Check out this video where Grossman himself describes his thoughts on his hitting approach:

Click for video

This past post on plate discipline gives some different insights on developing command of the strike zone, and Grossman says something similar:

When I’ve got a pitch to hit, I’ve been swinging. But if not, I’ve been taking it.

Sounds simple, right?  Well, yes, the concept can be very simple, but execution is the key.  Especially as you advance each level and the decision making process gets tougher and tougher – or, in other words, the pitchers get better.  Hitters who control the strike zone and have an actual plan at the plate really do stand out – they know how to take an at-bat.

While you’re working on perfecting your swing, don’t forget about the strike zone and pitch recognition.  In today’s game, plate discipline is becoming valued more and more.  Work on it by putting yourself into different counts while taking batting practice and distinguish between looking for pitches to drive early in the count versus putting the ball in play with 2-strikes. Find different ways like this to shift your focus from swing mechanics to the seeing the ball, it’s release point, and where you’re making contact in the strike zone.

In this video, Bautista talks about how he changed his hitting mechanics, and his explanation is fairly simple.  He started his swing earlier so he wasn’t late so often.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

For a more complete picture, check out this article about Jose Baustista’s transformation.  One of the things I found most interesting was the insight into Baustista’s mindset:

In his free time, Bautista reads books on exceptionality. “I’m trying to understand why mediocre people become good at what they do,” he says, “and why good people become the best.” So he mixes other players’ post-career musings on success with real mental protein.

…that stride grew longer and drifted toward the plate, which caused Jeter to lean over. It altered Jeter’s bat path, and his timing suffered.

Derek Jeter 2006

The idea of reducing the stride is typically an effort to maintain a good hitting position and allow the player’s swing and timing to work more consistently.  I’ve been to a number of high school and college games this week and noticed several times as hitters switch drastically to a no-stride approach when they get two-strikes.  What I mean by drastic is that it is like a completely different swing.  One of the more traditional thoughts regarding two-strikes is to widen the stance and choke-up on the bat in order to reduce movement in the swing, but is this always a good thing?  Well, it depends…

With any good hitter, there is a certain sequence to the swing (as in kinetic link/chain) that not only provides power and efficiency, but also provides for the rhythm and timing necessary to make adjustments to different pitch types and locations.  A player who has a sound fundamental basis of movement can make many different pre-swing actions and maintain virtually the same swing.  For example, Barry Bonds used a toe-tap and Albert Pujols just lifts his heel off the ground in games, but I’ve seen them use a high leg-kick to load their swings and still look the same from their hitting position through their finish.

In other words, no-stride, toe-taps and high-leg kicks are just different ways of loading that should help a hitter get to a good hitting position with consistency.  So either adding motion to the swing via a longer stride or a leg-kick, or cutting motion from the swing as a no-stride approach could be good ideas depending on the hitter.

The idea of cutting down pre-swing motion with two-strikes is fine, as long as it doesn’t interrupt or negatively alter the timing of the hitter – that’s the exact opposite of the intention!  This is where it is important to be able to apply these concepts on an individual basis.  Here are some examples:

• Added motion to stride via leg-kick – David Wright in 2007

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• Reduced stride length via wider stance – Andruw Jones in 2005

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One of the things I’d like to point out is that these videos show examples of what I would consider to be big or significant changes.  The swings of each player, however, still follow a certain pattern of having a load, a shift/move to a good hitting position, rotation, short path to the ball and finishing through a good swing plane.  In other words, it is still the swing of that player, not drastic as I described at the beginning.

Specifically, with no-stride hitting, notice that a good swing sequence still exists.  Re-check the left side of the David Wright clip above (2006 version) and you can see that there is no actual stride (stride foot does not come off the ground), but there is still a loading/shifting/unloading of the hips.  Albert Pujols is probably the most recognizable hitter today that uses a similar approach.  And if you’re thinking that only big strong giants can pull this off, there are smaller guys out there that have minimal pre-swing movement (ie Chone Figgins).  Outside of baseball, golf is a great example of maintaining solid loading and shifting action in the lower half without using a stride, although I have seen clips of professional golfers doing “Happy Gilmore” impressions where they run up and crush the ball off the tee.

