Cleanest, clearest, to the point batting vid ever. Kudos! Seen so many kids swing down, all the way down, and out, and straigh to the volleyball team. This gives you a fighting chance at the plate.
This is great in last offseason out team went to a 3 month camp and they really talked about keeping our shoulders in and this year I'm having the worst season of my life batting about 250. All my seasons in the past I've batted over 400 thank you
Literally got into a shouting match with the third base coach last weekend during a tournament about this very subject. It's a tough situation to navigate. One quick question: When our team is batting, our third base coach(who I disagreed with) is constantly peppering the boys with data during their at-bats. He most likely knows more than me, but for a 9U AA I feel like they have enough to think about then someone adding more pressure than what they currently have. The game IMO is where you implement what you have already learned, not while the world is watching. Thanks again for a great tutorial.
The boys are 9 yrs old!!! Parents and Coaches need to keep that number (9) in check. I'm a Coach and your boys won't be playing long (burned out) if they are receiving that kind of mentorship. Your absolutely right that they shouldn't be overwhelmed at the plate with data, etc.. Keep it simple, keep it fun, and keep it light...
hey buddy the way you comunicate and teach is one the best that i have ever seen in you tube, i putting all your drills and tips in practice with a 12 and 13 years old team, they feel strange at the first moment but later when they start feeling and making the drill in the right way, you can see the changes, thanks for your time that you put in your videos.
I really want to thank you, after watching I went outside practicing my swing. Tbh I'm not the strongest guy on the field so the more I widen my window the more base hits I can get. Thanks!
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
Thanks Matt! I have been working with this bat plane for a while, trying to eliminate my bad habits of a tomahawk swing, and this video really helped me understand it better!
Matt I tried this today at practise and all I can say is - I wish I learned this years ago! It was night and day difference. I went from a weak groundball hitter to crushing every pitch! I think I am even better than Kyle Saul now! Lol. The way you explained it was awesome - thank you so much!
Great lesson on upper body mechanics. My 12 year old has been struggling to break his bad swinging habits and this helps. Great Christopher Walken impression @ 3:00 by the way Matt👌🏽
one thing that nobody's ever mentioned about the lead shoulder is when you rotate with the front lead shoulder you're actually pulling with your bottom hand which connects you with your lower half body; and, when you pull with your bottom hand you rotate off your lead foot which causes the stiff front leg and furthermore your weight comes off your back leg. I know this because there's a guy on my team who pushes the bat with his top hand (his right hand) and he never gets off his back foot during the process of swinging the bat. also I was the same kind of hitter back in the days when I started playing 11 years ago. I'm 41 so I haven't been playing forever. A lot of kids make this mistake and its easy to identify just by looking at the back foot at the point of contact. let me know what you think. I've been a subscriber to your channel for a very long time and I watch every video.
Hey just came across this video and your RUclips channel and I love what you are saying. It is spot on and I'm glad that correct information is being shared. Keep up the great work and keep sharing amazing value, Matt! You've created a new fan
Matt, if only I had you as a coach when I was playing baseball, maybe I wouldn't have sucked at it. I NEVER had a good coach and stopped playing when I was about 12. I'm 20 now and wish I had better development when I was younger - maybe I would have played in high school. Thanks for your videos
Thx MA, great vid. Q tho, the #1 thing I see is “flying open” with the shoulders which pulls the batters head up (hard to triangulate ball) and “pulls them off the plate” - their bats only cover the inside half of plate but they line up properly. I know stride/where you land stride foot is important but how do you do both? Encourage kid to open shoulders but not step in bucket? I see it as a slight shoulder opening but also a slight shoulder tilt - front shoulder works up a bit and rear lowers (a bit) as bat gets on plane through zone. I also believe that a big issue for young batters is their initial bat position, most “over wrap” which causes over winding/rotation in load/stride inevitably causing the batter to be late on the pitch and having the feeling like they need to wildly flail at the ball, dropping their hands - they are usually standing straight up at this point... a long swing exacerbates this big time (every kid wants to bat like a big leaguer with their hands all out and high taught by terrible “personal coaches for life programs...” kids never get to the correct plane and can only hit high/outside pitches foul off decent pitchers).
