Snapping too early on the ball

[phxraida15]

i've never taken a video.. did make a spoof though.. i'm the guy in white.. ( disclaimer.. it was after a league game and i was drunk)

I went looking for this video a few months back on this forum. I remember you posted it years back in the media section .. Good stuff.

 

[jhitman]

Today I was back at it with BP. Rather than simply throwing my hands forward today, I focused on aiming them directly at the ball as it came in. This took a little getting used to. Generally I try to swing inside the ball. However, doing that resulted in the problems discussed in the first post of this thread.

Initially I wondered how this could even work. My initial thoughts were "how the hell am I going to NOT hit the handle here?" My hands just seemed so far away from my body. However, throwing my hands at the ball worked..... perhaps better than I'd even imagined. By getting my hands out and at the ball I wasn't snapping too early. My swing felt surprisingly fluid and powerful. The hands went forward right at the ball, and at the end of the extension the bat head came whipping around on its own (no top hand push, like before).

Overall, my BP session today was light years better than my last one. I was getting inside the ball using different mechanics than I'm used to. I was lifting the ball well, and touching distances I haven't seen in a long while.

Throwing your hands at the ball works. By the end of the session today I was feeling really good repeating that motion swing after swing. I wasn't short arming anything, and I was getting good air and backspin on the ball. Done properly you really can throw your hands right at the ball without jamming yourself.

Ray DeMarini was a big advocate of throwing your hands at the ball. Check out his video from back in the day. I think it was called hit like a softball God. He stresses four points in there and one of them was throwing the hands at the ball. Will go back and experiment with this again on my next BP. It may be a while as we are expecting some snow tomorrow.

 

[dunkky]

I watched that video several times in the past. It indeed helps with accuracy and level swing, and maybe arm extension as well. But for my experience, when I do that, i saw myself using more of upper body then my lower. And sometimes(very rare), my leading arm extended fully and prematurely. User error, but I just couldn't make it work for myself.

 

[jhitman]

I watched that video several times in the past. It indeed helps with accuracy and level swing, and maybe arm extension as well. But for my experience, when I do that, i saw myself using more of upper body then my lower. And sometimes(very rare), my leading arm extended fully and prematurely. User error, but I just couldn't make it work for myself.

Yeah you definitely don't want your lead arm extend to early as that will screw up your swing as well as slow it down.

 

[TWmccoy]

Ray DeMarini was a big advocate of throwing your hands at the ball. Check out his video from back in the day. I think it was called hit like a softball God. He stresses four points in there and one of them was throwing the hands at the ball. Will go back and experiment with this again on my next BP. It may be a while as we are expecting some snow tomorrow.

Yeah, I had things working well yesterday. The snap was natural and fluid. The great majority of balls I hit were backspun as well. I felt like I was letting the bat do the work rather than trying to force the snap with my wrists. What a concept. I think I surpassed 400' a few times yesterday. Temps were cold with no wind.

 

[swingnmiss]

I also feel like "leading with the knob" helps with better extension and a more natural snap/roll.........Usually later in your swing and you won't have to force it at contact, because it gives you a straighter bat path. ....But, you can't take this too literally. You keep it in mind, but you don't force that either. Just use the idea of it to initiate your swing.

 

[TWmccoy]

I also feel like "leading with the knob" helps with better extension and a more natural snap/roll.........Usually later in your swing and you won't have to force it at contact, because it gives you a straighter bat path. ....But, you can't take this too literally. You keep it in mind, but you don't force that either. Just use the idea of it to initiate your swing.

I feel like throwing my hands at the ball kept the bat in the zone for a long time. It also (as you mentioned) made the snap occur later. Toward the end of my BP I had it working well. Lots of good swings and hard/deep hits.

Throwing my hands at the ball isn't really anything I've ever done. I have to force myself to do it. At first it felt a little weird, like I was going to hit everything way down on the handle. That wasn't the case. The bat was lagging so much longer and snapping much more fluidly. My top hand wasn't trying to create snap prematurely.

 

[jhitman]

Yeah, I had things working well yesterday. The snap was natural and fluid. The great majority of balls I hit were backspun as well. I felt like I was letting the bat do the work rather than trying to force the snap with my wrists. What a concept. I think I surpassed 400' a few times yesterday. Temps were cold with no wind.

Definitely will try this in my next soft toss session to see if I get similar results. Another big issue of mine is the stride. I tend to take to big of a step and lose power. I need to shorten the stride to keep me more level and in better balance. The stride doesn't give you more power your hips do so I need to keep pounding that in my head. The stride is just a timing mechanism. Still learning after playing this game for 35 years.

