Aaron Judge's Swing Changes

FiveFrameSwing said:

Hand path is a function of pitch location.

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The hand path will change with pitch location...I have no disagreement there...

The MOVEMENT pattern has changed with Judge...

For whatever reason, the Posey clip of him hitting in\middle\out won't post...hand path in that clip is the different because of pitch location...movement pattern is the same...Buster doesn't have 3 different swings.

Whether you abide by the direct\load\launch or Richard's laser the ball\swivel or who\what ever...IMO it's the movement pattern that is pertinent...CP

Cannonball said:

jryan15, I'll ask you then, would the swings look differently if one is middle out and the other inside black?

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Identical initially and will adjust after launch...

chrispots said:

The hand path will change with pitch location...I have no disagreement there...

The MOVEMENT pattern has changed with Judge...

For whatever reason, the Posey clip of him hitting in\middle\out won't post...hand path in that clip is the different because of pitch location...movement pattern is the same...Buster doesn't have 3 different swings.

Whether you abide by the direct\load\launch or Richard's laser the ball\swivel or who\what ever...IMO it's the movement pattern that is pertinent...CP

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Movement pattern might be relevant when swinging with your arms since when the they are providing the power, they are not free or adjustable. Commitment to a pitch location must come much earlier and the path you take to get there becomes critical.

IMO movement pattern is not really relevant when turning the barrel. Turning the barrel free's up your arms to adjust on the fly, the movement pattern becomes no teach, it just happens. The teaching point is in keeping with a barrel turn and not bleeding your coil while adjusting.

jryan15 said:

Movement pattern might be relevant when swinging with your arms since when the they are providing the power, they are not free or adjustable. Commitment to a pitch location must come much earlier and the path you take to get there becomes critical.

IMO movement pattern is not really relevant when turning the barrel. Turning the barrel free's up your arms to adjust on the fly, the movement pattern becomes no teach, it just happens. The teaching point is in keeping with a barrel turn and not bleeding your coil while adjusting.

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Couldn't disagree more.

Maybe I am miss understanding what you are meaning with the term movement pattern. Maybe you guys are talking loading movements? Really a lot of this seems like pointless discussion. If you are turning the barrel and not bleeding the corner, your body and arms will just adjust to the location. No muscle memory or location training required.

jryan15 said:

Maybe I am miss understanding what you are meaning with the term movement pattern. Maybe you guys are talking loading movements? Really a lot of this seems like pointless discussion. If you are turning the barrel and not bleeding the corner, your body and arms will just adjust to the location. No muscle memory or location training required.

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If the bold above is the basis of the entire discussion, why do some hitters consistently strike out 200 times per year while Barry Bonds highest strike out total was 102, and that was in his rookie year. What are Judge and others doing wrong?

OK, so my point. Posting one swing by anyone and saying this is "their swing" isn't accurate at all. That was their swing for one at bat. Line up a bunch of them as with Cabrera and then, maybe, you can say this is their swing. Also, hitter adjustment has to become a factor. That adjustment is with both the hands and the body but, imo, more often to a higher degree with the hands. So, saying someone is pushing on an inside swing, how do you know? In that swing, they may have launched their swing and had to adjust in a way to make contact. While I agree with the Hanson Principal and use it, I also have coached long enough now to know that one swing does not represent a hitter and when looking at video, you have to factor in any adjustments a hitter made for the pitch.

FP26 said:

If the bold above is the basis of the entire discussion, why do some hitters consistently strike out 200 times per year while Barry Bonds highest strike out total was 102, and that was in his rookie year. What are Judge and others doing wrong?

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I'm not looking to micro analyze details. This thread is about what Judge is doing different, and I am claiming that all he did was find the pattern (thanks to Rich). Now his goal is to stay in the pattern.
He may have had to change some setup stuff to get there, but only as needed.

Obviously I'm an advocate of what Rich teaches. I am not aware of a single bigger validation of a hitting philosophy that what has happened with Judge. Beyond that, he is drastically improving the hitting stats of several other pro and semi-pro players. If that is not enough, look at the offensive performance of the ULL's team in Coach Loteif's tenure as he too was once a member of HI. Rich is just getting his feet wet in the pros, it's not like he had been teaching pros for decades and now found a winner. It has practically been instant success, and the evidence is clearer than ever.

IMO this board would be well served if more people pivoted and adopted his concepts. There are opportunities to make some of them easier to learn and adopt.

Cannonball said:

OK, so my point. Posting one swing by anyone and saying this is "their swing" isn't accurate at all. That was their swing for one at bat. Line up a bunch of them as with Cabrera and then, maybe, you can say this is their swing. Also, hitter adjustment has to become a factor. That adjustment is with both the hands and the body but, imo, more often to a higher degree with the hands. So, saying someone is pushing on an inside swing, how do you know? In that swing, they may have launched their swing and had to adjust in a way to make contact. While I agree with the Hanson Principal and use it, I also have coached long enough now to know that one swing does not represent a hitter and when looking at video, you have to factor in any adjustments a hitter made for the pitch.

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My $.02 is that an adjustment is only considered an adjustment if it happens after the swing is launched. If it happens before the launch it is a sequence issue. I find my DD pushes quite often on inside pitches because the rotation starts before the hands have triggered the swing instead of the launch happening then taking proper hand path to the ball.