Once again, spot on. A large problem with the typical hitting instruction is it is so focused on the hands. "Hands create bat speed." "Hands create power." "Throw the hands." "Drive the knob." Hands, hands, hands. Rediculous. Yet it is everywhere. From Little League all the way up to professional level. Once the hands initiate and attempt to provide the power the shoulders do not properly rotate as they should (ferris wheel) and instead start to swing like the merry-go-round (initially) then stop altogether so that the hands have a platform to push against. The hands end up driving the barrel DOWNWARD, LATE, and BRIEFLY in the zone with any speed being generated LATE and OUT IN FRONT rather than entering the zone EARLY at the HIGHEST rate of speed moving slightly UPWARD and staying in the zone for the LONGEST possible amount of time because the swing is being driven by the large muscles of the body, not the hands. I've found a large portion of former players, including those who have played at the highest level were pretty good at DOING the swing but are horrible at TEACHING the swing. You sir are an exception. Well done. ⚾️
Matt, I'm a former head varsity baseball coach. Rick Down passed last week, and I coached his swing. Won 21 straight in '03 at Armijo High School in NorCal, lost in semis to David Hernandez' Elk Grove squad. We broke 13 school hitting records. Solid squad with Sean Henry leading us. I now have a nine year-old son, and what you teach is in line with Matt Lisle, correct? Getting on path, bat in path longer, compared to Down, who was more about swinging down through the top of the ball to create backspin. HUGE differences in teaching going on these days. Love your vids, my brother. Great info, great delivery. Thanks much. But in addition to my above question, what are your thoughts on teaching my son the back foot drag like Harper, Trout, Betts, and so many MLB players, due to that back hip explosion? I'm torn between hammering it now, or just maintain the back foot turn (front foot down, back foot up, rotate). Your thoughts? Thanks much.
Wow very crazy and thanks so much! I honestly don't talk a ton about the back foot just because I've seen it done so many different ways in the MLB. You've got some guys that back foots move a lot towards the pitcher, some scissor, some don't move at all. Thanks for watching!!!
Thanks for taking the time to respond, Matt. With that being said, what is YOUR recommendation for my nine year-old son. Nori Aoki was in our batting cages last week. He simply turns the back foot. Mookie, Trout, Altuve, Harper, and so many more, upon that back hip exploding, literally drag that back foot. I still need to know if you think I should be hammering the back foot dragging with my young son, compared to simply turning like Aoki. Note that Aoki is now in Japan playing (lol), and to me, the BEST hitters in MLB drag that back foot after back hip explosion, back knee forward, and then back foot drag. I don't know man. I'm torn, Matt. Your thoughts? Again, great job and thanks for the great videos. Marcus
Good content as always. BTW, I see you were a phenomenal three sport athlete, which is uncommon these days. I played every sport coming up in the 80s and 90s, is was much more common place in that era. Can you do a video on your opinion young athletes playing multiple sports vs focusing on one.
what are you thoughts on Richard Schenck (Teacherman 1986)? he seems to be teaching this same sort of swing mechanic for better bat speed and quickness to react. backward supination of the top forearm and tilting from the hips vs rotating the hips. i'm very intrigued by his school of thought on this approach to swinging. it seems like you might be on the same page?
One of the big things I see with kids I work with in little league is that lead shoulder spinning out toward the third base dig out ( righty batter). Instead of the lead shoulder working back
i was always amazed by weird swings/stances like Sheffield, Varitek, and Bagwell..were those all designed for getting the bat to have an upward path trough the zone?
nice, this is what I've always said/believed (I still suck, btw)! I really hated the "dad-coach" advice, none of it ever made sense--it's always stuff that gets repeated over and over through the years/generations.
everyone wears a cup because everyone gets thrown at when they're up to bat, which means you should wear a cup even if you play a position where not a lot of balls are hit too.
Question, will this swing cause you to pull the pitch and pop it up? Seems like the path of the bat will only cause the ball to pop up. Correct me if im wrong. The reason i say that is because yesterday at practice, Jr high level, granted we were inside, but off a pitching machine soft balls, some of my players have a similar swing that you are saying should be done, example turning your shoulder open, they were pop the ball up and pulling it as apposed to a line drive. I get the bat angle allowing the bat to travel more in the zone, but opening the shoulder it seems like you would pull it and pop up. Thanks for the info. I fallow your videos daily.
Throwing your shoulders up an away=pop ups. Best hitting coach and with results “rocky thompson” he is the hit doctor. He has helped batters when they pretty much have given up and fixed them. He claims the bat should be kind of like chopping a tree. First load , set and Yes throw the hands forward, back elbow should not be under the lead elbow. if you hit a grounder will be a hard shot not weak. And All it takes is to get right under the ball will be a hard line drive with more back spin. My son would swing like in this video an sorry to say everything was a pop fly, weak grounder or missing
Exactly what does keep your shoulder in ? I’m 65 when I was 12 I was taught shoulder stays in basically until front hip is done rotating. How wrong is that ? I coach little league and kids seem to hit well when they do it. But other coaches tell me I’m wrong. They teach shoulder in and we do ground out and strikeout a lot. But when I’m one on one with kids I teach them flat hands and they seem to hit the ball hard and up the middle.
What we find with at least 75 percent of the hitters (13 to 16 years old) who have been taught this approach is that they have no coverage away. Sometimes just watching balls cross the outside part of the plate and when asked they have responded they aren't even seeing the pitch out there. Even in your video you're nowhere close to covering the outer third. Suggestions please to help these players?
Hey Matt is there a drill I can do to have better upper body mechanics and better lower body mechanics? I have very weak lower body mechanics but I still hit homeruns and line drives but I know I dont swing right.
