Holy sh*t! I'm 43 years old and this is the greatest video I've ever seen! I literally can't believe I'm watching and listening to Ted F-ing Williams giving my 9 year old son hitting advice. I HATE technology...but it's moment like these I do appreciate it. The greatest hitter of all times still lives thanks to videos like these! Awesome great amazing unbelievable video.
Did you read Jim Bouton's book "Ball Four?" In the book Bouton related stories other players told him about Williams taking batting practice and all the time shouting, "I'm Ted F---ing Williams! (Crack). Jesus H. Christ Himself couldn't get me out today (Crack). And now here comes Larson and that s--t slider of his (Crack). And he thinks he's getting me out with that (Crack)."
My 6 yo became obsessed with hitting a couple weeks ago, when he connected on sweet spot with wiffle ball bat. So Loaded up on used baseballs and tennis balls , and he’s been at about an hour a day . Try not coach him much because want it to stay fun, and he’s got good natural mechanics , but showed him this video today , and likely will about 25 times more this year . It’s basically all you need to know about hitting a baseball .
I’m a former baseball player and now I play an ancient Irish sport called hurling. To score I have to self pitch the ball to myself and I’ve been watching his advice to improve my swing. It’s been really helpful actually. Especially when he talks about cutting up when you swing and how to chose the right bat. A hurling stick is made of ash and it’s about the size and weight of a baseball bat.
I remember reading the sports section of the local paper when Ted Williams hit a home run in his last at bat before he retired. I was 15. I wish I had kept the article.
Look at how he's all about form. Nothing fancy. Just a clean swing that's rooted in the basic mechanics of baseball. He doesn't wave his bat around, he doesn't flip it, he just plays the game.
Ted Williams and Josh Donaldson are the only hitters that have helped me get better at batting. I legit feel more power when I began using their advice.
Great video. I was 11 in 1960 when he played his last game. Williams was one of my heroes. We could never get enough batting practice because of the logistical problems of pitching and htting a baseball, so we worked out a good training system. We'd take a wiffle bat and ball and pitch at full speed from 25-30 feet. If you've got a good arm the ball comes in pretty fast at that distance. And the ball does crazy things being full of holes and so light. We'd do that until it got easy and then switch to a wooden bat. It developed quick reactions, wrist speed and power, and the ability to track the ball very quickly. if you got so you could hit the ball consistently with the wood bat, the biggest problem when you got in a game was waiting on the pitch. The ball seemed to take forever to get to you from 60 feet.
When I was a kid in the 1970's & Baseball was my life, I wish I had the advantage of watching videos like this. Our little league & Babe Ruth coaches were always somebody's Dad who knew a little & usually was involve because his kid was on the team, so we didn't get the best coaching. My way of hitting was trying to copy my heroes like how Reggie Jackson looked like when hitting although I was moderately successful, I never knew the fine points broken down like in this video.
If Ted were playing today he would still be the best hitter in baseball. He would make whatever adjustment he needed to make to hit today's pitchers. The same type adjustments he made against certain pitchers when he played. Most haven't studied Ted's material enough to truly understand what he did when he hit. You'll never figure out what he did by just reading his book "TSOH". You really need to throw out your current belief system on hitting and view his material with a completely open mind. The guy was the Einstein of hitting. He understood bio-mechanics and how the human body naturally works. That's why his swing looks so fluid. He didn't let anyone coach out the natural movements needed to hit a baseball well.
Yep. You hear the interview when they ask Ted how he would do against the current day pitchers. Ted around .250 (or something close that) and the interviewer says,"So the pitchers are that much better these days"? Ted replies..."Hell I'm 50 years old.". HaHaHaHa. Classic.
The sad thing is that most HS and college coaches won't allow kids to follow Ted's advice on hitting. One of the varsity HS players I was working with was told by his coach, that he didn't care about how Ted hit; if he wanted to play he would have to hit his way. The "A to C", "Swing Down" barrel path is what I see being taught in my area. The coaches are closed minded to any other approach.
SixSentSoldiers If we know Ted, he is probably in heaven organizing a league right now just so he can play in it. He is probably giving hitting instructions to God. And God should be taking notes.
Hitting is all about hands, hand to eye coordination, and natural ability. Some of the best hitters of all time had 'bad mechanics' according to today's coaches.
Can't have bad mechanics and consistently hit MLB pitching past or present. The best hitters use their bodies in a way that is bio-mechanically correct according to science and physics. My experience is that the coaches who say that the best hitters can get away with using poor mechanics because they are gifted athletically; are always the ones that teach the hands-to-ball, swing down, one plane circular barrel path that commonly gets taught at local ball parks all across the country. They use that narrative to hide behind their lack of knowledge of good hitting mechanics. They're basically telling kids that they know more about hitting than Ted...which I believe is absurd. Agree eye hand coordination is important to be a great hitter. So is your mental approach. Ted said hitting is 50% from the neck up...and he meant it. Ted would get a good chuckle over your comment about natural ability. Ted was obsessed with hitting and worked tirelessly at it. He constantly preached; practice, practice, practice; and said that practice was one of the big keys to being a great hitter. As for the hands being important; that gets into a whole discussion about the role of the torso in athletic movements. Does the torso support the goal of the hands...or do the hands support the goal of the torso? I would argue that the torso is very important when it comes to hitting a baseball. When Ted talks about balance in his material, when he talks about the necessity of the head to move forward when the lead foot is lifted to cock the hips...he is talking about the torso.
Williams sets the record at .406, one of sports' all time greatest records, still standing after over 80 years😳, right up there with Wilt's 100 and Pistol's averaging 44 at LSU. Just INCREDIBLE human achievements. But here's a bit of trivia; SIXTEEN YEARS AFTER SETTING THE RECORD at .406, Williams bats .388 to come in FOURTH after himself. Just unreal, and never talked about
Ted's .406 in 1941 is not the highest single-season batting average ever. Or even close. It's just the LAST time a major leaguer hit .400 or higher. (The last time previous was Bill Terry at 401 in 1930, ten years before Ted did it.) Rogers Hornsby hit .424 in 1924, .403 in 1925, and .401 in 1922. George Sisler hit .420 in 1922 and .407 in 1920. Ty Cobb hit .409 in 1911, .419 in 1912 and .401 in 1922. There were numerous others in the 1900s and others still in the 1880s and 1890s. If you bring in the Negro Leagues, there are even more.
I also helped that Williams had amazing eyesight. He could tell exactly where on the baseball he made contact. Once he did an experiment where he coated the barrel of his bat with pine tar. Then he would call the spot he made contact with, and it was compared to the mark on the ball. He would say things like, right across the seam...half inch below the seam...hit on top of the ball, etc. And the mark on the ball would confirm exactly what he said on each pitch. Williams also claimed that he could see the ball deform when he was making contact. Ted Williams was probably the most intense student of the game that ever lived. Williams was proof that if you, as a batter, become fundamentally sound, things like "launch angle" and "exit velocity" will take care of themselves.
At 2:12 it looked like Ted was crowding the plate pretty good. IMO Ted was the greatest hitter of all time. Tons of other greats. But consider how many years he was absent serving his country. Damn good pilot so I've read. He was probably one of those people that was just great at anything he did.
@@skeeta1068 He’s in two fishing hall of fames too from what I’ve read. He was the wingman for astronaut John Glenn in Korea who called Ted one of the finest pilots he’s ever seen.
I'm sure his diagnostic tests after joining war effort didn't lead him to piloting by accident. I read that he practically set the navy record on depth perception test and reflexes.