 

[TWmccoy]

Definitely will try this in my next soft toss session to see if I get similar results. Another big issue of mine is the stride. I tend to take to big of a step and lose power. I need to shorten the stride to keep me more level and in better balance. The stride doesn't give you more power your hips do so I need to keep pounding that in my head. The stride is just a timing mechanism. Still learning after playing this game for 35 years.

When my swing goes bad its always because I'm understriding. That is directly related to me not getting my hands out enough, and short arming everything. I find that I lose a lot of power by not striding far enough. Its like my lower body isn't contributing to the swing, and my arms take over and try to do all the work.

 

[jhitman]

When my swing goes bad its always because I'm understriding. That is directly related to me not getting my hands out enough, and short arming everything. I find that I lose a lot of power by not striding far enough. Its like my lower body isn't contributing to the swing, and my arms take over and try to do all the work.

The stride is way more important than people realize. If I stride to short it's the same short arming that you speak about. If I go too long it lowers your body, lessens your strength and decreases your power. It makes me dip and go under when I over stride. Also the over stride prevents my hips to drive into the ball. At 165 pounds I need all the extra leverage I can get.

 

[huzzdog]

I went looking for this video a few months back on this forum. I remember you posted it years back in the media section .. Good stuff.

thanks.. the league director made the video to promote a tournament he was running.. ironically neither of us were allowed to play

 

[TWmccoy]

The stride is way more important than people realize. If I stride to short it's the same short arming that you speak about. If I go too long it lowers your body, lessens your strength and decreases your power. It makes me dip and go under when I over stride. Also the over stride prevents my hips to drive into the ball. At 165 pounds I need all the extra leverage I can get.

I actually get massive power when I take a long stride. It almost feels like I'm stepping too far, but everything works how it should. I'm also 6' 2", 220, so that could have something to do with it. Overstriding does lead to popups though. That part I will agree with.

 

[swingnmiss]

Also......Lastly, short striding also gets me all ****ed up! Makes cast and roll way too early. Robs me of power and whip. So, sometimes when I get into what you are. I really focus on getting my stride longer and it seems to help correct some of this.

 

[TWmccoy]

Also......Lastly, short striding also gets me all ****ed up! Makes cast and roll way too early. Robs me of power and whip. So, sometimes when I get into what you are. I really focus on getting my stride longer and it seems to help correct some of this.

Agree. Sometimes I'll be taking a short stride without even realizing it. The results (predictably) suffer. I also notice that when I'm not striding far enough that the weight transfer is weak or nonexistent. Hard to drive the ball effectively when you're not getting any momentum into it.

 

[jhitman]

I actually get massive power when I take a long stride. It almost feels like I'm stepping too far, but everything works how it should. I'm also 6' 2", 220, so that could have something to do with it. Overstriding does lead to popups though. That part I will agree with.

I guess it depends on defining long stride. Mine stride is about a foot in length. But when I go farther than that I tend to dip and go up and under the ball. Not talking short stride like MLB players do being only a few inches or no stride at all (Anthony Rendon).

 

[Hiltz]

I guess it depends on defining long stride. Mine stride is about a foot in length. But when I go farther than that I tend to dip and go up and under the ball. Not talking short stride like MLB players do being only a few inches or no stride at all (Anthony Rendon).

It's not so much stride length as it is weight transfer. If you start with your feet 6" apart, a foot long stride won't allow you to transfer your weight. On the other end of the spectrum, watch Albert Pujols; he starts with his feet WAAAAY apart, lifts his front foot up and puts it back down in the exact same spot. Zero stride but because of where he starts he can still transfer weight and rotate off a stiff front leg.

 

[Geezer000]

Agree. Sometimes I'll be taking a short stride without even realizing it. The results (predictably) suffer. I also notice that when I'm not striding far enough that the weight transfer is weak or nonexistent. Hard to drive the ball effectively when you're not getting any momentum into it.

I'm the opposite. I feel I lose the ability to rotate when I stride a little more. The short stride allows me to quickly get the bat on the ball. Timing suffers a little either way. Long stride I usually snap to early and with the shorter stride a snap late and drag the bat to much through the zone. I tend to stay with the shorter stride to be able to time it just a little bit better. But either way you stride, make sure your body agrees with it. So many great hitters have short strides or long strides that it's really hard to differentiate between the two on which is better. I liken it to comparing Wegmans swing versus KP's. My swing is very similar to Wegmans in that he has crazy rotation with the shorter stride.

 

[dunkky]

that's true. what is a long or short stride anyway. it's all relative. I agree with hiltz. Stride is process, weight shift is the ultimate goal. if you take a look at my bp videos, you will see that every single one of them have different strides. Trying to figure out what works the best for me to deliver a good weight shift and still maintain good accuracy while improving your swing power .