Absolutely! The pitcher doesn't need to be on a mound, for this principle to apply. Certainly, in slow pitch, the ball is still coming down, right? How else would you hit for distance? The principles of physics require an upward swing. Period. You can't hit with a downward swing regardless of the type of softball you are playing. If the bat trajectory is downward the ball is a ground ball at best!
I wish coaches would teach more merry go round with the bat, they teach the ferris wheel method and it is crushing our kids some kids pull there heads.
Body definitely tilts more on lower pitches. Also the angle you pivot the barrel. Tough to explain on here though. Thanks for watching and commenting!!!
@@AntonelliBaseball My trainer keeps saying, ''Upper body mechanics will happen correctly if the lower body works right.'' At this rate ima smash my bat into the ground 50 times. I will say he's made my lower body swing work beautifully but my front arm elbow keeps going into my side so something fucked :/
I don't think it's the shoulder--it's the left elbow (for rightie--right elbow for leftie). I was confused at the beginning because he was saying "keep your shoulder down" but he kept lifting it--because there's no way not too (and he's just fighting doing it wrong). It's the elbow "staying down" that's the problem. 2:47 This is supposed to be a "bad swing", yet his shoulder is up. Seems like it's the right elbow that's in the wrong place (too low). 3:12 Look how much higher up his left elbow is--that's the difference in these two swings. The shoulders are at about the same slant as with the "bad swing".
is it possible for me to play in college if i don't make varsity until my junior year of highschool. And can walk on' s In college become successful players?
jakethesnake68 hit the weight room, people say that but it matters in swing mechanics to be effortless, on top of that nothing matters if you swing with the wrong path, pull your front shoulder up like he says. Let your hips work for you, be on the plane of the pitch. Increase your margin for error in the swing. Make hard contact consistently and make JUCO coaches give you a chance. When they don't have to pay to keep you it allows you more time to develop. Then after these mechanics are not just applied but learned you can be looked at by other schools. Swing over 200xs a day. No days off, and you can still get it done. Don't let anyone tell you that you can't.
With that said, I hit 5 homers my freshman year, then a coach told me to swing down, I only hit two as a sophomore. Taught myself similar mechanics to this when it was only on paper and not in instructional videos. Hit over 20 bombs my junior year and signed D1. It all comes down to what you are willing to put in. D1 baseball is overrated though, the competition isn't always much better than top JUCO. Be open with every opportunity and realize there isn't any scholarships that matter besides yours. Again, if you assume you can't do something you are right. Know that you absolutely can if you are willing to do what it takes to get it done.
Also, how tall are you? Not that it matters to play ball, but to progress even further leverage in the swing can be incredibly beneficial. I was a freshman in D1 college ball in 2011, the same year as Aaron Judge, I knew great swing mechanics by this point. I hit 2 homeruns in 50abs the first year of BBCOR bats. Aaron Judge also hit two that year while playing every game. Look at the hitter he has become. I point this out because I'm not saying I was better than him at the time, but I was more efficient and hit the same amount of homers as him against the same competition in less at bats. The point is that he probably had a downward swing at the time, learned the mechanics that I knew and became one of the best hitters in the world right now. The ceiling doesn't exist with the proper mechanics and I learned this as a man built like Altuve and is in awe of what Aaron Judge is able to do now.
jakethesnake68 your welcome man, but don't worry Its awesome you are looking for info and I'm happy to help or reinforce what you need to hear. Antonelli is great it seems he has come from a place of true growth and learned knowledge of the swing that can translate to younger players. The way he breaks it down is as good as it gets to understand complex ideas so just by watching and learning from him is a great backbone. Also, don't worry about not making varsity until you were a junior the fact that you stuck it out and got it done says enough. Think about what you can learn in just a couple of years and then maybe do the same in JUCO or anywhere. In a few years you can be a heck of a ballplayer with the right training, Also look up long toss programs by Alan Jeager it is a little bit of pseudoscience but the results are there with daily longtoss at an age your arm can handle it, your arm can pick up 6-8 mphs per year at least for the first couple years. Throwing hard and hard contact with the bat go hand in hand and are all about efficiency with the hips. It sounds off topic but watch Rory McElroys golf swing compared to pitchers and great hitters and you can see the hips in action with the rear acceleration and rearward pull of the front hip!
I researched two of the top hitters of all time in mlb history and they do not swing like this. Suzuki Ichiro and Pete Rose. I believe Ichiro has the most hits per at bat in the mlb and Rose of course has the most hits.