San Diego born and raised baby! Go Ted aka The Kid. Interesting fact his Mexican-American uncle who played semi pro ball showed him as a young child. ⚾️💪🏻 🇺🇸🇲🇽
as a Cleveland Indians fan, i've always like Ted Williams' answer whenever a reporter asked him "Who were the best pitchers and the toughest to hit pitchers you ever faced in your long career?" Ted Williams mlways answered "That's easy. The answer to BOTH questions is BOB FELLER."
He makes hitting that home run at the end look so simple and natural---a joy to watch, different from today's batters. And...Ted Williams didn't need any "batting gloves" to hit .400.....
There was nothing simple and natural about Teddy Ballgame [other than his physical tools]. He worked at batting harder and longer than anybody probably ever has, and he absolutely hated being called a 'natural' because of the time he put in becoming the GOAT.
Help me out a little guys. Ted's swing looks way different to me than what guys today do. He appears to stand fairly straight up and swing flat through and not even with all his strength, while most guys today put 110% into most swings and are dang near dropping to one knee in the process to get the "launch angle". Am I off here?
It appears so. You can see what he does and modern ballplayers sometimes emulate it in swings. He might have varied his swing but you can tell he liked to use height and do some geometry karate on the ball.
@@crunchie83 Guys today do so much core work that enables them to get great batspeed. They also use smaller lighter bats today than back then. Ted’s swing was a long smooth swing that worked great against guys throwing 85mph. When they start throwing 98-100mph you need to be shorter and quicker to the ball.
Greatest of all time... Not so good in explaining it, but can't blame him... HE JUST DOES IT! Teddy Williams- Greatest Latino Baseball Plater of All Time.
Sitizen Kane I've found Ted's explanations on hitting to be the best. Most don't understand what he meant because their current belief system gets in the way. His explanation of the weight shift is outstanding, yet I've never seen one coach or instructor teach the weight shift the way Ted explained it. Just go to any batting cage and observe what kids are being taught on how to "get their weight back", or how to "stay back". Not at all what Ted said to do. After more than 10 years of studying Ted's ideas on hitting and instructing kids; I've concluded most coaches and hitting instructors are just intellectually lazy when it comes to teaching hitting. No way they're going to spend the 100s of hours it takes shifting through the many interviews Ted did to piece together his beliefs on hitting. The information is there for anyone willing to do the research.
Does it seem as if Ted does not keep his back elbow tucked in? Obviously Mr. Williams is one of the all time greats. That said, don't many great hitters keep the back elbow a little more tucked?
After the 1950 All Star game when he injured his left elbow in that game, he was not the same hitter afterwards. Afterwards up to his last super season in 1957 ( hitting .388 ) he felt he was lucky to have hit ( emphasis more on hitting. He could not run fast. ) as well as he actually did.
One thing I tell anyone I coach hitting to is to do strength exercises for your hands, wrists and forearms. You want to have vice grip hands for hitting.
He went 6 for 8 in the last doubleheader on the last day of the season in 1941. He raised his average from .3999 to .406. He won two triples crowns. He would murder the bullpen pitchers of today.
He held his bat straight up at the plate he said it felt lighter in his book.He mentioned standing back from the plate which he never did? When you stand up on the plate it allows you to cover the whole plate keeping your hands in gives you the control and power to cover the whole plate, once you start reaching or casting your bat you lose your power. I just read his book from 1970 good tips from still the last hitter to bat .400!
The mound during Williams time was 18" high, steeper angle harder to hit, to day it is 12", the Ball Parks were larger harder to hit a HR and he dealt with the Williams shift his whole career and still had a .344 BA, and 521 HRS. Last man to hit .400. today piching is watered down, we have added 14 teams since Williams played, they were the best of the best. Today 30 teams and in 1941 16 teams. Miguel is good but not enough time has gone by to put him Williams League!
Blah Blah Blah. There's a reason they lowered the mound. It happened in the 1960's when the AL batting leader hit .299 because pitchers became too dominant. Today bullpens are 10x better than they were back then. Starting pitchers were expected to pitch the whole game on 3 days rest, not 4. Hitting off tired pitchers in the 7th-9th innings is huge. These days, you've got 8th inning guys throwing 98 mph and 9th inning guys throwing 100 mph with a splitter. Way harder to hit today.
in Williams day they played during the day in the heat 100% wool uniforms, pitchers were still throwing doctored baseballns!! traveled on trains!! they lowered the mound in 1969 after bob Gibson had a era of 1.12!! there we
only 8 teams in the American league!! so they only faced 7 other teams!! familiarity breeds contempt when it comes to pitchers,especially starting pitchers!!
I have heard that theory about talent being watered down. I really disagree. True, many more teams now. It is also true that immigration has changed the game. More immigration now than ever. Have you noticed how athletic the defense has become in the last 20 years? The insane athleticism on the double plays, backhand stop by the 2nd baseman 10 feet behind 2nd who flips the ball with his glove to the SS covering who makes a ridiculous pivot and fires a laser to first. Third baseman making insane diving catch on a ground ball and fires a laser to first. The athleticism on defense has gone off the charts. Brooks may have been the best ever defense at third (arguable) but top to bottom, the defense is just better now. And that is despite there being more teams. It's true in pitching as well. Insane "lights out" closers all over the place with a WHIP less than 8, sometimes even less than 7! If anything, hitting in the majors is more difficult than it has ever been. Pitchers have it tougher too. The reason is because gone are the days when you would see a LOT of C,2nd base, and SS light hitters. Now, you see guys all the way down the lineup who can pop it. The stereotype of the SS who could field everything but in hitting you could almost knock the bat out of his hands... those days are long gone. My main point was about immigration and the game is more available to domestic players too. Think of how many players of color today who wouldn't have even been in the majors prior to 1947. Japan (Ichiro), and on and on. Playing in the MLB wouldn't have been available to Ichiro and many others years ago. Cuba, etc. etc. Immigration in MLB started roughly about with Minnie Minoso in 1949. But it is MUCH greater now. More teams? Yes. But it is also true that the talent pool has become more extensive.
Mary Cage I fancy myself a bit of a baseball historian. We could name many players, hall of famers, that it took them a couple of years before their careers really took off. Cobb was like that. Look it up, rookie season 1905, struggled, did well in 1906 but nothing spectacular, Cobb really took off in 1907 and especially 1908. Mays was kind of like that. W. Mays certainly recognized as talented in 1951, rookie season, but no one had any idea of what was to come. Aaron was like that too. There was one guy however who was IMMEDIATELY the best hitter in either league from the moment he arrived in the majors. His rookie season was 1939. The 'kid" as he was known at the time. By the time he had been in the league two weeks every American League pitcher had been put on notice. Gaaawwwd has arrived. His name is Ted Williams. And he brought a wrath him.
Mary Cage Funny story about Ted Williams. We are now in the 140th season of major league baseball, and, go figure, some comical things have happened. The eephus pitch is a real act of desperation used very sparingly in baseball. A real act of desperation by a pitcher, almost always against one of the better sluggers, when the slugger is really locked in and the pitcher has no clue what else to do with him. I thought the eephus was a relatively new idea, maybe 20-25 years old. I discovered only a couple of years ago it has a longer history. It goes back at least to the 1946 All-Star game when a National League pitcher decided to try it against none other than Ted Williams. The pitcher would have had to have practiced it a few times. The pitcher threw the ball up in the air maybe 25-30 feet high. Perfectly legal pitch (and still is). The ball came down into the strike zone at a VERY steep angle. Note the above, uh, this would have been into TED WILLIAMS' strike zone. It is of my belief this was the first and last time Williams ever saw the eephus pitch his entire career. At that point in time, the left-handed slugging Williams promptly proceeded to smush it... over the right field fence.
