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Very nice analysis...it's good to see instructors observe what is actually happening during the swing, as opposed to teaching principles that have been passed down from generation to generation, but simply don't happen in great swings. Particular kudos to identifying how the hands being back allow the bat to get on the baseball plane (in the impact zone) early. Too many instructors are teaching principles which do not promote that practice...
@gsandhu92 I will try to put one together for you. I have a lot of requests from people and I'll be trying to get to as many as possible as soon as I can. Thanks for watching!
Thanks man. It is tough to type it all out on here, but explain to them that when they stride they want to be athletic and land in a balanced position, and when they rotate to hit they have to keep their head in one place. Get them to practice hitting the ball to the opposite field to teach them how to let the ball travel. A lot of hitting through the ball is bat path. You can put the heavy balls and two tee drills all day, but if they are doing other stuff wrong in their swing...
The important thing is that the weight is transferred from the back leg to the front leg through the swing. You don't need to think about what you look like when your swing is finished, that will happen on its own.
Absolutely I agree most of what he does he did it naturally. But if you don't do things naturally I think you can work on different aspects of the swing to improve them.
Thanks man. Yeah I hear you. Yes the move doesn't need to be huge but having one is important. I'll be putting a video up in a few days on the topic so check it out then. Good luck!
I think it's awesome that you actually reply to these comments. I found a video online where he hit one last year off Michael Pineda. I think it was later in the year after he came back from AAA. He hit over .300 on his return and his swing then was probably similar to this seasons. He does go forward, it just is like 6-12". I think I need to adapt a short movement forward, I either step like 2' or hardly at all.
You want to square the ball up. If you hit the middle of the baseball you will hit a line drive. I think that is the goal of most hitters. The idea of hitting the inside seam is a mental thought to keep you inside the ball and having the proper bath path.
What I find when I teach middle schoolers coming up to high school is when you tell them to start the swing with your hips, which is correct, most of them have tendencies to cut themselves off and they are all arms, just because they are not strong enough to swing a -3 and try to use their hips too much. I'll tell them to stay shot to the ball more and they end up doing better, so yeah. Great points in the vid!
I haven't read Lau's book, but I have read Ted Williams and found it pretty useful. One of my former hitting coach's Jim Lefebvre wrote a pretty good book on hitting as well "The Making of a Hitter"
@wogdoggy I never said you transfer your weight and then swing the bat. The transferring of weights happens during the swing. I was just breaking down different parts of the swing.
Junior had the most smoothest and the most graceful swing ever. His swinging motion was like a ballerina. Just a beautiful thing to watch. If had not been for those terrible injuries, Ken Griffey Jr. probably would have ended up with around 800 home runs, 4,000 hits, 3,500 ribbies, .350 batting average and a whole lot more gold gloves. He was scary good. His playing style was similar to Willie Mays-an all around talent.
I took a look a Lind's swing. I'm not sure what he is doing differently from last year because I don't have a video from last season, but don't go by what it looks like he's doing on TV. You need to find a side view and slow it down. He doesn't have a huge leg kick or anything, but he does have a pretty decent sized stride and a good sized linear move. There are almost no hitter's in the MLB that don't move anywhere and just sit and spin. They all move and transfer their weight.
Well it gives you something to hit with. If your hands come with your body as you stride there is no distance or separation. It also lets your bat get on plane with the ball easier.
Great job!!!! His hands staying back allowed him to explode, effortlessly into the back of the baseball. I think that's what allowed him to hit the ball so hard the other way without changing a thing with his swing!!
@DjSmash5 well they have the advantage in a lot of areas over right handed hitters. First there are a lot more RHP than LHP so that helps them over a right handed hitter who has to face a lot of right handed pitchers. Whenever there is a man on 1st base they have the advantage of having a large hole on their pull side because the 1st baseman will have to hold the runner on. And with regards to left handed hitters with speed they have the advantage of being closer to first when they leave the box
Yes, the load is over exaggerated by too many coaches and players. You don't have to get all your weight back before you make a positive move. The more weight you get back the more weight you will have to get off your backside when you hit. When Griffey strides he has enough weight on his back leg so he is able to stride and move his body. This is all you really need. And he starts his hands in a good position so they don't have to move much, he just walks away from them during his stride.
