Difference between baseball and softball swing mechanics...

[Chris O'Leary]

You are right on with the comment about what people will do to your clients. I, among others, worked with this kid for years. The first time I saw her after she started playing D-1 ball she came up to me and said, "No, you didn't teach me everything I know." Someone had told her that. Pretty ugly end to what had been a good relationship.

Unfortunately, I'm not at all surprised by, and don't doubt, that story.

I last talked to Andres before Christmas and we had a good conversation. I haven't talked to him since (he's been bouncing around the Caribbean playing winter ball and getting ready for ST) but AFAIK there's no problem.

However, there's no doubt in my mind that people are trying to stir stuff up and tell him that I take complete credit for his swing.

It sucks and some people suck.

 

[Chris O'Leary]

Chris - The part that you don't get (don't feel), and go out of your way to discredit on your site, is that Pujols and Manny are doing more than just staying connected.

That's fine for you to believe that, but all I know is that the idea of connection was an absolute revelation to Andres and was the key thing he worked on. Once he got the concept, he was able to rebuild his swing on his own and with just a couple of drills and some tweaking from me.

In my experience working with high-level athletes,I have found that all you have to do is just help them understand the key concepts (what to do and more importantly what not to do) and they can generally take it from there (unless they are fighting years of bad muscle memory).

In a lot of cases, all the other stuff that people do is counterproductive (at least with high-level athletes)

I spent a year working with Andres working on his mechanics, but when he came through in June of 2009 he was still thinking about his mechanics (and in particular what his front knee was doing) when they should have been ingrained. It was killing his swing. As a result my advice to him at the time was, 'Stop thinking about your front knee. It's fine. See the ball. Hit the ball."

Now, of course all of that is true of high-level athletes but less true of many kids. They need more work because they can't just do things automatically (which is why not everyone makes it all the way).

 

[Tewks]

That's fine for you to believe that, but all I know is that the idea of connection was an absolute revelation to Andres and was the key thing he worked on. Once he got the concept, he was able to rebuild his swing on his own and with just a couple of drills and some tweaking from me.

In my experience working with high-level athletes,I have found that all you have to do is just help them understand the key concepts (what to do and more importantly what not to do) and they can generally take it from there (unless they are fighting years of bad muscle memory).

In a lot of cases, all the other stuff that people do is counterproductive (at least with high-level athletes)

I spent a year working with Andres working on his mechanics, but when he came through in June of 2009 he was still thinking about his mechanics (and in particular what his front knee was doing) when they should have been ingrained. It was killing his swing. As a result my advice to him at the time was, 'Stop thinking about your front knee. It's fine. See the ball. Hit the ball."

Now, of course all of that is true of high-level athletes but less true of many kids. They need more work because they can't just do things automatically (which is why not everyone makes it all the way).

Chris - Have you ever read Talent Is Overrated? (I highly recommend this book to anybody and everybody.) Connection is a huge. What is he barrel doing during connection?

Unrelated (yet related) to SB and hitting mechanics, your copywriting talent is high level. Bravo. (No sarcasm at all. It really is good!)

 

[Chris O'Leary]

Just to be clear, I don't know or have any relationship with Megan Bush and have never worked with her in any capacity.

She's just a random player with a good swing.

I do have relationships with other D-1 college softball players and teams but don't discuss them due to NCAA regulations.

 

[Tewks]

Just to be clear, I don't know or have any relationship with Megan Bush and have never worked with her in any capacity.

She's just a random player with a good swing.

I do have relationships with other D-1 college softball players and teams but don't discuss them due to NCAA regulations.

Thank you very much for the clarification on the use of her swing in regards to NCAA regulations per my PM to you.

 

[Bouldersdad]

Hitter -
Hitting the ball hard is fun. A good hitting working, getting in the zone, getting locked in, is fun. Swinging and swinging and swinging and not feeling good is not fun. Making outs is not fun.

Mechanics are mechanics. Bustos does something different than the other SB players. Do you have a link to her clinic schedule? Any clue how I could get her into my facility for a clinic?

After reading these posts Tewks I can only hope you are of open mind if you get bustos to do a clinic, You seem to be a pretty much straight rotational Instructor....... your view of how the swing should be done correctly is a world apart from hers....... enjoy, remain open minded and learn from the best if you are lucky enough to get her there.

Tim

 

[Bouldersdad]

I'd love to know what you'd do to fix this swing and get her to really hit the ball.

The only thing I see is a bit too much of reverse-rotation of the shoulders and a tendency to slap the outside pitch rather than hit it for power.

There are many here smarter then me, but the biggest things i see is the front shoulder roll in at load, in other words the hands need to move backwards not the shoulders, and that comes from the shoulders not being squared to the plate at load, secondly is the position of her front shoulder beginning at .49 her rear shoulder is below her front shoulder at load, there shouldd be a gap between her mask and her front shoulder, not only can it effect her vision being all scrunched up that way,,,,,, it just looks plain uncomfortable, redo the shoulders at load youll see a diff,,,,,,, I would bet Howards last boittle of Jack on it

Tim

 

[Tewks]

After reading these posts Tewks I can only hope you are of open mind if you get bustos to do a clinic, You seem to be a pretty much straight rotational Instructor....... your view of how the swing should be done correctly is a world apart from hers....... enjoy, remain open minded and learn from the best if you are lucky enough to get her there.

Tim

I am not a "rotational guy" or I would be agreeing with Chris. He's the one with the rotational hitting DVD. I attended an Epstein lecture and he wouldn't answer my questions. I really like Bustos' swing, as I mentioned in the other thread. Rotational components, yes. I really feel that "rotational guys" are more anti-linear than anything.

 

[Tewks]

There are many here smarter then me, but the biggest things i see is the front shoulder roll in at load, in other words the hands need to move backwards not the shoulders, and that comes from the shoulders not being squared to the plate at load, secondly is the position of her front shoulder beginning at .49 her rear shoulder is below her front shoulder at load, there shouldd be a gap between her mask and her front shoulder, not only can it effect her vision being all scrunched up that way,,,,,, it just looks plain uncomfortable, redo the shoulders at load youll see a diff,,,,,,, I would bet Howards last boittle of Jack on it

Tim

How do you move the hands backwards (in relation to the body) without using the arms? Push back with the arms usually leads to pull forward with the arms (and bat drag).

 

[Bouldersdad]

The hands can and will move rearwards without rolling in the front shoulder or rolling out the rear causing the wrap , if the hands are started closer to center the hands can move back freely 4 inches or better without causing any shoulder roll........ If you watch clips of Bustos, she does it very well, the hands and and feet move in oppisite directions and the head almost remains still, looks like an optical illusion

Tim