It is no lie that Roberto Clemente used a bigger and heavier bat than Aaron Judge uses right now....Clemente's bat was not quite maximum legal length, but it was max weight. When I was growing up, one of my friends was a Forbes Field one night when the Pirates were taking batting practice. Clemente cracked on of his bats, and as he was going back to the dugout to get a new bat, my buddy asked him if he could have the cracked bat (of course, this was back in the day before every piece of sports memorabilia had a price tag on it.) Clemente said he could, but to let the equipment guy nail the crack. Clemente finished his turn in the batting cage, walked into the dugout and came back out with the bat and handed to my buddy. We never used it when we were playing because it was cracked and nailed, but more importantly, we were only about 10 or 11, and none of us could swing it. We called it the "Dinosaur Club." Clemente was not a big man, but that bat was freakin' huge.
You know what the really frustrating thing about learning how to hit is? The contradictions by contemporary hitting instructors who think they have it all figured out, and then you see the greatest hitter of all time doing just the opposite. I just watched a video on this site only less than an hour ago where the instructor was saying the front foot, the ENTIRE front foot from heel to toe should all plant at the same time and then the front foot should NOT pivot. Keep the front foot planted. The back foot pivots, not the front foot. Then, just out of curiosity, I decided to take another look at Williams and see what HE was doing. Wouldn't you know it? FRONT FOOT PIVOTS with stride. Unbelievable. I actually think this perfectly illustrates one of the problems with contemporary coaching. They are trying too hard to get everything "perfect" and not just on hitting... pitching too. I remember the insanely successful RH Pitcher Juan Marichal, when in the windup, use to practically point the cleats of his left foot towards the sky before he delivered his fastball with the left foot coming down and the right arm coming around like some kind of vicious windmill. If a pitcher in the minors tried that today, he would be sent to some mechanics specialist to try and correct it. Geez. Message to coaches from little league on up.... PLEASE stop over-coaching. Let the players figure out what is working for THEM, and then back off. I'm not saying don't teach ANY mechanics. I am simply saying there is more than one way to get things done. Can you imagine someone telling Musial his feet were too close together in his stance? It's especially disgusting to me when I see a coach telling a kid maybe 10 years old ... telling him 47 different things to improve his hitting. Information overload. Trying to put so much information into him about his shoulders, feet, hands, while yo are at it, don't forget to tell him to do a couple of calculus problems in his head on the way to first base.. oh, by all means, don't forget to tell him the proper way to wear his jock strap so as to put as much power into his swing as possible. Geez. They are over-coaching in little league, they are over-coaching in MLB, and everything in between.
Most hitting instructors don't understand the difference between style and the bio-mechanically correct movements needed for a good swing. There is a universal pattern that all good hitters use. The problem is that hitters seamlessly wrap their individual style around the pattern, making the pattern invisible to most. I start with the pattern, which is the same basic pattern we use to throw a ball or swing an axe. It's nothing more than how the human body naturally syncs up to perform a ballistic throwing motion.
Bobby Vaught IMO the front foot is a no teach. Next time you play catch, notice what your front thigh does right before your front foot lands. Your front thigh rolls over or "externally rotates". This is a bio-mechanically correct movement that the body does naturally when throwing. IMO it is a mistake to coach this natural movement out of kids when they hit. Anyone who teaches hitting should ask themselves two simple questions. 1) Do great hitters like Ted WIlliams swing the bat, or do they throw the barrel at the ball. 2) If your answer is "Throw the barrel at the ball", would you ever teach a fielder to throw a ball the way you teach them to hit a ball?
The technique used by Ted and all the great hitters is the best technique against hard throwers, curve ball pitchers, and everything in between. In order to be a great hitter you have to learn to use your body correctly, the way nature designed it to work. Ted's swing agrees with the science of how the human body works. His swing also follows the laws of physics. Most of the stuff being taught to kids today regarding the swing defies basic science.
true, a lot of advise a kid gets is bad advise, i remember in little league a guy in the stands coming up to me after a game and asking me why i had so many pitching motions, i had no idea i was even doing it, of course he didn't show me anything he just said something and walked away. on the flip side to what you're saying i don't remember getting much of anything in the way of instruction, had to figure it out on my own, so i guess getting a lot of tips can also be beneficial, that is, if you can figure out what works and what doesn't, maybe one of them really works or leads to something that does, and of course bad advise can cause injuries too. in my case i had a torn rotator cuff by high school, i remember curves balls being the culprit, but what i don't know is if throwing them caused it or maybe i didn't have the right kind of shoulder to begin with, so many variables out there, it's really hard to sort thru all of it. today's kids are better off i think, science and technology is so much better.
I saw you on Dead Red Hitting, and other channels I watch! I'll subscribe. I think what Ted Williams is referring to as the "V" is the way your arms are position when you pick up a bat correctly. 1:29 his arms form a V starting from where his hands touch the bat to the shoulders. This makes sure you have a comfortable grip; as the nowadays knocking knuckle grip is a myth, the ideal grip is the box grip or somewhere around that. You will find when you pick the bat up this way you will find a grip somewhat like the box grip. Note: that when you do pick up the bat like this your wrists should be in a neutral position, not flexed.
tehfutureawesome yes, i discovered baseball at age 19 so i'm trying to learn from the internet because i don't know any who plays baseball :-( thanks for your info, i also heard about the knocking knuckle grip. the proper way to grip is a big concern to me because the first thing that happened to me when i swung for the first time, was really bad wrist pain. it is because the knob of the bat hits my bottom hand's wrist during the swing.. i could swing an ordinary stick/rod etc no problem, but when i try a bat, the knob really makes it difficult.. by the way, does that happen to you too if you take a swing? it might be that im holding the bat wrong, i doubt normal players also have this problem and just play through it
Himu Yashiro I wouldn't use the knocking knuckle grip… I prefer a variation of the box grip. Don't do exactly the box grip, but use it as a starting point; then adapt to feel because we are all special. If you are feel pain, it could also be that you are holding the bat too tight. Or that your wrists are too tight. And a good hitting tool to prevent sting I'd recommend, not for your pain, is the Prohitter Thumb Guard. Great for adding power. P.S. It could also be that your wrists are bent at a weird angle, try to keep it "neutral".
thanks again, it doesn't hurt if i bend my wrists or anything its just the knob of the bat that hits my bottom wrist each time.. doesn't that happen to you too when you swing?
I have CLOSELY read the comments. QUESTION !!!! IF---IF TED WILLIAMS had those 'FIVE YEARS"of his PRIME YEARS PLAYING, which he spent FLYING in WORLD WAR ll and the KOREAN WAR , what would his CAREER and RECORDS be ????? BATTING AVG ? R B i 's,? HOME RUNS ? TOTAL BASES ?, M V P's ? ETC. ETC. NO ONE can even guess accurately. MANY baseball statistics and records would undergo dramatic revision.
They are not hitting with their hands and wrist 😂 They are rotating into the ball with their hands very much following the power and momentum of their hip rotation. You also see that they(the best hitters) overwhelming drive with their bottom hand and do not push their top hand through the zone
RealJizKhalifa and heffbee are so right in their comments in response to Glenchirvin's comment. 1.) Glenchirvin is an idiot, 2.) Ted Williams would indeed be 95 years old today as heffbee said, and 3.) if Ted Williams were in the league today he would hit .270 at the ripe old age of 95, and 4.) in my estimation if Ted Williams were playing in the league today at the age of 28 and in his prime, he would hit .470.