@ajs1850 That is really funny that you just asked that. I just made a video yesterday about how almost all Major League players do not line their knocking knuckles up. I will be putting it up here at some point in the next few days.
We have over one hundred and sixty videos and talk about a lot of that stuff in those videos. A player asked me what I liked about Griffey's swing so I answered him. I don't have time in the video to go over ever single thing in full detail.
@926giants I do. When he played in Seattle, he was the greatest player of all time. I am young (24) and Griffey was my childhood Idol so my opinion is biased, but he was the best pure power hitter (steroid suspicions cancel out all of his competition) of his time and the best outfielder in the game (playing the most difficult outfield position). He could steal bases, He had an outstanding arm and he could also hit for average. G.O.A.T. in his prime
Hey I watched VHS tape when I was a kid of Ken Griffey Jr and Sr. They have tips on how they hit and bat weight and length. Does anyone know the name of that tape? Thanks!
Yeah Griffey has his arm almost totally extended. There are a lot of Major League hitters that get a lot of length in their bottom hand arm. At the lower levels of baseball coaches think this is a big "no no" but you need length in the lead arm to generate bat speed and get the bat on plane early.
Study everything you can by Ted Williams. Of all the hitting info I've come across over the past 10 years, nothing is as good as the info from Williams. Williams' material on weight shift and balance is really, really good. One caveat.....when studying Williams' material, don't filter what he says through your current belief system. Take him at his word. Most people who read Williams try and make what he says fit their current beliefs on hitting. It should be the other way around.
Sorry I missed this part of the question. That's interesting. Strange that it is a lot of ground balls to the opposite field. Sounds to me like he isn't releasing his barrel and just blocking the ball the other way. Why that is happening is tough to say without seeing the swing. I wish I could help more.
He started the season HOT. Broke his left arm and missed everything and came back in playoffs. His arm is back to normal. He use to hit line drives between 3rd baseman and 2nd base bag constantly. It's all ground balls opposite field now
Man what a great video, I actually see the difference between the push swing and an actual swing now. My only question is what is the difference between pulling your front shoulder off and doing what he is doing?? I've had coaches tell me that I need to work on not pulling of on balls, which just results in me doing a push swing. Thanks Matt!
hey buddy,I just wanted to know if it is necessary to rotate with your body before taking hands to ball?Because i have inconsistent power and i was wondering if this would help,Thank you
Hi TouchEmAllBaseball, Thanks for the in-depth analysis. You should mention, though, that at contact Ken Griffey Jr.'s back leg is an "L" shape. Best, QP
when i see griffey swing the bat, it's similar to him almost swinging a rope with a heavy rock on the end of it. very efficient swing, just kind of sits and rotates into the ball.
Once he got traded to the reds his career pretty much went downhill he was still young and in his prime but with all the injuries it just caught up with him I truly relieve we would surpassed bonds homerun record
Would it be accurate to say Griffey had an arm bar? It's a problem I've had in my swing personally and while people have pointed it out I've tried non-stop for months to fix it and haven't been able too.
Yes he definitely had his front arm very close to straight. Most Major League hitters get their hands back over their back foot. This is not taught at a young level of baseball, but is taught at a higher level.
Question if I may. My sons 8. Our league hits off 40mph machine. He RARELY swings and misses. Past few wks in the all star tourn, he's hitting constant ground balls, and all to 2nd base. Anything I should look 4?
There's a difference between being a better player and having a better career. Only players I'd put on the same level as Griffey are Williams (though he was a shit defender) Mays and Mantle. Can't really compare infielders because the expectations and athletic skillsets are different.
You ever heard of Barry Bonds? and don't bring up steroids because Bonds was always better than Griffey. Or Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Stan the man, Rickey Henderson?