I agree 100% with the barrel path you demonstrate here Matt. My only concern is the "Ferris Wheel" analogy. IMO that creates a poor mental image of the correct barrel path and made me cringe a little. I've also seen the ferris wheel approach lead to barrel dumping. Probably just me nit picking, but a Ferris Wheel does not create whip like a proper baseball swing. The path of a ferris wheel takes place in one plane. The path is a circle. The high level baseball swing takes place in two planes. You actually demonstrate it perfectly in your video. The barrel gets "turned down" and then thrown out in front toward the ball. Because the shoulder joint is a ball and socket the arms can work in multiple planes of motion simultaneously blending movements in different planes into one seamless motion. That one motion of the baseball swing though has a change in direction built into it. The change of direction is necessary to create whip; a basic principle of physics. The whip effect is what allows the best hitters to go from max bat lag to contact in about one frame. What you don't want are kids turning the barrel down as if they were going to bop the catcher on the head. Would need a very long bat to do that, but you get the idea. The bop on the catcher's head path is the ferris wheel path. In your video you turn the barrel down...behind...barrel points more toward the dugout...which is correct.
To the majority of readers, including myself, the analogy of a "Ferris wheel" hits home. If you think of the swing as hitting the ball in an upward trajectory you can't go wrong. Your answer obfuscates the matter!
The high level barrel path is not a ferris wheel. It's actually more of a sideways throw of the barrel. The ferris wheel path is a one plane swing. The throwing motion path is a two plane swing. Both can have an upward trajectory, but only one allows time for the hips to get out in front of the hands...NATURALLY...gets the barrel on plane early...and leads to late whip, which means going from lag to contact in about one frame. A ferris wheel barrel path has an upward trajectory, but if a kid actually has a barrel path like that he will have almost no separation. The hands will be coming forward at about the same time as the hips. Turning the barrel...DOWN...with the bat shaft close to the deltoid (upper arm) like Matt correctly demonstrates is what allows the hips time to get out in front of the hands...NATURALLY. The hips do not get out in front of the hands in a ferris wheel type swing because it's a one plane swing. Almost no one teaches the barrel path that Matt is demonstrating because they don't see the barrel working in two planes due to the fact that the best hitters do a tremendous job of combining the two movements into one seamless motion. I love what Matt demonstrates in this video; but what he demonstrates is not a ferris wheel path; what he demonstrates is a throw of the barrel with mostly the top hand. He turns the barrel down and throws it at the ball. When done full speed it looks like one smooth seamless motion; just like throwing ball looks like one smooth seamless motion.
So somehow for decades kids have been taught incorrectly how to swing, then some of them make it to pro ball and magically get their swing corrected and then never pass that information on to the coaches their own kids have? I doubt it.
Marbles McGee they taught that BC that's how the game was played. back when they didnt wear gloves or even in the dead ball are most mob pros and past pros dont swing like that. just look at ted Williams
Matt says that 90% of coaches are teaching bad swing technique. I say that is impossible. I'm not talking about people playing 70 years ago. Try to follow along: You play ball and get to the pros. The batting coaches on your team teach you how to swing a bat "properly". You have a son or daughter that play ball. You see that their coaches are teaching them the same "incorrect" swing that you used to have. You decide to say nothing, even though you know that the swing is incorrect? Or do you teach your kids how to swing the bat "correctly"?
Cleanest, clearest, to the point batting vid ever. Kudos! Seen so many kids swing down, all the way down, and out, and straigh to the volleyball team. This gives you a fighting chance at the plate.
This is great in last offseason out team went to a 3 month camp and they really talked about keeping our shoulders in and this year I'm having the worst season of my life batting about 250. All my seasons in the past I've batted over 400 thank you
Literally got into a shouting match with the third base coach last weekend during a tournament about this very subject. It's a tough situation to navigate. One quick question: When our team is batting, our third base coach(who I disagreed with) is constantly peppering the boys with data during their at-bats. He most likely knows more than me, but for a 9U AA I feel like they have enough to think about then someone adding more pressure than what they currently have.
The game IMO is where you implement what you have already learned, not while the world is watching. Thanks again for a great tutorial.
Hiiii
The boys are 9 yrs old!!! Parents and Coaches need to keep that number (9) in check. I'm a Coach and your boys won't be playing long (burned out) if they are receiving that kind of mentorship. Your absolutely right that they shouldn't be overwhelmed at the plate with data, etc.. Keep it simple, keep it fun, and keep it light...
hey buddy the way you comunicate and teach is one the best that i have ever seen in you tube, i putting all your drills and tips in practice with a 12 and 13 years old team, they feel strange at the first moment but later when they start feeling and making the drill in the right way, you can see the changes, thanks for your time that you put in your videos.
I really want to thank you, after watching I went outside practicing my swing. Tbh I'm not the strongest guy on the field so the more I widen my window the more base hits I can get. Thanks!
great advice and very true. hitting has become such a science through time. refer to ted williams/Tony Gwynn videos, interviews and your set
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
Thanks Matt! I have been working with this bat plane for a while, trying to eliminate my bad habits of a tomahawk swing, and this video really helped me understand it better!