What I’ve found to be a big misconception with no-stride hitting or hitting with more movement is just that either way is done to the extreme.  No-stride, for example, is depicted as going from a dead stop, and having a leg-kick or weight shift is shown as being out of control or lunging.  Neither representation is true, it’s just that some players have difficulty with one approach or the other.  Either way, regardless of the style of pre-swing movement, the loading and unloading pattern through the hips remains the same, and is really the key element in all of this.  The coaching aspect comes in here and requires a bit of trial and error to see which approach bests fits each individual player.

Don Mattingly video on Situational Hitting

Most times in youth, high school and even college baseball, hitters are just trying to get hits and put up numbers – it’s important to get noticed, right?  But something different happens as you climb the ladder of professional baseball.  It’s still important to get noticed, but it’s important to get noticed for being able to contribute to a winning baseball team.  Execution in situational hitting is part of winning baseball.  Although not always glamorous to the average fan, it does show off a hitter’s ability to handle the bat and display a complete skill set in the batter’s box.

My short answer is no.  Is it possible to run too fast or throw too hard?  I don’t think so – it’s not possible to have too much physical ability, or “tools” in the baseball world.  But bat speed, foot speed and throwing velocity are measures of just that – physical ability.   More raw bat speed doesn’t correlate perfectly with a higher batting average or increased slugging percentage, but it sure gives you more ability to do those things.  It’s like adding horsepower to a race car – the car can go faster, but you still need to be a good driver! It’s important to take those raw tools and convert them into on-field performance.

Is this car too fast?

One thing that differentiates baseball is the need to convert those physical abilities into game skills, like being able to consistently hit line drives, steal bases, or throw strikes.  There is a difference between physical ability and skills…that’s part of the reason we see so many different types of athletes in the game of baseball.

So while I’d say that you can’t have too much bat speed, I would say that it is easy to get out of control when trying to gain bat speed.

The parent writes:

In games he wasn’t making contact… he was pulling off theball. The next thing was a loop in the swing…

These are signs of poor swing mechanics.  One of the easiest ways to generate more bat speed is to lengthen your swing, which allows you to apply force over a longer period of time.  But unlike golf, for instance, baseball and softball hitters have a very short, defined period of time in which they need to execute their swing in order to have consistent success.  Swinging faster is not very helpful if takes too long.  This is why we have several drills that not only develop bat speed, but also emphasize and measure quickness, timing and anticipation in the swing.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the direction of focus changes during training, practice, and games.  For example, when a player is training for bat speed (as in using the swing away for bat speed training), the set up allows for the player to focus 100% on executing the swing with as much bat speed as possible.  Study after study has shown that this intent to swing faster is a key element in bat speed development.  But one thing that is often overlooked is the progression from training or swinging (physical ability) to actually hitting (execution of game skills).  What happens during this process is that different elements are introduced (ie the moving ball with changing speeds and locations) which force the player to change his focus.  As the player directs more of his attention to seeing the ball, he or she can’t just swing as fast as possible anymore – bat speed in a game situation where the batter is focused on facing the pitcher is typically going to be less than when a player can stand there and take a dry swing or hit off of the tee.

If the player appears to be swinging out of control, many times his or her attention is directed in the wrong place.  Learning to shift focus and attention to the baseball is a mental skill that is just as important as working on swing mechanics or bat speed.  And remember why you did all that bat speed training in the first place – so you can be confident, trust in your preparation and allow yourself to actually play the game, rather than focus on things that should have been taken care of during practice in the batting cage.  Being able to “trust” your swing doesn’t just happen automatically…you have to prepare for it and develop it over time, just like you would build trust in any other relationship.

Do your training, beef up your swing and prepare yourself to execute your strengths in the game.  Then have actually fun playing the game!

click for videos

In the video below, Longoria talks about something very important – his hitting routine in the batting cage.  He specifically mentions how the cage is the place to pinpoint different mechanical aspects of the swing and he he uses the tee to do this.