I definitely considered Aaron. I consider Aaron the better hitter for sure. However, Griffey played a more physically demanding, and valuable position, which is hard to measure. That being said, Aaron was more durable and obviously had the better career. For Ruth, I never consider pre-integration players in these conversations because it was a completely different era and the competition was lacking. Stan the Man...same thing as Hank Aaron, only he was an even worse fielder (although an even better hitter), and I know there wasn't a lot of integration at that point (same problem with Ted Williams, even though I mentioned him before). There's an argument to be made for Ricky. He was always an underrated fielder, but he was an entirely different player and it's hard to measure that. He'd take a walk then steal a base, which was basically like a double. He was a leadoff hitter so he couldn't rack up RBIs, but he set the table like none other. So yeah, Ricky's got a decent case to be on the Mt. Rushmore of baseball. As for Bonds, he was neck-and-neck with Griffey but I wouldn't say better. If you go year-by-year they were in the majors (year 1, year 2, so on) through their first 12 seasons (supposedly right before Bonds started using steroids and shortly before Griffey's injury issues started), Griffey had better WAR and oWAR every single season of his career (in which he wasn't injured), and during their peak seasons were basically neck and neck with OPS. Bonds had higher OPS in those years 10,11,12 because he was pulling in insane amounts of walks while Griffey was in those HR chase years.
Ok, you should be paying me for what I'm about to tell you but whatever I'm a nice guy. What's confusing to people is that the weight is never over the front foot. The front leg is always angled backwards which means while there is briefly pressure in the front foot the weight is still way back of it.This allows the body to rotate better, which is what the motion is all about, not weight shift. So they end up seeming to have their weight back but it was really just rotation not weight shift.
I realize that baseball is a subjective sport, like many others. I liked KGJr.--- fun to watch. Ken hit a lot of home runs, but I'm surprised you used him as a lefty hitting example instead of players that hit over .300, had a higher slugging percentage, 3,000+ hits, etc.. It sounds like he's your favorite, and I respect that.
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If you enjoyed our hitting talk and want to learn more, click the link below to check out our new course explaining our step-by-step system to building an elite swing and over 25 drills!
antonellibaseball.mykajabi.com/buildingtheeliteswing-lp
He did have a beautiful swing
Very nice analysis...it's good to see instructors observe what is actually happening during the swing, as opposed to teaching principles that have been passed down from generation to generation, but simply don't happen in great swings. Particular kudos to identifying how the hands being back allow the bat to get on the baseball plane (in the impact zone) early. Too many instructors are teaching principles which do not promote that practice...
@gsandhu92 I will try to put one together for you. I have a lot of requests from people and I'll be trying to get to as many as possible as soon as I can. Thanks for watching!
Yeah I wish I was a little older when he was in his prime as well. I remember him mostly when he was with the Reds.
Thanks man. It is tough to type it all out on here, but explain to them that when they stride they want to be athletic and land in a balanced position, and when they rotate to hit they have to keep their head in one place. Get them to practice hitting the ball to the opposite field to teach them how to let the ball travel.
A lot of hitting through the ball is bat path. You can put the heavy balls and two tee drills all day, but if they are doing other stuff wrong in their swing...
The important thing is that the weight is transferred from the back leg to the front leg through the swing. You don't need to think about what you look like when your swing is finished, that will happen on its own.
Absolutely I agree most of what he does he did it naturally. But if you don't do things naturally I think you can work on different aspects of the swing to improve them.
Thanks! Yes I have seen a few of their TH-cam videos. I like some of the stuff they talk about
Wow he is really talented. Great swing. Good luck to him!
@yahbud Thank you and thanks for watching!
Thanks man. Yeah I hear you. Yes the move doesn't need to be huge but having one is important. I'll be putting a video up in a few days on the topic so check it out then. Good luck!
I think it's awesome that you actually reply to these comments. I found a video online where he hit one last year off Michael Pineda. I think it was later in the year after he came back from AAA. He hit over .300 on his return and his swing then was probably similar to this seasons. He does go forward, it just is like 6-12". I think I need to adapt a short movement forward, I either step like 2' or hardly at all.
The sweetest swing in baseball!
Thanks! And thanks for watching!
You want to square the ball up. If you hit the middle of the baseball you will hit a line drive. I think that is the goal of most hitters. The idea of hitting the inside seam is a mental thought to keep you inside the ball and having the proper bath path.
I believe he touched on that in this video. I remember hearing him say something about keeping it on plane. That's the best way i know of as well.