Matt I tried this today at practise and all I can say is - I wish I learned this years ago! It was night and day difference. I went from a weak groundball hitter to crushing every pitch! I think I am even better than Kyle Saul now! Lol. The way you explained it was awesome - thank you so much!
im gonna snap my bat in half at this rate
Great lesson on upper body mechanics. My 12 year old has been struggling to break his bad swinging habits and this helps. Great Christopher Walken impression @ 3:00 by the way Matt👌🏽
one thing that nobody's ever mentioned about the lead shoulder is when you rotate with the front lead shoulder you're actually pulling with your bottom hand which connects you with your lower half body; and, when you pull with your bottom hand you rotate off your lead foot which causes the stiff front leg and furthermore your weight comes off your back leg. I know this because there's a guy on my team who pushes the bat with his top hand (his right hand) and he never gets off his back foot during the process of swinging the bat. also I was the same kind of hitter back in the days when I started playing 11 years ago. I'm 41 so I haven't been playing forever. A lot of kids make this mistake and its easy to identify just by looking at the back foot at the point of contact. let me know what you think. I've been a subscriber to your channel for a very long time and I watch every video.
Hey just came across this video and your RUclips channel and I love what you are saying. It is spot on and I'm glad that correct information is being shared. Keep up the great work and keep sharing amazing value, Matt! You've created a new fan
Thanks so much!!! Thanks for watching and commenting!
Best videos on RUclips for baseball
your vids are straight to the point man and well explained i love that, keep grinding brother. from MASS
Great commentary. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
Matt, if only I had you as a coach when I was playing baseball, maybe I wouldn't have sucked at it. I NEVER had a good coach and stopped playing when I was about 12. I'm 20 now and wish I had better development when I was younger - maybe I would have played in high school. Thanks for your videos
Thank you for this changing everything
Thx MA, great vid. Q tho, the #1 thing I see is “flying open” with the shoulders which pulls the batters head up (hard to triangulate ball) and “pulls them off the plate” - their bats only cover the inside half of plate but they line up properly. I know stride/where you land stride foot is important but how do you do both? Encourage kid to open shoulders but not step in bucket? I see it as a slight shoulder opening but also a slight shoulder tilt - front shoulder works up a bit and rear lowers (a bit) as bat gets on plane through zone. I also believe that a big issue for young batters is their initial bat position, most “over wrap” which causes over winding/rotation in load/stride inevitably causing the batter to be late on the pitch and having the feeling like they need to wildly flail at the ball, dropping their hands - they are usually standing straight up at this point... a long swing exacerbates this big time (every kid wants to bat like a big leaguer with their hands all out and high taught by terrible “personal coaches for life programs...” kids never get to the correct plane and can only hit high/outside pitches foul off decent pitchers).
Once again, spot on. A large problem with the typical hitting instruction is it is so focused on the hands. "Hands create bat speed." "Hands create power." "Throw the hands." "Drive the knob." Hands, hands, hands. Rediculous. Yet it is everywhere. From Little League all the way up to professional level. Once the hands initiate and attempt to provide the power the shoulders do not properly rotate as they should (ferris wheel) and instead start to swing like the merry-go-round (initially) then stop altogether so that the hands have a platform to push against. The hands end up driving the barrel DOWNWARD, LATE, and BRIEFLY in the zone with any speed being generated LATE and OUT IN FRONT rather than entering the zone EARLY at the HIGHEST rate of speed moving slightly UPWARD and staying in the zone for the LONGEST possible amount of time because the swing is being driven by the large muscles of the body, not the hands.
I've found a large portion of former players, including those who have played at the highest level were pretty good at DOING the swing but are horrible at TEACHING the swing. You sir are an exception. Well done. ⚾️
Matt, I'm a former head varsity baseball coach. Rick Down passed last week, and I coached his swing. Won 21 straight in '03 at Armijo High School in NorCal, lost in semis to David Hernandez' Elk Grove squad. We broke 13 school hitting records. Solid squad with Sean Henry leading us. I now have a nine year-old son, and what you teach is in line with Matt Lisle, correct? Getting on path, bat in path longer, compared to Down, who was more about swinging down through the top of the ball to create backspin. HUGE differences in teaching going on these days. Love your vids, my brother. Great info, great delivery. Thanks much. But in addition to my above question, what are your thoughts on teaching my son the back foot drag like Harper, Trout, Betts, and so many MLB players, due to that back hip explosion? I'm torn between hammering it now, or just maintain the back foot turn (front foot down, back foot up, rotate). Your thoughts? Thanks much.
Wow very crazy and thanks so much! I honestly don't talk a ton about the back foot just because I've seen it done so many different ways in the MLB. You've got some guys that back foots move a lot towards the pitcher, some scissor, some don't move at all. Thanks for watching!!!
