I'm on "Mike Epstein Hitting's" e-mail list and he sent out a link to this YouTube video. I thought I would post it to emphasize that the baseball swing is adjustable and can be tailored to fit a player's strengths.
I'm on "Mike Epstein Hitting's" e-mail list and he sent out a link to this YouTube video. I thought I would post it to emphasize that the baseball swing is adjustable and can be tailored to fit a player's strengths.
Where does the adjustability in the bat angle come from? Seems to me that it comes from the hand path. There is not much of an appreciable change in body tilt.
While this was interesting, it perpetuates a number of myths...
1. Whoever put the simulated batters together is a big believer in the level swing (2:02 and 2:25). Of course, all the slow motion video debunks the idea of the level swing (meaning bat level to the ground at the POC).
2. The kinetic energy in the arms shoulders isn't what matters. What matters is the core.
I also don't see how this says much of anything practical about adjustability other than that in home run derbies you should swing faster to hit the ball farther.
While that works in home run derbies, it's not always good advice in games.
Hopefully others here will recognize the fact that the simulation was done using a very good former pro hitter.
I also thought the conclusion about batspeed was insightful as it is a graphic reminder of how important it is to develop mechanics that maximize batspeed.
You can see the tilt by comparing the height of the top of the helmet to the beam above and behind it in the background.
I saw the slight amount of tilt, but it looks to only be a degree or so. More telling is the angle of the top hand forearm.
I wouldn't draw any conclusions from these swings because to many variables are uncontrolled.
For instance, the trajectories of the pitch look different.
This just looks like normal adjustments to pitch to pitch variation to me.
Further, Nomar states in the clip that a different swing is used in game situations.