@servin223s Thank you! Thanks for watching!
What I find when I teach middle schoolers coming up to high school is when you tell them to start the swing with your hips, which is correct, most of them have tendencies to cut themselves off and they are all arms, just because they are not strong enough to swing a -3 and try to use their hips too much. I'll tell them to stay shot to the ball more and they end up doing better, so yeah. Great points in the vid!
ken jr is the best ever
+200damary He was a stud for sure!
I haven't read Lau's book, but I have read Ted Williams and found it pretty useful. One of my former hitting coach's Jim Lefebvre wrote a pretty good book on hitting as well "The Making of a Hitter"
@wogdoggy I never said you transfer your weight and then swing the bat. The transferring of weights happens during the swing. I was just breaking down different parts of the swing.
@ajs1850 No problem! Glad they are helping
Junior had the most smoothest and the most graceful swing ever. His swinging motion was like a ballerina. Just a beautiful thing to watch. If had not been for those terrible injuries, Ken Griffey Jr. probably would have ended up with around 800 home runs, 4,000 hits, 3,500 ribbies, .350 batting average and a whole lot more gold gloves. He was scary good. His playing style was similar to Willie Mays-an all around talent.
For sure!!! Thanks for watching!
I took a look a Lind's swing. I'm not sure what he is doing differently from last year because I don't have a video from last season, but don't go by what it looks like he's doing on TV. You need to find a side view and slow it down. He doesn't have a huge leg kick or anything, but he does have a pretty decent sized stride and a good sized linear move. There are almost no hitter's in the MLB that don't move anywhere and just sit and spin. They all move and transfer their weight.
Well it gives you something to hit with. If your hands come with your body as you stride there is no distance or separation. It also lets your bat get on plane with the ball easier.
I'm only 11 and I wish I was around when jr was in his prime I've read all about him fantastic player by far one of the best
Damn time passes
Lots of insight and helpful info to anyone who watches. Thanks for posting
Raising A Hitter Thanks!
Greatest swing I've ever seen to date.
Great job!!!! His hands staying back allowed him to explode, effortlessly into the back of the baseball. I think that's what allowed him to hit the ball so hard the other way without changing a thing with his swing!!
@DjSmash5 well they have the advantage in a lot of areas over right handed hitters. First there are a lot more RHP than LHP so that helps them over a right handed hitter who has to face a lot of right handed pitchers. Whenever there is a man on 1st base they have the advantage of having a large hole on their pull side because the 1st baseman will have to hold the runner on. And with regards to left handed hitters with speed they have the advantage of being closer to first when they leave the box
Yes, the load is over exaggerated by too many coaches and players. You don't have to get all your weight back before you make a positive move. The more weight you get back the more weight you will have to get off your backside when you hit. When Griffey strides he has enough weight on his back leg so he is able to stride and move his body. This is all you really need. And he starts his hands in a good position so they don't have to move much, he just walks away from them during his stride.
@ajs1850 That is really funny that you just asked that. I just made a video yesterday about how almost all Major League players do not line their knocking knuckles up. I will be putting it up here at some point in the next few days.
We have over one hundred and sixty videos and talk about a lot of that stuff in those videos. A player asked me what I liked about Griffey's swing so I answered him. I don't have time in the video to go over ever single thing in full detail.
awsome video. I always love someone explaining the mechanics of baseball
That is absolutely true. He's noticing a peripheral element and not noticing the core element that's really moving it.
Yeah he was amazing.
Griffey jr had an amazing swing. One of the greatest 5 tool players ever. Period
No problem!
If you go through all of my hitting videos you will find many of the ways to help you do so.
Thanks!
@926giants I do. When he played in Seattle, he was the greatest player of all time. I am young (24) and Griffey was my childhood Idol so my opinion is biased, but he was the best pure power hitter (steroid suspicions cancel out all of his competition) of his time and the best outfielder in the game (playing the most difficult outfield position). He could steal bases, He had an outstanding arm and he could also hit for average. G.O.A.T. in his prime
@golfmaniac007 Yes there are some similarities to both swings
Thank you for this video man this is actually very good knowledge
+Yung GUN Thanks!