Thanks for taking the time to respond, Matt. With that being said, what is YOUR recommendation for my nine year-old son. Nori Aoki was in our batting cages last week. He simply turns the back foot. Mookie, Trout, Altuve, Harper, and so many more, upon that back hip exploding, literally drag that back foot. I still need to know if you think I should be hammering the back foot dragging with my young son, compared to simply turning like Aoki. Note that Aoki is now in Japan playing (lol), and to me, the BEST hitters in MLB drag that back foot after back hip explosion, back knee forward, and then back foot drag. I don't know man. I'm torn, Matt. Your thoughts? Again, great job and thanks for the great videos. Marcus
Great hitting tips in this video . Top notch info here . Kids , do as he says . All of it ! Great video!! no nonsense!
Thanks so much!!! Thanks for watching and commenting!
Jus seeing the beginning of the swing over and over the way you do the demo helps. Thanks for sharing.
Do you think it is important for college recruiting to play fall and spring baseball? Thanks for making these vids, I really enjoy your content
Good content as always. BTW, I see you were a phenomenal three sport athlete, which is uncommon these days. I played every sport coming up in the 80s and 90s, is was much more common place in that era. Can you do a video on your opinion young athletes playing multiple sports vs focusing on one.
Great video matt!
what are you thoughts on Richard Schenck (Teacherman 1986)? he seems to be teaching this same sort of swing mechanic for better bat speed and quickness to react. backward supination of the top forearm and tilting from the hips vs rotating the hips. i'm very intrigued by his school of thought on this approach to swinging. it seems like you might be on the same page?
Question: worst and best play in your career. (After high school)
Hes talked about his worst play, he has a video on it, the one where he was in the majors and overthrew home by like 20 feet
Thanks Matt.
these videos help me so much
the best piece of information out there. Don't watch anything else...
That was pretty amazing and makes total sense.
Thanks!!!
Does upper swing still better than flat swing if I am only a 125 pounds low power player?
Great video matt ! Elevate to celebrate !
One of the big things I see with kids I work with in little league is that lead shoulder spinning out toward the third base dig out ( righty batter). Instead of the lead shoulder working back
Thanks Coach, great Video.
keep up the good work
How were your high school league games like? Did u take buses or get there by yourself?
Great video! Makes perfect sense.
i was always amazed by weird swings/stances like Sheffield, Varitek, and Bagwell..were those all designed for getting the bat to have an upward path trough the zone?
joshx413 setup doesn't matter , its preference . every hitter has the same position during hitting when the front heel hits the ground
I love your stuff. I think it's funny though the way you keep looking around like the mob is going to do a drive by on you!
I gotta try this out
Are these the same mechanics you would use for Softball?
Love all your vids man
내다
nice, this is what I've always said/believed (I still suck, btw)! I really hated the "dad-coach" advice, none of it ever made sense--it's always stuff that gets repeated over and over through the years/generations.
Do mlb players wear cups? Or just the catcher?
Everyone wears a cup. Trust me WEAR one you'll thank me later. ;)
Jays1441 all of my friends don't wear cups and I say they are crazy
everyone wears a cup because everyone gets thrown at when they're up to bat, which means you should wear a cup even if you play a position where not a lot of balls are hit too.
Peter Fischer its really hard to get hit in the balls when batting, pretty much impossible
the catchers do the infielders do but outfield doesn't jays1441
Great video, as always.
Thanks!! Thanks for watching!
Question, will this swing cause you to pull the pitch and pop it up? Seems like the path of the bat will only cause the ball to pop up. Correct me if im wrong. The reason i say that is because yesterday at practice, Jr high level, granted we were inside, but off a pitching machine soft balls, some of my players have a similar swing that you are saying should be done, example turning your shoulder open, they were pop the ball up and pulling it as apposed to a line drive. I get the bat angle allowing the bat to travel more in the zone, but opening the shoulder it seems like you would pull it and pop up. Thanks for the info. I fallow your videos daily.
Check out our videos on bat path and we really go in depth on it. Thanks for watching and commenting!
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Will do. Thank you
Throwing your shoulders up an away=pop ups. Best hitting coach and with results “rocky thompson” he is the hit doctor. He has helped batters when they pretty much have given up and fixed them. He claims the bat should be kind of like chopping a tree. First load , set and Yes throw the hands forward, back elbow should not be under the lead elbow. if you hit a grounder will be a hard shot not weak. And All it takes is to get right under the ball will be a hard line drive with more back spin. My son would swing like in this video an sorry to say everything was a pop fly, weak grounder or missing
Exactly what does keep your shoulder in ? I’m 65 when I was 12 I was taught shoulder stays in basically until front hip is done rotating. How wrong is that ? I coach little league and kids seem to hit well when they do it. But other coaches tell me I’m wrong. They teach shoulder in and we do ground out and strikeout a lot. But when I’m one on one with kids I teach them flat hands and they seem to hit the ball hard and up the middle.
thanks for the advice rally helps!
Hey coach Matt when you hear a player or coach say "quit dipping" in regards to their swing, is that them wrongly saying to swing down on the ball
Elevate to celebrate!
What we find with at least 75 percent of the hitters (13 to 16 years old) who have been taught this approach is that they have no coverage away. Sometimes just watching balls cross the outside part of the plate and when asked they have responded they aren't even seeing the pitch out there.