I agree with all of that except #4. .470? uh, no. But he was still the greatest hitter ever. Williams is probably giving hitting instructions to God right now. And God should be taking notes.
Joe Sparacio I don't think Ted would hit .470 or perhaps not even .400. However he would still likely lead the league in batting average, slugging percentage, and on base percentage. He would still refuse to swing at bad pitches and would draw a lot of walks. He would still have his ability to correctly anticipate pitches. He would still be able to hit the best fastballs. He would still have his great eye sight. He would still take care of his body. Tony Gwynn said it best. He said that the big difference between Ted and modern day players is that when Ted got a good pitch to hit, he rarely missed it. Hitters today still get plenty of good pitches to hit, they just don't have the barrel path that Ted did to take advantage. Musial had the same type barrel path. The barrel paths of the great old time hitters were flatter. They got the barrel flatter earlier...earlier in the swing sequence. HS and college kids today are not allowed to flatten the barrel to the swing plane early. The coaches today want the "A to C" hands-to-the-ball barrel path.
Yes! DiMaggio is right up there with the three I mentioned, undoubtedly. Also, if Barry Bonds never did steroids he'd also be up on the same list, his pre 2000 numbers were good enough, but he sullied his career. Stan Musial's very close. The reason I put it at a three-way tie between Mays, Aaron and Williams as my greatest hitter of all-time is b/c Williams the vast majority of his career only against white players, Aaron and Mays played against the best baseball talent available regardless of color. So I have a three-way tie between Williams, Mays and Aaron. I'm also a Milwaukee boy at heart so I have a soft spot for Aaron (my bias on the table!).
Very good points. I think Henry Aaron stands taller with each passing season. He was great in every phase of the game and carried himself with real dignity. p.s. I grew up in New England, but Braves legend Warren Spahn was always my favorite pitcher. His delivery was so pure. And what teams they had in Milwaukee back then.
Today's athletes are mostly working out in the weight room all the time, using tailor made bats to their exact weight and balance, using all kinds of 'enhancements' for their bodies, etc... The old timers were smokers, drinkers, barely worked out, if at all, used whatever equipment they got their hands on for the most part and didn't have any 'enhancements' available to them. Sports were more fun and less serious. Watch the old games, there was no chest pounding, excessive celebrating, yelling and screaming all the time like today's sportsmen. Call me old but I would prefer less bravado and showmanship in today's sports.
Ted wasn't a smoker or a drinker. He did do calisthenics. And he kept in shape (a Marine!). He said he also squeezed a rubber ball to get his grip stronger.
Too bad he didn't have all the amazing steroids we have today...his day, they only had speed and booze and booze is counterproductive when it come to hitting
Ted was an exceptional hitter for his era but if he took that swing and that bat speed up against today's big league flame throwers, he'd probably to hit .100.
@Steve Witte Bullshit. Today's pitchers throw harder and have better breaking balls. Get real. The avg velocity of big league pitchers is 95 mph. That type of speed wasn't no where near as common back in Ted's era as you say.
@Steve Witte I have read that book and Williams was ahead of his time but put him in today's game and he wouldn't be that good. He was great for his era and that's it. The pitchers he faced are nowhere near as good as pitchers hitters from the last few decades have to face. By the way, the book is called "The Science of Hitting", NOT the "Art of Hitting". I know more about Teddy Ballgame than you do. Lol
lol, some of the greatest athletes aren't the best coaches or instructors, and lot of great athletes have incredible innate skills that can't be taught. if there was a perfect way to hit everyone would be doing it but everyone is built differently and has different strengths and weaknesses, a good instructor can adjust a person to their own strengths, and see what may be causing a problem, there are fundamentals that increase productivity but there is no prefect science to hitting or pitching.
There goes Ted Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived.
9Ballr trd Williams lived to hit
Of his era.*
I was just going to say that!!! Every time I see williams, I think of the natural!!
@@danejurus69 Wrong Nimble Nimrod, Ted Williams IS AND ALWAYS WILL BE the greatest hitter of all time. No one else.
@@tommcconville4270 excuse me Tom McCuntville....different era, different era, different era. Get that through your head, dipshit.
This is awesome! Thanks for posting!
He's such a legend.
Holy sh*t! I'm 43 years old and this is the greatest video I've ever seen! I literally can't believe I'm watching and listening to Ted F-ing Williams giving my 9 year old son hitting advice. I HATE technology...but it's moment like these I do appreciate it. The greatest hitter of all times still lives thanks to videos like these! Awesome great amazing unbelievable video.
Did you read Jim Bouton's book "Ball Four?" In the book Bouton related stories other players told him about Williams taking batting practice and all the time shouting, "I'm Ted F---ing Williams! (Crack). Jesus H. Christ Himself couldn't get me out today (Crack). And now here comes Larson and that s--t slider of his (Crack). And he thinks he's getting me out with that (Crack)."
My 6 yo became obsessed with hitting a couple weeks ago, when he connected on sweet spot with wiffle ball bat. So Loaded up on used baseballs and tennis balls , and he’s been at about an hour a day . Try not coach him much because want it to stay fun, and he’s got good natural mechanics , but showed him this video today , and likely will about 25 times more this year . It’s basically all you need to know about hitting a baseball .
I’m a former baseball player and now I play an ancient Irish sport called hurling. To score I have to self pitch the ball to myself and I’ve been watching his advice to improve my swing. It’s been really helpful actually. Especially when he talks about cutting up when you swing and how to chose the right bat. A hurling stick is made of ash and it’s about the size and weight of a baseball bat.
I used to hurl when I drank too much beer. I didn't think of it as a sport though.
Looks and sounds like this guy knows what he's doing. LOL!!! The Splendid Splinter...The greatest hitter ever!!!
I remember reading the sports section of the local paper when Ted Williams hit a home run in his last at bat before he retired. I was 15. I wish I had kept the article.
Look at how he's all about form. Nothing fancy. Just a clean swing that's rooted in the basic mechanics of baseball. He doesn't wave his bat around, he doesn't flip it, he just plays the game.
Ted Williams and Josh Donaldson are the only hitters that have helped me get better at batting. I legit feel more power when I began using their advice.
One of my favorite all-time players who certainly has words of wisdom for batters thank you for sharing and God bless from Patrick
Great video. I was 11 in 1960 when he played his last game. Williams was one of my heroes. We could never get enough batting practice because of the logistical problems of pitching and htting a baseball, so we worked out a good training system. We'd take a wiffle bat and ball and pitch at full speed from 25-30 feet. If you've got a good arm the ball comes in pretty fast at that distance. And the ball does crazy things being full of holes and so light. We'd do that until it got easy and then switch to a wooden bat. It developed quick reactions, wrist speed and power, and the ability to track the ball very quickly. if you got so you could hit the ball consistently with the wood bat, the biggest problem when you got in a game was waiting on the pitch. The ball seemed to take forever to get to you from 60 feet.
Greatest swing of all time!! Simple & Sweet!
This is awesome! Thanks for sharing this
When Baseball was Baseball! ❤
When I was a kid in the 1970's & Baseball was my life, I wish I had the advantage of watching videos like this. Our little league & Babe Ruth coaches were always somebody's Dad who knew a little & usually was involve because his kid was on the team, so we didn't get the best coaching. My way of hitting was trying to copy my heroes like how Reggie Jackson looked like when hitting although I was moderately successful, I never knew the fine points broken down like in this video.
