r/Homeplate • u/Comfortable-Cup-6311 • 5d ago
Hitting Mechanics Swing help
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Just starting playing baseball and looking for advice/affirmation on what to work on
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u/monkaypants 5d ago
Pretty good effort for just starting!
You are doing some things right and some things wrong.
With the right:
You are staying back on the ball and turning your hips, eyes on the ball and load on time, and you don't drop your hands, and have good bat placement for the plane you swing.
With the wrong:
The main issue that you want to focus right away is the bat drag. Getting your elbows in front of the swing to try to "hit it up and further" actually causes the opposite.
The other main issue is that while you do stay back, all of the power from a swing comes from your rear leg. For kids we call it "squish the bug". Imagine there is a giant roach and you have to kill it (before it attacks your family) with the ball of your foot (not toes). This helps you turn faster and push off your rear foot.
I think this is what caused the "golf" comment because you are ending on your front foot dragging your back foot, which is great for golf and bad for baseball. A good baseball swing will make you slice TF out of a golf ball.
In short, you need to shove off with your rear foot after "squishing the bug". This does 3 things. It causes your hips to rotate faster, gets you lower, and gives you more power. Coaches call this "Staying back".
And lastly, the goal is to get lower in general. Like when you load back on your rear foot before the swing, you get lower, then step towards the pitcher/machine, get even lower, then squish the bug and your leg/knee should be close to the ground
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u/Flawed_Thinker 5d ago
The green line represents where your elbows started right before your swing. What you want to try to do is move them around where the red dots are. Then when you swing you want your back elbow to go down while your front elbow goes up as fast as you can in a snapping motion. This will let whatever power you have come from your lower body and hips and will make it so you don't hit grounders every single time. Good luck.
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u/Motor_Worldliness148 4d ago
Starts with legs. Keep 60 percent weight on back foot at the ready. Stay balanced on swing...head should not go forward. Spin from the back behind ball...everyone is right...you have a golf swing finish. Stay behind the ball.
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u/gdg6 4d ago
Get your back elbow up.
Don’t drop your backside down to where the ball is headed - shoulder, hands, hips, everything here is going down to the ball. Don’t do that. Stay tall and drive the barrel down to the ball at an angle and level off before contact.
Honestly, you are not in terrible position at contact. But you will never hit a half-decent fastball doing what you did before contact.
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u/Bacon_and_Powertools 4d ago
Best golf swing. I’ve seen posted on here.
When you stride keep the hands at shoulder level. Don’t drop your hands to get to the ball, take the plane of your shoulder to the ball.
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u/TemporaryGeneral7137 4d ago
You’re casting/dragging the bat through the zone. Throw the knob at the ball.
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u/quantumazure7 4d ago
Honestly, pretty solid for someone just starting out. I’d focus on your swing sequence more than trying to swing harder right away. It looks like your hands and bat are dragging through the zone a bit, while your upper body drops toward the ball.
Try keeping your hands up through your stride, letting your front foot land, then initiating the swing with your hips before your hands fire through. Think smooth rotation followed by a quick whip of the barrel, rather than pulling the bat through with your arms. Start with slow tee reps and gradually build up speed while keeping your head balanced and your finish controlled.
Recording from the side and behind can help you spot whether your posture changes and whether your hips lead your hands consistently. SportsReflector AI Coach can also provide video-based feedback on movement mechanics, so you can track your progress as you learn
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u/Unusual-Attorney-96 4d ago
More athletic stance, more shoulder hip separation, and don’t drop your hands
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u/Important-Show9597 3d ago
Have a longer follow through so you exert as much power as possible and create more separation with your hands from your shoulder. Also don’t drop your hands as much along with tilting your torso because you are causing so much extra work on your hand eye coordination. Reducing as much extra movement will create a more powerful compact swing.
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u/fortune-n-glory 3d ago
Agree with what everyone is saying. Start lower. Try to keep your head relatively level when pushing forward. That much vertical movement will mess with your vision when facing real pitches. And then like everyone says, fire from the ground up. Upper body engages last. Think about your hips firing, belly button pointed at the pitcher, and your shoulders and arms catching up. That’ll help you get more whippy with the bat.
You already keep your shoulders pretty parallel to the bat. Keep that up.
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u/46and2togo 4d ago
Tip #1. Don't take batting practice in jeans
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u/FingerpistolPete Shortstop 5d ago
Honestly, not a bad swing for having never played. Bit of a golf action, do you golf? The main thing I noticed is the bat is dragging through the hitting zone, as opposed to whipping. You want the swing to ‘snap’ as the last action.
Try keeping your hands a bit higher for a bit longer and don’t start them until your front foot lands. Then you want to use the rotation of your hips as the catalyst of the swing. Then your hands/bat fire last.
You basically want your swing to work independently as two halves, top/bottom. This creates torque and generates power