about the barrel going back, where I was taught to literally whip it through the zone with the wrists and hips, with the bat reaching perpendicular to the plate as the hips have already driven through. My hitting coach lovingly referred to the position at 3:42 as the "Manny" in reference to Manny Ramirez's impeccable mechanics.
For clarification I am a softball player so there are some obvious differences about the path of the pitch, and trying to get lift (for home runs) is definitely new since I played, so I'm curious if this is just new vernacular or a completely new approach to hitting in the home run era?
It's the same,, but even here he's talking about getting on plane with the pitch. He's just showing the proper way to do so and get your barrel into the hitting zone and on plane to maximize your chances. The way I teach or explain this to my hitters is the 1,2, or 3 ball.....1 being late, 2 being on time, and 3 being early..... by getting in the hitting zone and on plane with the pitch you allow yourself to be 1 a little late, 2 on time, or 3 a little early and still be a productive hitter...
Hey Matt, pitcher by trade and often looking for guidance for my son. He seems to have this move down very consistently. However, he is having a heck of a hard time timing the pitch. He is often early and making relatively weak contact. He is a strong, athletic 13 year old, albeit not a manchild you may see at some of these torunaments. How do we get him timing his swing better? I've taken away his stride thinking this might simplify his swing and allow him a simpler timing mechanism (alla Albert Pujols and others).
Appreciate your work and all you do with the youth of this generation, keep up the good work!
Brilliant. You make me want to hit the cage for the first time in years.
Love this video. This has been a huge help to my son who had been a slump. Since implementing this he has yet to strikeout in five games. (Yes I know it's still new and a work in progress)
My question is, do you feel the hands should be held high, low or neutral or doesn't matter? In relation to getting on the swing path quicker.
Thanks!!! I'd say most guys launch from around their armpit height, but there are some lower and some higher. Thanks for watching!!! Good luck to your son!
How /When/Where does the weight shift occur with this approach from back to front ? It looks like all your weight is on your back leg
Tremendous video! What you described is the most important "secret" for great hitting, in my opinion. I inadvertently stumbled upon this move during a soft toss session, and my swing was immediately transformed.
Thanks a bunch! Good luck! Thanks for watching and commenting!
Excellent video. Nicely Done.
日本では最近やっとこのことが注目され始めました。
Many Japanese players finally start to rea
lize this.
this is probably the biggest thing wrong with hitting instruction today and in the past. great video
Thanks!!! Thanks for watching!
Quick question: Are we trying to advocate flattening our bat during the hitting sequence? And can you describe what collision hitting means?
Just curious because I'm considering coaching advise and do not want to sound too vague nor confuse any batters when using terms and phrases
This helped me a lot thanks man
Awesome!! Thanks for watching and commenting!
That all sounds fine and dandy but dropping the barrel behind you often leads to dragging or casting. just get your top hand palm up as soon as possible the barrel will follow.
Yea I agree he kinda exaggerates what the barrel does immediately. But getting your palm up causes the bat to drop. Kinda taught backwards. Also I am a fan of bat drag. Get the hands quick and it makes for more bat speed. Like a whip.
I've got 4-5 kids that all have the issue of dropping the barrel and never getting back up to hit the baseball. The extention happens after the turn. In the beginning of the video he is showing extention right away before turning. of course it looks bad then. If you teach kids to drop the barrel they will all swing up and try to hit homeruns.
Can you give some tee drills to work on this please
Yes I'll see what I can do! Thanks for watching and commenting!
Antonelli Baseball thanks for posting this video hitting well in u21 fastpitch in canada because of it
this is an awesome video. you do a great job teaching
Thanks so much! Thanks for watching and commenting!
always great info.
Matt what role does the front arm do to maintain the proper swing plane? Should the front arm and rear arm maintain a consistent triangle and not collapse? Just thinking that if they don't and rear elbow collapses the path of barrel will drop out of plane under ball. Does this make sense.
Welp I am now going to drag my 12u team to the batting cages where I will pretend to have always known and understood this key to proper swing initiation. Thanks Coach!
Great demonstration
Thanks!
amazing advice for hitters.
Thanks!!
I agree with that first movement, thank you. How can my 13 implement that technique without dragging bat thru zone?
*13 year old swinging -5 and transitioning to -3
If you go back to our older videos we talk a lot about launching the bat. Good luck to him!!! Thanks for commenting and watching!