Yeh, I coulda been someone with that kind of coaching.
If Ted were playing today he would still be the best hitter in baseball. He would make whatever adjustment he needed to make to hit today's pitchers. The same type adjustments he made against certain pitchers when he played. Most haven't studied Ted's material enough to truly understand what he did when he hit. You'll never figure out what he did by just reading his book "TSOH". You really need to throw out your current belief system on hitting and view his material with a completely open mind. The guy was the Einstein of hitting. He understood bio-mechanics and how the human body naturally works. That's why his swing looks so fluid. He didn't let anyone coach out the natural movements needed to hit a baseball well.
Yep. You hear the interview when they ask Ted how he would do against the current day pitchers. Ted around .250 (or something close that) and the interviewer says,"So the pitchers are that much better these days"? Ted replies..."Hell I'm 50 years old.". HaHaHaHa. Classic.
The sad thing is that most HS and college coaches won't allow kids to follow Ted's advice on hitting. One of the varsity HS players I was working with was told by his coach, that he didn't care about how Ted hit; if he wanted to play he would have to hit his way. The "A to C", "Swing Down" barrel path is what I see being taught in my area. The coaches are closed minded to any other approach.
SixSentSoldiers If we know Ted, he is probably in heaven organizing a league right now just so he can play in it. He is probably giving hitting instructions to God. And God should be taking notes.
Hitting is all about hands, hand to eye coordination, and natural ability. Some of the best hitters of all time had 'bad mechanics' according to today's coaches.
Can't have bad mechanics and consistently hit MLB pitching past or present. The best hitters use their bodies in a way that is bio-mechanically correct according to science and physics. My experience is that the coaches who say that the best hitters can get away with using poor mechanics because they are gifted athletically; are always the ones that teach the hands-to-ball, swing down, one plane circular barrel path that commonly gets taught at local ball parks all across the country. They use that narrative to hide behind their lack of knowledge of good hitting mechanics. They're basically telling kids that they know more about hitting than Ted...which I believe is absurd.
Agree eye hand coordination is important to be a great hitter. So is your mental approach. Ted said hitting is 50% from the neck up...and he meant it. Ted would get a good chuckle over your comment about natural ability. Ted was obsessed with hitting and worked tirelessly at it. He constantly preached; practice, practice, practice; and said that practice was one of the big keys to being a great hitter.
As for the hands being important; that gets into a whole discussion about the role of the torso in athletic movements. Does the torso support the goal of the hands...or do the hands support the goal of the torso? I would argue that the torso is very important when it comes to hitting a baseball. When Ted talks about balance in his material, when he talks about the necessity of the head to move forward when the lead foot is lifted to cock the hips...he is talking about the torso.
Williams sets the record at .406, one of sports' all time greatest records, still standing after over 80 years😳, right up there with Wilt's 100 and Pistol's averaging 44 at LSU. Just INCREDIBLE human achievements.
But here's a bit of trivia; SIXTEEN YEARS AFTER SETTING THE RECORD at .406, Williams bats .388 to come in FOURTH after himself.
Just unreal, and never talked about
Ted's .406 in 1941 is not the highest single-season batting average ever. Or even close. It's just the LAST time a major leaguer hit .400 or higher. (The last time previous was Bill Terry at 401 in 1930, ten years before Ted did it.)
Rogers Hornsby hit .424 in 1924, .403 in 1925, and .401 in 1922.
George Sisler hit .420 in 1922 and .407 in 1920.
Ty Cobb hit .409 in 1911, .419 in 1912 and .401 in 1922.
There were numerous others in the 1900s and others still in the 1880s and 1890s. If you bring in the Negro Leagues, there are even more.
I also helped that Williams had amazing eyesight. He could tell exactly where on the baseball he made contact. Once he did an experiment where he coated the barrel of his bat with pine tar. Then he would call the spot he made contact with, and it was compared to the mark on the ball. He would say things like, right across the seam...half inch below the seam...hit on top of the ball, etc. And the mark on the ball would confirm exactly what he said on each pitch.
Williams also claimed that he could see the ball deform when he was making contact. Ted Williams was probably the most intense student of the game that ever lived. Williams was proof that if you, as a batter, become fundamentally sound, things like "launch angle" and "exit velocity" will take care of themselves.
Student of hitting. He didn't seem to care much about the rest of the game, especially as a manger.
Teddy Ballgame...The best damned hitter I ever saw!!! Also a American hero as a decorated Marine Corp fighter pilot in WWII!!
AND the flights he flew in combat, during the Korean war!!!!!!!
At 2:12 it looked like Ted was crowding the plate pretty good. IMO Ted was the greatest hitter of all time. Tons of other greats. But consider how many years he was absent serving his country. Damn good pilot so I've read. He was probably one of those people that was just great at anything he did.
An expert fly fisherman as well!
@@skeeta1068
He’s in two fishing hall of fames too from what I’ve read. He was the wingman for astronaut John Glenn in Korea who called Ted one of the finest pilots he’s ever seen.
I'm sure his diagnostic tests after joining war effort didn't lead him to piloting by accident. I read that he practically set the navy record on depth perception test and reflexes.
Ted Williams and Tony Gwynn are the greatest pure hitters baseball has ever seen.
You ever hear of Ty Cobb and Rogers Hornsby....😕
ichiro definitely up there too
(Cough...) BabeRuth
Dave Kingman
@@TwoPyramid Cute.
Amazing how modern his hitting was. Decades above everyone else.
He was quite the physical specimen ...built for pro ball ...all around American hero ⚾️🏆👨✈️
As a baseball coach I couldn't possibly agree more with all the tips in this video
Baseball Hitting GOAT 🐐! I watched hit .563 in HS 12 dingers .. moved on to Strong 💪🏻 Beach Dirt Bags! Rest is history!
Rules for life. 😉
San Diego born and raised baby! Go Ted aka The Kid. Interesting fact his Mexican-American uncle who played semi pro ball showed him as a young child. ⚾️💪🏻 🇺🇸🇲🇽
The Swing
Goat
as a Cleveland Indians fan, i've always like Ted Williams' answer whenever a reporter asked him "Who were the best pitchers and the toughest to hit pitchers you ever faced in your long career?" Ted Williams mlways answered "That's easy. The answer to BOTH questions is BOB FELLER."
Best hitter of all time...the man was brilliant...hitting was his life....
Jim Cushman ted Williams lived to hit
Jim Cushman ted Williams lived to hit
One of the greatest fighter pilots in WW-II and Korean War fighter piloits.
He makes hitting that home run at the end look so simple and natural---a joy to watch, different from today's batters. And...Ted Williams didn't need any "batting gloves" to hit .400.....
There was nothing simple and natural about Teddy Ballgame [other than his physical tools]. He worked at batting harder and longer than anybody probably ever has, and he absolutely hated being called a 'natural' because of the time he put in becoming the GOAT.
@@jamesd2128 you are correct.....my point was that he made it LOOK simple....that shows just how GOOD he was!
Or steroids from BALCO like......oh, never mind.
@@russs7574 not in that era
So cool.
Batting with Ted Williams from 16mm Film
Teddy Ballgame understood launch angle before it was even dreamed about as a thing.
Right you are! Ted knew more about hitting than Bill James could know if he lived to be 200 years-old.