Even in your video you're nowhere close to covering the outer third.
Suggestions please to help these players?
What state did you live in and did you ever play for the Eugene emeralds is so how long?
Dylan Edwards he lives in mass a Couple towns away from me
Hey Matt is there a drill I can do to have better upper body mechanics and better lower body mechanics? I have very weak lower body mechanics but I still hit homeruns and line drives but I know I dont swing right.
It really depends on what you are trying to improve within those body parts
Watch Mike Austin golf swing videos to learn the mechanics of a proper swing. The Ferris wheel concept is true.
Any drills for this?
Keep the shoulder in just mean to work in that vertical plane and not the horizontal plane where you spin out.
Did you ever get cut from a team as a kid?
hey, could you just make a short video of you swing with your shoulder in, and one with your shoulder out so I can easily see the difference?
Do softball players need an upward bat path as well? The pitcher is not on a mound and throws underhand.
Absolutely! The pitcher doesn't need to be on a mound, for this principle to apply. Certainly, in slow pitch, the ball is still coming down, right? How else would you hit for distance? The principles of physics require an upward swing. Period. You can't hit with a downward swing regardless of the type of softball you are playing. If the bat trajectory is downward the ball is a ground ball at best!
Matt if you can make this video again but slow down the backside so we can follow
I wish coaches would teach more merry go round with the bat, they teach the ferris wheel method and it is crushing our kids some kids pull there heads.
How do you hit a high pitch when the barrel rotates back and drops along with back shoulder? Is it achieved by keeping spine angle more upright?
Body definitely tilts more on lower pitches. Also the angle you pivot the barrel. Tough to explain on here though. Thanks for watching and commenting!!!
@@AntonelliBaseball My trainer keeps saying, ''Upper body mechanics will happen correctly if the lower body works right.''
At this rate ima smash my bat into the ground 50 times. I will say he's made my lower body swing work beautifully but my front arm elbow keeps going into my side so something fucked :/
But Matt... You said you had a lot of hitting problems...are you the best hitting coach? Kidding
lol Thanks a bunch for watching our stuff and commenting!
@@AntonelliBaseball glad you put the information out there. Keep up the good work. 👍
I don't think it's the shoulder--it's the left elbow (for rightie--right elbow for leftie). I was confused at the beginning because he was saying "keep your shoulder down" but he kept lifting it--because there's no way not too (and he's just fighting doing it wrong). It's the elbow "staying down" that's the problem.
2:47 This is supposed to be a "bad swing", yet his shoulder is up. Seems like it's the right elbow that's in the wrong place (too low).
3:12 Look how much higher up his left elbow is--that's the difference in these two swings. The shoulders are at about the same slant as with the "bad swing".
Shout out to Ron Sullivan on RUclips. You and him have similar hitting philosophy's
totally agree
Thanks!!
what do you think of Aaron Judge?
I think ALTUVE
カストロ
your a champion but where are the throuwers
is it possible for me to play in college if i don't make varsity until my junior year of highschool. And can walk on' s In college become successful players?
jakethesnake68 hit the weight room, people say that but it matters in swing mechanics to be effortless, on top of that nothing matters if you swing with the wrong path, pull your front shoulder up like he says. Let your hips work for you, be on the plane of the pitch. Increase your margin for error in the swing. Make hard contact consistently and make JUCO coaches give you a chance. When they don't have to pay to keep you it allows you more time to develop. Then after these mechanics are not just applied but learned you can be looked at by other schools. Swing over 200xs a day. No days off, and you can still get it done. Don't let anyone tell you that you can't.
Sam Bowerman thank you! I'll definitely do those things
With that said, I hit 5 homers my freshman year, then a coach told me to swing down, I only hit two as a sophomore. Taught myself similar mechanics to this when it was only on paper and not in instructional videos. Hit over 20 bombs my junior year and signed D1. It all comes down to what you are willing to put in. D1 baseball is overrated though, the competition isn't always much better than top JUCO. Be open with every opportunity and realize there isn't any scholarships that matter besides yours. Again, if you assume you can't do something you are right. Know that you absolutely can if you are willing to do what it takes to get it done.
Also, how tall are you? Not that it matters to play ball, but to progress even further leverage in the swing can be incredibly beneficial. I was a freshman in D1 college ball in 2011, the same year as Aaron Judge, I knew great swing mechanics by this point. I hit 2 homeruns in 50abs the first year of BBCOR bats. Aaron Judge also hit two that year while playing every game. Look at the hitter he has become. I point this out because I'm not saying I was better than him at the time, but I was more efficient and hit the same amount of homers as him against the same competition in less at bats. The point is that he probably had a downward swing at the time, learned the mechanics that I knew and became one of the best hitters in the world right now. The ceiling doesn't exist with the proper mechanics and I learned this as a man built like Altuve and is in awe of what Aaron Judge is able to do now.