Hey I watched VHS tape when I was a kid of Ken Griffey Jr and Sr. They have tips on how they hit and bat weight and length. Does anyone know the name of that tape? Thanks!
Yeah Griffey has his arm almost totally extended. There are a lot of Major League hitters that get a lot of length in their bottom hand arm. At the lower levels of baseball coaches think this is a big "no no" but you need length in the lead arm to generate bat speed and get the bat on plane early.
nice analysis of such a sweet swing.
and his beautiful swing ;) and the best player to play centerfield ever
Yes Definitely had one of the better swings in the game for sure
Study everything you can by Ted Williams. Of all the hitting info I've come across over the past 10 years, nothing is as good as the info from Williams. Williams' material on weight shift and balance is really, really good. One caveat.....when studying Williams' material, don't filter what he says through your current belief system. Take him at his word. Most people who read Williams try and make what he says fit their current beliefs on hitting. It should be the other way around.
Sorry I missed this part of the question. That's interesting. Strange that it is a lot of ground balls to the opposite field. Sounds to me like he isn't releasing his barrel and just blocking the ball the other way. Why that is happening is tough to say without seeing the swing. I wish I could help more.
He started the season HOT. Broke his left arm and missed everything and came back in playoffs. His arm is back to normal. He use to hit line drives between 3rd baseman and 2nd base bag constantly. It's all ground balls opposite field now
Man what a great video, I actually see the difference between the push swing and an actual swing now. My only question is what is the difference between pulling your front shoulder off and doing what he is doing?? I've had coaches tell me that I need to work on not pulling of on balls, which just results in me doing a push swing. Thanks Matt!
@ClmlbBaseball Thanks a lot!
hey buddy,I just wanted to know if it is necessary to rotate with your body before taking hands to ball?Because i have inconsistent power and i was wondering if this would help,Thank you
Hi TouchEmAllBaseball, Thanks for the in-depth analysis. You should mention, though, that at contact Ken Griffey Jr.'s back leg is an "L" shape. Best, QP
QuotidianPerfection Thanks of watching!
Hi TouchEmAllBaseball, Why, you're welcome--and thank you for your kind words! Best, QP
when i see griffey swing the bat, it's similar to him almost swinging a rope with a heavy rock on the end of it. very efficient swing, just kind of sits and rotates into the ball.
Have you done a video on Will Clark. If not I'd like to see one because I am trying to emulate his swing.
LTKNT I haven't but I can try
sweetest swing ever
Once he got traded to the reds his career pretty much went downhill he was still young and in his prime but with all the injuries it just caught up with him I truly relieve we would surpassed bonds homerun record
Possibly
Appreciate your work aswell. . . great job breakin it down.
+jbird Perez Thanks!
hey i watched a video of miguel cabrera and he does the same exact things you talked about hes my favorite player so congrats
can you analyse Jose Altuve's swing?
+Benjamin Bierd I'll do my best!
Just make sure you include the buzzer movement on him.
Mr. Antonelli, what book on hitting would you recommend if you had to pick one? I've been looking at Charlie Lau sr.'s book and Ted Williams book.
Hey coach does his shoulder rotate at any point of the swing
Haha that was a great call.
Can you make a video on how to keep your bat in the hitting zone as long as possible?
awsome job man great video
+Shady Hale Thanks!
@JayM0310 lol thanks!
Yeah lefties definitely have an advantage at the plate for sure.
Would it be accurate to say Griffey had an arm bar? It's a problem I've had in my swing personally and while people have pointed it out I've tried non-stop for months to fix it and haven't been able too.
Yes he definitely had his front arm very close to straight. Most Major League hitters get their hands back over their back foot. This is not taught at a young level of baseball, but is taught at a higher level.
boom. this guy and my team (cincinnati) was lucky enough to have him for awhile
@Jake Dubie back spin is pretty much what makes or breaks a home run. along with trajectory and ball speed. unless your name is Jeff Bagwell
...that's not allowing them to stay through the ball then they aren't going to be able to. Hope this helps a little. Good luck!
Anybody notice that all the "great hitters/swingers are lefty example; Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, ect.
can you analyse Victor Martinez's swing?
+Benjamin Bierd I'll try!