Help me out a little guys. Ted's swing looks way different to me than what guys today do. He appears to stand fairly straight up and swing flat through and not even with all his strength, while most guys today put 110% into most swings and are dang near dropping to one knee in the process to get the "launch angle". Am I off here?
It appears so. You can see what he does and modern ballplayers sometimes emulate it in swings. He might have varied his swing but you can tell he liked to use height and do some geometry karate on the ball.
@@crunchie83 Guys today do so much core work that enables them to get great batspeed. They also use smaller lighter bats today than back then. Ted’s swing was a long smooth swing that worked great against guys throwing 85mph. When they start throwing 98-100mph you need to be shorter and quicker to the ball.
Greatest of all time... Not so good in explaining it, but can't blame him... HE JUST DOES IT! Teddy Williams- Greatest Latino Baseball Plater of All Time.
Sitizen Kane I've found Ted's explanations on hitting to be the best. Most don't understand what he meant because their current belief system gets in the way. His explanation of the weight shift is outstanding, yet I've never seen one coach or instructor teach the weight shift the way Ted explained it. Just go to any batting cage and observe what kids are being taught on how to "get their weight back", or how to "stay back". Not at all what Ted said to do. After more than 10 years of studying Ted's ideas on hitting and instructing kids; I've concluded most coaches and hitting instructors are just intellectually lazy when it comes to teaching hitting. No way they're going to spend the 100s of hours it takes shifting through the many interviews Ted did to piece together his beliefs on hitting. The information is there for anyone willing to do the research.
Don't really know about that Latino thing. I know he was from San Diego and his mother had some Mexican blood.
Yes she did and that made him part Latino. If his mother 'had some black blood in her' Ted would have been called 'the best black hitter ever.'
The key is front shoulders down and back, it creates bat speed. Great video
San Diego represent!
Does it seem as if Ted does not keep his back elbow tucked in? Obviously Mr. Williams is one of the all time greats. That said, don't many great hitters keep the back elbow a little more tucked?
After the 1950 All Star game when he injured his left elbow in that game, he was not the same hitter afterwards. Afterwards up to his last super season in 1957 ( hitting .388 ) he felt he was lucky to have hit ( emphasis more on hitting. He could not run fast. ) as well as he actually did.
One thing I tell anyone I coach hitting to is to do strength exercises for your hands, wrists and forearms. You want to have vice grip hands for hitting.
I noticed Ted used more of a box type grip then knuckles lined up. Interesting.
He went 6 for 8 in the last doubleheader on the last day of the season in 1941. He raised his average from .3999 to .406. He won two triples crowns. He would murder the bullpen pitchers of today.
He held his bat straight up at the plate he said it felt lighter in his book.He mentioned standing back from the plate which he never did? When you stand up on the plate it allows you to cover the whole plate keeping your hands in gives you the control and power to cover the whole plate, once you start reaching or casting your bat you lose your power. I just read his book from 1970 good tips from still the last hitter to bat .400!
He said he backed off the plate on the advice of Paul Waner, in order to beat the shift.
It's quick hands barrel to the ball. Then the hips ,leg power follow through look good..!!!!
Ted williams is so right! A lot of times hitters have a tendency to open up and not keep your head straight
I learned how to hit by watching Ted Williams videos and then making adjustments in the cages.
The mound during Williams time was 18" high, steeper angle harder to hit, to day it is 12", the Ball Parks were larger harder to hit a HR and he dealt with the Williams shift his whole career and still had a .344 BA, and 521 HRS. Last man to hit .400. today piching is watered down, we have added 14 teams since Williams played, they were the best of the best. Today 30 teams and in 1941 16 teams. Miguel is good but not enough time has gone by to put him Williams League!
Blah Blah Blah. There's a reason they lowered the mound. It happened in the 1960's when the AL batting leader hit .299 because pitchers became too dominant.
Today bullpens are 10x better than they were back then. Starting pitchers were expected to pitch the whole game on 3 days rest, not 4. Hitting off tired pitchers in the 7th-9th innings is huge.
These days, you've got 8th inning guys throwing 98 mph and 9th inning guys throwing 100 mph with a splitter.
Way harder to hit today.
in Williams day they played during the day in the heat 100% wool uniforms, pitchers were still throwing doctored baseballns!! traveled on trains!! they lowered the mound in 1969 after bob Gibson had a era of 1.12!! there we
only 8 teams in the American league!! so they only faced 7 other teams!! familiarity breeds contempt when it comes to pitchers,especially starting pitchers!!
I have heard that theory about talent being watered down. I really disagree. True, many more teams now. It is also true that immigration has changed the game. More immigration now than ever. Have you noticed how athletic the defense has become in the last 20 years? The insane athleticism on the double plays, backhand stop by the 2nd baseman 10 feet behind 2nd who flips the ball with his glove to the SS covering who makes a ridiculous pivot and fires a laser to first. Third baseman making insane diving catch on a ground ball and fires a laser to first. The athleticism on defense has gone off the charts. Brooks may have been the best ever defense at third (arguable) but top to bottom, the defense is just better now. And that is despite there being more teams. It's true in pitching as well. Insane "lights out" closers all over the place with a WHIP less than 8, sometimes even less than 7! If anything, hitting in the majors is more difficult than it has ever been. Pitchers have it tougher too. The reason is because gone are the days when you would see a LOT of C,2nd base, and SS light hitters. Now, you see guys all the way down the lineup who can pop it. The stereotype of the SS who could field everything but in hitting you could almost knock the bat out of his hands... those days are long gone. My main point was about immigration and the game is more available to domestic players too. Think of how many players of color today who wouldn't have even been in the majors prior to 1947. Japan (Ichiro), and on and on. Playing in the MLB wouldn't have been available to Ichiro and many others years ago. Cuba, etc. etc. Immigration in MLB started roughly about with Minnie Minoso in 1949. But it is MUCH greater now. More teams? Yes. But it is also true that the talent pool has become more extensive.
he didnt lift weights, workout or take steroids
sychophantt, he’s do dozens of pushups in the locker room after games to strengthen his forearms, according to his teammate Dom DiMaggio
@@lmbscriptsharcs2044 Dom was great too but Ted just like joe was a natural hitter
why this are not in spanish? it is awesome and thre are many spanishs fans
Ted here doesn't mention cocking and rotating the hips, which he emphasized later in "The Science of Hitting."
This is exactly TED!!!
dang i wish i watched this when i was in little league
2:20.... that right fielder would be sitting the bench after that zero effort. wtf was that? he could have easily caught it.
He was probably tired from bagging groceries earlier in the day.
Ted crowded the plate!
Watch 2:13
to see Williams bale out. He does not stride toward the pitcher.
Wow, great catch. It figures that he's full of baloney and probably got by on natural ability rather than technique.
@@TwoPyramid Williams had great eyesight. He had 20/10 vision.
@@johndeagle4389 yes, his success was truly based on his many physical gifts. He was also an intelligent person.
@@TwoPyramid Saul Venzor helped Williams out as a kid.
@@johndeagle4389 ok, interesting, I didn't know he had an uncle who was a player.
Best advice to hitters is just relax
awesome.
Calling all cars. Calling all cars.
What year?
His power is all in his hips
Ted Williams did not step toward the pitcher. Williams baled out slightly.
The "Splendid Splinter" of Blessed Memory, Tky, yy
It took God 6 days to create the world, on the 7th Ted showed him how to hit.
OPS 🤴!
anyone know what year this was?