jakethesnake68 your welcome man, but don't worry Its awesome you are looking for info and I'm happy to help or reinforce what you need to hear. Antonelli is great it seems he has come from a place of true growth and learned knowledge of the swing that can translate to younger players. The way he breaks it down is as good as it gets to understand complex ideas so just by watching and learning from him is a great backbone. Also, don't worry about not making varsity until you were a junior the fact that you stuck it out and got it done says enough. Think about what you can learn in just a couple of years and then maybe do the same in JUCO or anywhere. In a few years you can be a heck of a ballplayer with the right training, Also look up long toss programs by Alan Jeager it is a little bit of pseudoscience but the results are there with daily longtoss at an age your arm can handle it, your arm can pick up 6-8 mphs per year at least for the first couple years. Throwing hard and hard contact with the bat go hand in hand and are all about efficiency with the hips. It sounds off topic but watch Rory McElroys golf swing compared to pitchers and great hitters and you can see the hips in action with the rear acceleration and rearward pull of the front hip!
Great video helped me out a lot. Butttt he was using a fungo the whole time😂
When your naturally born with mechanics..then a swing like this comes natural
I researched two of the top hitters of all time in mlb history and they do not swing like this. Suzuki Ichiro and Pete Rose. I believe Ichiro has the most hits per at bat in the mlb and Rose of course has the most hits.
I agree 100% with the barrel path you demonstrate here Matt. My only concern is the "Ferris Wheel" analogy. IMO that creates a poor mental image of the correct barrel path and made me cringe a little. I've also seen the ferris wheel approach lead to barrel dumping. Probably just me nit picking, but a Ferris Wheel does not create whip like a proper baseball swing. The path of a ferris wheel takes place in one plane. The path is a circle. The high level baseball swing takes place in two planes. You actually demonstrate it perfectly in your video. The barrel gets "turned down" and then thrown out in front toward the ball. Because the shoulder joint is a ball and socket the arms can work in multiple planes of motion simultaneously blending movements in different planes into one seamless motion. That one motion of the baseball swing though has a change in direction built into it. The change of direction is necessary to create whip; a basic principle of physics. The whip effect is what allows the best hitters to go from max bat lag to contact in about one frame. What you don't want are kids turning the barrel down as if they were going to bop the catcher on the head. Would need a very long bat to do that, but you get the idea. The bop on the catcher's head path is the ferris wheel path. In your video you turn the barrel down...behind...barrel points more toward the dugout...which is correct.
Good points and thanks for the tips! Thanks for watching and commenting!
To the majority of readers, including myself, the analogy of a "Ferris wheel" hits home. If you think of the swing as hitting the ball in an upward trajectory you can't go wrong. Your answer obfuscates the matter!
The high level barrel path is not a ferris wheel. It's actually more of a sideways throw of the barrel. The ferris wheel path is a one plane swing. The throwing motion path is a two plane swing. Both can have an upward trajectory, but only one allows time for the hips to get out in front of the hands...NATURALLY...gets the barrel on plane early...and leads to late whip, which means going from lag to contact in about one frame. A ferris wheel barrel path has an upward trajectory, but if a kid actually has a barrel path like that he will have almost no separation. The hands will be coming forward at about the same time as the hips. Turning the barrel...DOWN...with the bat shaft close to the deltoid (upper arm) like Matt correctly demonstrates is what allows the hips time to get out in front of the hands...NATURALLY. The hips do not get out in front of the hands in a ferris wheel type swing because it's a one plane swing. Almost no one teaches the barrel path that Matt is demonstrating because they don't see the barrel working in two planes due to the fact that the best hitters do a tremendous job of combining the two movements into one seamless motion. I love what Matt demonstrates in this video; but what he demonstrates is not a ferris wheel path; what he demonstrates is a throw of the barrel with mostly the top hand. He turns the barrel down and throws it at the ball. When done full speed it looks like one smooth seamless motion; just like throwing ball looks like one smooth seamless motion.
What about elbow up ? I was told that aloy
90% of coaches have it wrong?
Marbles McGee yes, sadly its true
So somehow for decades kids have been taught incorrectly how to swing, then some of them make it to pro ball and magically get their swing corrected and then never pass that information on to the coaches their own kids have? I doubt it.
Marbles McGee they taught that BC that's how the game was played. back when they didnt wear gloves or even in the dead ball are most mob pros and past pros dont swing like that. just look at ted Williams
Matt says that 90% of coaches are teaching bad swing technique. I say that is impossible. I'm not talking about people playing 70 years ago. Try to follow along: You play ball and get to the pros. The batting coaches on your team teach you how to swing a bat "properly". You have a son or daughter that play ball. You see that their coaches are teaching them the same "incorrect" swing that you used to have. You decide to say nothing, even though you know that the swing is incorrect? Or do you teach your kids how to swing the bat "correctly"?
DOES YOUR SWING APPLY TO FASTPITCH SOFTBALL !!
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Did you ever get cut from a team as a kid?