Is there any drills that can be done to help teach this more? ie in the gym exercises or tee work?
Man great video all the simple thing is key
Great stuff, thank you
On an inside out swing are you still turning the barrel? Is there a use for an inside out swing?
I am wondering if you drop your elbow to start the swing or use you you front shoulder to start it
Not front shoulder. It is rear elbow and back leg. Thanks for commenting and watching!
You don’t want to drop the elbow. The back elbows angle really never change throughout the swing. It’s true the hack elbow will drop into a slot but a much more common problem is people leading with their back elbow and the top hand lagging behind it. I’ve always found think about keeping the elbow from leading helps with rotational mechanics but I can’t imagine you could do that while thinking about dropping the back elbow.
I see that one swing (which you call turning the barrel for some reason) gets the bat on the plane of the ball from the back of the plate to the front of the plate, giving a chance to hit the ball over about 2 ft of the swing, whereas the other swing is never on the plane of the ball and can only hit the ball if it happens to cross the plane of the ball at just the right moment.
But how do you make yourself turn the barrel as you call it? And isn't it the same as dropping the barrel, which is supposed to be a swing flaw that kids have?
Coach, my 10YO had a very compact swing that was contrary to what you coach against, he would fire his hands and chop down as he was taught the fastest way to a destination is a direct line, it's probably his more natural stroke, when he does drop the barrel back and "turn" the barrel he seems to scoop and or drag the bat being long to the ball. He tends to open his front shoulder too often and rotates before squaring the ball up. I widened his stance to combat this and he didn't rotate as fast and squared the ball up more. He doesn't hit for a ton of power but tends to want to pull everything and ends up rolling over a lot. He's very lean, athletic, makes contact often and rarely strikes out but I'm trying to get more "pop" out of his hits, thoughts?
I think the swing is really complicated and sometimes when players try to get the bat to work more on path or more behind them they aren’t really sure how to do it and it can lead to some issues. It’s tough to say though without seeing the actually swing. Thanks for watching and commenting!
I agree with everything you say in this video, but do you think it would ALSO make sense to keep the front shoulder low for just a few milliseconds at the beginning of the swing in order to fight any tendency to drop the back shoulder too much too early? It seems to me that when that front shoulder pops up too early the barrel of the bat often drops towards the catcher rather than behind the hitter where it belongs as you have demonstrated.
Yes back shoulder can't drop too soon for sure! Thanks for watching and commenting!
One of the most uncanny home run hitters with a Taylor made home run swing I have ever seen was Boston's Big Poppy David Ortiz, can you break down his swing as compared to say a Mantle or Ruth's swing?
Good stuff. Explained very well.
Thank you!!! Thanks for watching and commenting!
Question for Antonelli...why must the hands be above the barrell at point of contact? This makes sense for low pitches or away but I'm notnsire for other pitches. Thanks.
When you say back, do you mean your back??? Or towards catcher?
Great advice 👍
Any daily drills to practice to break the bad habits?
How so we get our bat to start doing that? Any drills matt?
There are lots of drills you can do. I have some of them in our hitting playlist. Thanks for watching and commenting!
Awesome video. Helped me understand turning the barrel. Thanks so much
Thank you for watching and commenting!
Is this swing the same approach you would use with 2 strikes? Also, does this swing style allow a proper check-swing? I've seen most of your videos and this one is at the top. Thx
Yes take the same swing. Approach can be different. I've made a few 2 strike approach videos.
When I saw this video, I'm thinking Strawberry, Canseco, Ramirez, Bonds. Jim Thome would be the exception. He could go straight at it and still pound it.
Great explanation!
Thanks so much!!!
Great video! Thank you!
Thanks for watching and commenting!
I understand getting that bat path into the zone but how do you prevent bat lag and preventing the barrel dropping through the zone causing to pop out a lot?
It depends why the bat is dropping or lagging. There can be a bunch of different reasons for it, so it's tough to pinpoint without seeing the exact swing. Thanks for commenting and watching!
Good stuff. I need ways to or drills to better explain to my 13U players. I have about 3 players who see a hitting instructor that what looks to me pushing the barrel. These 3 hit a lot of ground balls. It only works against mediocre pitching or not so good pitching.
I think a big disadvantage of the pushing is that you can only develop any power way out front and to the pull side. occasionally a pusher (or out front whipper) will catch one out front and hit a bomb but you can't cover all of the zone that way.
Absolutely right on! Thanks for commenting and watching!