Late fifties. He retired in 1960 and his weight and age here shows he was close to retirement. I saw him play in Boston then.
Mary Cage I fancy myself a bit of a baseball historian. We could name many players, hall of famers, that it took them a couple of years before their careers really took off. Cobb was like that. Look it up, rookie season 1905, struggled, did well in 1906 but nothing spectacular, Cobb really took off in 1907 and especially 1908. Mays was kind of like that. W. Mays certainly recognized as talented in 1951, rookie season, but no one had any idea of what was to come. Aaron was like that too. There was one guy however who was IMMEDIATELY the best hitter in either league from the moment he arrived in the majors. His rookie season was 1939. The 'kid" as he was known at the time. By the time he had been in the league two weeks every American League pitcher had been put on notice. Gaaawwwd has arrived. His name is Ted Williams. And he brought a wrath him.
Mary Cage Funny story about Ted Williams. We are now in the 140th season of major league baseball, and, go figure, some comical things have happened. The eephus pitch is a real act of desperation used very sparingly in baseball. A real act of desperation by a pitcher, almost always against one of the better sluggers, when the slugger is really locked in and the pitcher has no clue what else to do with him. I thought the eephus was a relatively new idea, maybe 20-25 years old. I discovered only a couple of years ago it has a longer history. It goes back at least to the 1946 All-Star game when a National League pitcher decided to try it against none other than Ted Williams. The pitcher would have had to have practiced it a few times. The pitcher threw the ball up in the air maybe 25-30 feet high. Perfectly legal pitch (and still is). The ball came down into the strike zone at a VERY steep angle. Note the above, uh, this would have been into TED WILLIAMS' strike zone. It is of my belief this was the first and last time Williams ever saw the eephus pitch his entire career. At that point in time, the left-handed slugging Williams promptly proceeded to smush it... over the right field fence.
The bats they used back then weighed like a thousand pounds and the handles were thick as trees.
It is no lie that Roberto Clemente used a bigger and heavier bat than Aaron Judge uses right now....Clemente's bat was not quite maximum legal length, but it was max weight.
When I was growing up, one of my friends was a Forbes Field one night when the Pirates were taking batting practice. Clemente cracked on of his bats, and as he was going back to the dugout to get a new bat, my buddy asked him if he could have the cracked bat (of course, this was back in the day before every piece of sports memorabilia had a price tag on it.)
Clemente said he could, but to let the equipment guy nail the crack. Clemente finished his turn in the batting cage, walked into the dugout and came back out with the bat and handed to my buddy. We never used it when we were playing because it was cracked and nailed, but more importantly, we were only about 10 or 11, and none of us could swing it. We called it the "Dinosaur Club."
Clemente was not a big man, but that bat was freakin' huge.
You know what the really frustrating thing about learning how to hit is? The contradictions by contemporary hitting instructors who think they have it all figured out, and then you see the greatest hitter of all time doing just the opposite. I just watched a video on this site only less than an hour ago where the instructor was saying the front foot, the ENTIRE front foot from heel to toe should all plant at the same time and then the front foot should NOT pivot. Keep the front foot planted. The back foot pivots, not the front foot. Then, just out of curiosity, I decided to take another look at Williams and see what HE was doing. Wouldn't you know it? FRONT FOOT PIVOTS with stride. Unbelievable. I actually think this perfectly illustrates one of the problems with contemporary coaching. They are trying too hard to get everything "perfect" and not just on hitting... pitching too. I remember the insanely successful RH Pitcher Juan Marichal, when in the windup, use to practically point the cleats of his left foot towards the sky before he delivered his fastball with the left foot coming down and the right arm coming around like some kind of vicious windmill. If a pitcher in the minors tried that today, he would be sent to some mechanics specialist to try and correct it. Geez. Message to coaches from little league on up.... PLEASE stop over-coaching. Let the players figure out what is working for THEM, and then back off. I'm not saying don't teach ANY mechanics. I am simply saying there is more than one way to get things done. Can you imagine someone telling Musial his feet were too close together in his stance? It's especially disgusting to me when I see a coach telling a kid maybe 10 years old ... telling him 47 different things to improve his hitting. Information overload. Trying to put so much information into him about his shoulders, feet, hands, while yo are at it, don't forget to tell him to do a couple of calculus problems in his head on the way to first base.. oh, by all means, don't forget to tell him the proper way to wear his jock strap so as to put as much power into his swing as possible. Geez. They are over-coaching in little league, they are over-coaching in MLB, and everything in between.
Most hitting instructors don't understand the difference between style and the bio-mechanically correct movements needed for a good swing. There is a universal pattern that all good hitters use. The problem is that hitters seamlessly wrap their individual style around the pattern, making the pattern invisible to most. I start with the pattern, which is the same basic pattern we use to throw a ball or swing an axe. It's nothing more than how the human body naturally syncs up to perform a ballistic throwing motion.
Bobby Vaught IMO the front foot is a no teach. Next time you play catch, notice what your front thigh does right before your front foot lands. Your front thigh rolls over or "externally rotates". This is a bio-mechanically correct movement that the body does naturally when throwing. IMO it is a mistake to coach this natural movement out of kids when they hit. Anyone who teaches hitting should ask themselves two simple questions. 1) Do great hitters like Ted WIlliams swing the bat, or do they throw the barrel at the ball. 2) If your answer is "Throw the barrel at the ball", would you ever teach a fielder to throw a ball the way you teach them to hit a ball?
Could it be pitchers throw harder today; hence the new techniques?
The technique used by Ted and all the great hitters is the best technique against hard throwers, curve ball pitchers, and everything in between. In order to be a great hitter you have to learn to use your body correctly, the way nature designed it to work. Ted's swing agrees with the science of how the human body works. His swing also follows the laws of physics. Most of the stuff being taught to kids today regarding the swing defies basic science.
true, a lot of advise a kid gets is bad advise, i remember in little league a guy in the stands coming up to me after a game and asking me why i had so many pitching motions, i had no idea i was even doing it, of course he didn't show me anything he just said something and walked away. on the flip side to what you're saying i don't remember getting much of anything in the way of instruction, had to figure it out on my own, so i guess getting a lot of tips can also be beneficial, that is, if you can figure out what works and what doesn't, maybe one of them really works or leads to something that does, and of course bad advise can cause injuries too. in my case i had a torn rotator cuff by high school, i remember curves balls being the culprit, but what i don't know is if throwing them caused it or maybe i didn't have the right kind of shoulder to begin with, so many variables out there, it's really hard to sort thru all of it. today's kids are better off i think, science and technology is so much better.
Really helpful
On Point!
hey anyone know what it means by "remember the V"?
I saw you on Dead Red Hitting, and other channels I watch! I'll subscribe.
I think what Ted Williams is referring to as the "V" is the way your arms are position when you pick up a bat correctly. 1:29 his arms form a V starting from where his hands touch the bat to the shoulders. This makes sure you have a comfortable grip; as the nowadays knocking knuckle grip is a myth, the ideal grip is the box grip or somewhere around that. You will find when you pick the bat up this way you will find a grip somewhat like the box grip.