 

[Geezer000]

Also......Lastly, short striding also gets me all ****ed up! Makes cast and roll way too early. Robs me of power and whip. So, sometimes when I get into what you are. I really focus on getting my stride longer and it seems to help correct some of this.

How much is the difference between your long and short stride? Correct me if I'm wrong but the difference in stride would only change your timing and your body mechanics lightly resulting in the cast and roll being early. It could definitely affect your power if you're short striding with the bat head lagging way behind. I have a hard time differentiating when I'm swinging wrong. When my timing is late I'll pop the ball up because the ball hits closer to the taper because I'm dragging the bat and if I time it too early i pop-up due to the bat head being below the ball. Either way I'm hitting a stupid pop fly lol

 

[jhitman]

that's true. what is a long or short stride anyway. it's all relative. I agree with hiltz. Stride is process, weight shift is the ultimate goal. if you take a look at my bp videos, you will see that every single one of them have different strides. Trying to figure out what works the best for me to deliver a good weight shift and still maintain good accuracy while improving your swing power .

And remember that a stride is just a timing mechanism. It does not provide more power to your swing your hips do.

 

[dunkky]

And remember that a stride is just a timing mechanism. It does not provide more power to your swing your hips do.

I disagreed. there's linear + rotational movement involved in swings. Rotational movement generates a lot more energy than linear, but linear movement is not something to ignore or overlook. Without proper weight shift, you are limiting your power and solely rely on your rotational movement. Simple testing will validate this, hit the ball with no stride and with stride(weight shift of course), don't tell me the ball travels the same distance as it shouldn't. If it did, i must say, there's no weight shift involved. Energy resulted in linear movement will transfer to your rotational movement and that will leads to more explosive hip rotation.

 

[Hiltz]

that's true. what is a long or short stride anyway. it's all relative. I agree with hiltz. Stride is process, weight shift is the ultimate goal.

Simple testing will validate this, hit the ball with no stride and with stride(weight shift of course), don't tell me the ball travels the same distance as it shouldn't.

So which is it?

Short stride, long stride, doesn't matter as long as your weight moves from your back foot to your front foot and proper hip rotation follows. Some people need the stride as a rhythm/timing mechanism, some don't. Personally, I feel very uncomfortable starting in a wide stance and taking a short stride, but I can hit just as hard doing it.

 

[Country469]

where your hands start moving is usually a big indicator of how big the stride gonna be too

 

[jhitman]

I disagreed. there's linear + rotational movement involved in swings. Rotational movement generates a lot more energy than linear, but linear movement is not something to ignore or overlook. Without proper weight shift, you are limiting your power and solely rely on your rotational movement. Simple testing will validate this, hit the ball with no stride and with stride(weight shift of course), don't tell me the ball travels the same distance as it shouldn't. If it did, i must say, there's no weight shift involved. Energy resulted in linear movement will transfer to your rotational movement and that will leads to more explosive hip rotation.

Stride is important to keep balance, but you come to a stop after your stride in a rotational swing then your hips and the rest take over. If you are actively moving towards the mound at impact you are decreasing your power. I'm not dismissing the stride, but look at a MLB player like Anthony Rendon. He just picks up his foot and puts it back down and can hit the ball well over 400'. That's because he has great hip rotation and lightning quick hands.

 

[dunkky]

I am not sure how many hitters really hit with no stride at all like him. For him, it's only for timing purpose. dude must have Thor's ass. LOL But how many of them do you see in softball where you have to provide all the power yourself???

All i am saying is that weight shifting is not only for timing. it's to build up the kinetic energy and momentum to be transfer into your rotational movement. If you are not doing that, you have very strong lower body and probably has Thor's ass. LOL.

 

[swingnmiss]

How much is the difference between your long and short stride? Correct me if I'm wrong but the difference in stride would only change your timing and your body mechanics lightly resulting in the cast and roll being early. It could definitely affect your power if you're short striding with the bat head lagging way behind. I have a hard time differentiating when I'm swinging wrong. When my timing is late I'll pop the ball up because the ball hits closer to the taper because I'm dragging the bat and if I time it too early i pop-up due to the bat head being below the ball. Either way I'm hitting a stupid pop fly lol

I would say that when I'm short striding it's somewhere between eight inches to a foot difference from a good stride. When I get on my front foot too early, my swing becomes more rotational than linear. Ideally, my front foot should be just hitting the ground on contact. Allowing me to move my hands in a fairly straight line from back to front at contact. Giving me better batspeed and whip. When I short stride, I get on my front foot early, forcing my hands to move away from the body and get extended out further at contact. Causing some casting and robbing me of power. For me, the long stride is much more effective.

 

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