Question if I may. My sons 8. Our league hits off 40mph machine. He RARELY swings and misses. Past few wks in the all star tourn, he's hitting constant ground balls, and all to 2nd base. Anything I should look 4?
Growing up everyone told me my swing was like Ken Griffey Jr. I took that as a huge compliment lol
You should have lol! He had a great swing! Thanks for watching and commenting!
Couldn't agree more. Thank YOU for the great content and exemplary presentation!!
actually, Fenway is one of the toughest home run parks for left-handed batters. And that's a pretty well-known fact.
Is he a left handed hitter?
Not one of the best players ever? He dominated for 10 years until he had leg problems caused by playing his ass off for his team.
There are atleast 15 players with clearly better careers than Griffey and thats low balling it.
There's a difference between being a better player and having a better career. Only players I'd put on the same level as Griffey are Williams (though he was a shit defender) Mays and Mantle. Can't really compare infielders because the expectations and athletic skillsets are different.
You ever heard of Barry Bonds? and don't bring up steroids because Bonds was always better than Griffey. Or Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Stan the man, Rickey Henderson?
I definitely considered Aaron. I consider Aaron the better hitter for sure. However, Griffey played a more physically demanding, and valuable position, which is hard to measure. That being said, Aaron was more durable and obviously had the better career. For Ruth, I never consider pre-integration players in these conversations because it was a completely different era and the competition was lacking. Stan the Man...same thing as Hank Aaron, only he was an even worse fielder (although an even better hitter), and I know there wasn't a lot of integration at that point (same problem with Ted Williams, even though I mentioned him before). There's an argument to be made for Ricky. He was always an underrated fielder, but he was an entirely different player and it's hard to measure that. He'd take a walk then steal a base, which was basically like a double. He was a leadoff hitter so he couldn't rack up RBIs, but he set the table like none other. So yeah, Ricky's got a decent case to be on the Mt. Rushmore of baseball.
As for Bonds, he was neck-and-neck with Griffey but I wouldn't say better. If you go year-by-year they were in the majors (year 1, year 2, so on) through their first 12 seasons (supposedly right before Bonds started using steroids and shortly before Griffey's injury issues started), Griffey had better WAR and oWAR every single season of his career (in which he wasn't injured), and during their peak seasons were basically neck and neck with OPS. Bonds had higher OPS in those years 10,11,12 because he was pulling in insane amounts of walks while Griffey was in those HR chase years.
@@isaacnewton8914 if my aunt had a dick she would be uncle. but she doesn't so she's my aunt.
What size bat did he use?
I'm not 100% sure, but I'd guess a 34 inch 32 ounce
did you try my experiment?
I think he's good. He hit this ball for a home run about 400 feet
Yep
The babe had way more forward movement under control and he started with his feet at the back of the box together
You've confused me...I said your weight needs to be transferred off of your back side and into your front leg.
the next big thing in baseball. (Jacob Kendall tball homerun) please check him out, you wont be dissapointed!
@TheMySideproject I will be sure to teach my kid how to grip the bat left handed once he's able to walk lol
Thank you because I am left handed
what's the name of the intro song ?
my only concern is the stiffness of his front leg causing his knee and ankle to twist unnaturally; everything else is simply beautiful;
@02:00 Matty at Fenway park
Wow that Massachusetts accent seems to have slimmed way down over the last 11 years lol
how do u know
You have a really nice voice.
Ok, you should be paying me for what I'm about to tell you but whatever I'm a nice guy. What's confusing to people is that the weight is never over the front foot. The front leg is always angled backwards which means while there is briefly pressure in the front foot the weight is still way back of it.This allows the body to rotate better, which is what the motion is all about, not weight shift. So they end up seeming to have their weight back but it was really just rotation not weight shift.
regardless of how griffey's injury's effected his stats. who thinks ken griffey jr is greatest baseball player of all time?
I realize that baseball is a subjective sport, like many others. I liked KGJr.--- fun to watch. Ken hit a lot of home runs, but I'm surprised you used him as a lefty hitting example instead of players that hit over .300, had a higher slugging percentage, 3,000+ hits, etc.. It sounds like he's your favorite, and I respect that.