Note: that when you do pick up the bat like this your wrists should be in a neutral position, not flexed.
tehfutureawesome yes, i discovered baseball at age 19 so i'm trying to learn from the internet because i don't know any who plays baseball :-(
thanks for your info, i also heard about the knocking knuckle grip.
the proper way to grip is a big concern to me because the first thing that happened to me when i swung for the first time, was really bad wrist pain. it is because the knob of the bat hits my bottom hand's wrist during the swing.. i could swing an ordinary stick/rod etc no problem, but when i try a bat, the knob really makes it difficult..
by the way, does that happen to you too if you take a swing? it might be that im holding the bat wrong, i doubt normal players also have this problem and just play through it
Himu Yashiro I wouldn't use the knocking knuckle grip… I prefer a variation of the box grip. Don't do exactly the box grip, but use it as a starting point; then adapt to feel because we are all special.
If you are feel pain, it could also be that you are holding the bat too tight. Or that your wrists are too tight. And a good hitting tool to prevent sting I'd recommend, not for your pain, is the Prohitter Thumb Guard. Great for adding power.
P.S. It could also be that your wrists are bent at a weird angle, try to keep it "neutral".
thanks again, it doesn't hurt if i bend my wrists or anything its just the knob of the bat that hits my bottom wrist each time.. doesn't that happen to you too when you swing?
Himu Yashiro What kind of bat do you use? And no, I usually hold it at the end and don't choke up unless my bat is really big for me.
The best eye on a baseball there ever was. A record for most walks. The complete ballplayer.
🐐
Batting slump for the Splendid Splinter meant he was only batting .315
GREATEST HITTER
I have CLOSELY read the comments. QUESTION !!!! IF---IF TED WILLIAMS had those 'FIVE YEARS"of his PRIME YEARS PLAYING, which he spent FLYING in WORLD WAR ll and the KOREAN WAR , what would his CAREER and RECORDS be ????? BATTING AVG ? R B i 's,? HOME RUNS ? TOTAL BASES ?, M V P's ? ETC. ETC.
NO ONE can even guess accurately. MANY baseball statistics and records would undergo dramatic revision.
Ted Williams did not step toward the pitcher. Williams bails out at 1:07.
They are not hitting with their hands and wrist 😂
They are rotating into the ball with their hands very much following the power and momentum of their hip rotation.
You also see that they(the best hitters) overwhelming drive with their bottom hand and do not push their top hand through the zone
I had no idea he choked up on the bat.
Ted constantly made adjustments. I honestly believe that the DH been in effect, he could've hit MLB pitching until he was 50.
did you know he is my Great Great GrandFather :3
Are you a fetus?
no you weirdo.
RealJizKhalifa and heffbee are so right in their comments in response to Glenchirvin's comment. 1.) Glenchirvin is an idiot, 2.) Ted Williams would indeed be 95 years old today as heffbee said, and 3.) if Ted Williams were in the league today he would hit .270 at the ripe old age of 95, and 4.) in my estimation if Ted Williams were playing in the league today at the age of 28 and in his prime, he would hit .470.
I agree with all of that except #4. .470? uh, no. But he was still the greatest hitter ever. Williams is probably giving hitting instructions to God right now. And God should be taking notes.
Joe Sparacio I don't think Ted would hit .470 or perhaps not even .400. However he would still likely lead the league in batting average, slugging percentage, and on base percentage. He would still refuse to swing at bad pitches and would draw a lot of walks. He would still have his ability to correctly anticipate pitches. He would still be able to hit the best fastballs. He would still have his great eye sight. He would still take care of his body. Tony Gwynn said it best. He said that the big difference between Ted and modern day players is that when Ted got a good pitch to hit, he rarely missed it. Hitters today still get plenty of good pitches to hit, they just don't have the barrel path that Ted did to take advantage. Musial had the same type barrel path. The barrel paths of the great old time hitters were flatter. They got the barrel flatter earlier...earlier in the swing sequence. HS and college kids today are not allowed to flatten the barrel to the swing plane early. The coaches today want the "A to C" hands-to-the-ball barrel path.
Yes, but Ted would be 95 years old now!
And Ted could still outhit today's MLB players, even at that age! LOL!!
Sounds like John Wayne
Right fielder gives no effort at 2:20
32 33 bat speed
Three best hitters of all-time (post 1940), I have a three way tie between Aaron, Mays and T. Williams.
Great hitters. But DiMaggio wasn't bad. And I have Ted at Number One.
Yes! DiMaggio is right up there with the three I mentioned, undoubtedly. Also, if Barry Bonds never did steroids he'd also be up on the same list, his pre 2000 numbers were good enough, but he sullied his career. Stan Musial's very close. The reason I put it at a three-way tie between Mays, Aaron and Williams as my greatest hitter of all-time is b/c Williams the vast majority of his career only against white players, Aaron and Mays played against the best baseball talent available regardless of color. So I have a three-way tie between Williams, Mays and Aaron. I'm also a Milwaukee boy at heart so I have a soft spot for Aaron (my bias on the table!).
Very good points. I think Henry Aaron stands taller with each passing season. He was great in every phase of the game and carried himself with real dignity.
p.s. I grew up in New England, but Braves legend Warren Spahn was always my favorite pitcher. His delivery was so pure. And what teams they had in Milwaukee back then.
Ty Cobb roger hornsby, ted Williams, best hitters ever
Church
Today's athletes are mostly working out in the weight room all the time, using tailor made bats to their exact weight and balance, using all kinds of 'enhancements' for their bodies, etc...
The old timers were smokers, drinkers, barely worked out, if at all, used whatever equipment they got their hands on for the most part and didn't have any 'enhancements' available to them.
Sports were more fun and less serious. Watch the old games, there was no chest pounding, excessive celebrating, yelling and screaming all the time like today's sportsmen.
Call me old but I would prefer less bravado and showmanship in today's sports.
Ted wasn't a smoker or a drinker. He did do calisthenics. And he kept in shape (a Marine!). He said he also squeezed a rubber ball to get his grip stronger.
Too bad he didn't have all the amazing steroids we have today...his day, they only had speed and booze and booze is counterproductive when it come to hitting
No helmets in the day...
Back then the average fastball was only about 60 mph
@@TwoPyramid morn 60
@@brucefranklin1317 lol, true
Full clip is here: th-cam.com/video/OsZvdU0o-gM/w-d-xo.html
123 WAR / lifetime.482 OBP
He was a scientist in the batting box. Ted Williams is the only one who can rival the Ruth.
no one can come close to Ted's statistics in that box
p3t3witha3 i love ted Williams like a family member ty Cobb was just as super great as a hitter
His head barely moves, It's like it's frozen.
Ted was an exceptional hitter for his era but if he took that swing and that bat speed up against today's big league flame throwers, he'd probably to hit .100.
Lmao! Ted Williams would hit better than any contact player today. He would put Jeff McNeil to shame.
@Steve Witte Bullshit. Today's pitchers throw harder and have better breaking balls. Get real. The avg velocity of big league pitchers is 95 mph. That type of speed wasn't no where near as common back in Ted's era as you say.
@Steve Witte I have read that book and Williams was ahead of his time but put him in today's game and he wouldn't be that good. He was great for his era and that's it. The pitchers he faced are nowhere near as good as pitchers hitters from the last few decades have to face.
By the way, the book is called "The Science of Hitting", NOT the "Art of Hitting". I know more about Teddy Ballgame than you do. Lol
If you believe that, I have some beachfront property in Phoenix to sell you...
......
*Babe Ruth was better*
lol, some of the greatest athletes aren't the best coaches or instructors, and lot of great athletes have incredible innate skills that can't be taught. if there was a perfect way to hit everyone would be doing it but everyone is built differently and has different strengths and weaknesses, a good instructor can adjust a person to their own strengths, and see what may be causing a problem, there are fundamentals that increase productivity but there is no prefect science to hitting or pitching.