When I got to see Evan play up close a couple years ago, I was amazed at how confident and relaxed he looked, and in pro baseball, a player’s hitting routine plays a big role in this.  As a player builds his routine to address the specific needs in his game, he not only improves the consistency of his swing, but he builds confidence in knowing that he is prepared to compete each and every night.  This is part of the reason why baseball players in particular are such creatures of habit.  Check out what Daniel Coyle of The Talent Code has to say about this:

Another general truth about top performers is that they love rituals. Whether Rafael Nadal prepping for a serve or Yo-Yo Ma prepping a sonata, a lot of top performers are addicted to idiosyncratic, persnickety rituals that seem, to the neutral observer, insanely detailed and RainMan-esque. They tie their sneakers just so, they place their violin case at a certain precise angle.  These behaviors are usually described as a superstition, but I think that misses the point: their ritual is their unique way of prepping themselves to deliver a performance.

A couple of the Stack videos show Longoria doing core exercises and medicine ball drills, which reminded me of another off-season video of Longoria working out at Athlete’s Performance in Tempe, Arizona:

Lots of good stuff mentioned here – hard work, movement training, hitting power via core strength, rotational movements & torso stability in order to transfer force.

I like some of the rotation exercises shown around the 1:40 mark, and if you pay attention at the end, you can see some of the tee work that was mentioned in the first video above.  Check out where the tee is placed and the direction he hit the ball…not easy to do!!

Enjoy

I’ve been posting some articles about the hitting approaches of major league hitters, and seeing that Ichiro just set the record of 9 consecutive 200 hit seasons reminded me of this ESPN.com article by Jim Caple that came out last week:

“He understands he’s a leadoff hitter and his job is to get the bat on the ball and get on base for the people behind him because he can use his speed on the basepaths,…..All you just have to watch him in [batting practice] to see how far he can hit the ball. But he doesn’t get outside of himself during the game, which is a compliment to the discipline he has to stay in his approach and do what he wants to do.

Ichiro’s swing mechanics and combination of speed & power are surely a unique set of tools, but the point is that he’s figured out what works for him to be successful and fill his role on the team.  It’s worth mentioning that there is a lot of value in just that – identifying your own strengths and weaknesses and then building your plan as a hitter around those things.  Part of your plate discipline as a hitter is being able to execute what you are best able to do.

This previous post was a directive to a USA Today feature where Albert Pujols explained his own swing thoughts and hitting mechanics.  More recently, there was an article after a Cardinal win where Pujols gave some more insights into his hitting approach and situational plan:

In that situation, my main job was to try and drive in that run however I could. Elevate the ball and try to hit it deep enough so Colby could score from third base. I wasn’t thinking about hitting the ball out of the park in that situation.”

It says a lot about the team hitting approach and is a good example when a hitter like that goes up there to get a certain job done, rather than just swinging for the fences.

“I’m putting good swings every at-bat,” he said. “That’s it. I’m not a home run hitter. I’m a line-drive hitter who is pretty strong and can hit the ball out of the park. I don’t tell myself that I’m a home run hitter. I go out there and try to use the gaps, try to hit the ball in the gap.”

I think this is a good general thought process for any hitter – hit the ball hard!  Simple enough.  Do your work in the cage driving the ball through the middle, and look to execute a plan in the game that allows you to perform the things you’ve practiced.  Your mechanics and approach should complement each other.

Hanley Ramirez is another guy who I’ve read some articles about this year, mainly addressing his approach now that he is in the middle of the order and more focused on driving in runs.  Here is one of those articles where Ramirez talks about what’s lead to his success and what approach he has been using:

“Working, working,” he said. “I’ve got my same routine every day. The same. I just try to be consistent and [have] good preparation before the game every day.”……………..What was Ramirez’s approach? Same as always. Go up the middle.

 

One of the best points in there is that you shouldn’t be trying to swing at the ball too far in.  There’s just not much you can do with it.  Also a good point in your cage and batting practice is to work in the gaps and stay primarily in the middle of the field.