Jose Bautista hitting article.

[julray]

I didn't mean to imply that that was the actual first time he was ever asked about it. My point is a lot of these guys were not actually taught their swings, e.g. nobody said you need to do this and then this and then this. Without that sort of instruction, when somebody asks about your swing you are going give an answer based upon on how your swing feels and what your mental queues are, which may not necessarily line up exactly with what the actual swing is doing. W=w likes the demo and he seems like he has had success with his DD using it, which is great. My only problem is that when a demo/instructional video requires additional insight in order to use it properly it can be an issue.

I hear ya, but again I believe AP did receive instruction. Do you believe AP did not receive instruction or was told how to improve his swing prior to video? I think all of that is very unlikely.

Also I can see what W=w is saying in the video he posted, the knob does seem to initially start towards the ball. The demo itself can be very confusing, but like others who demo, including fat old men this is not uncommon.

 

[_MIA_]

I hear ya, but again I believe AP did receive instruction. Do you believe AP did not receive instruction or was told how to improve his swing prior to video? I think all of that is very unlikely.

He grew up in the Domincan before the baseball academies down there were a mainstay.When he moved to the US, in his senior year of HS they walked him so many times he only had 33 official ABs, he hit 8 HR. He played 1 year of college where he hit .461 with 22 HRs. He spent a total of 1 year in the minors. His first year in the bigs he hit .329 with 37 HR and 130 RBIs. So yes, I think it is entirely possible that they just let this guy hit...nobody wants to be the guy who screws up somebody that has always hit...

Like I said, he is a bit younger than me but not by much. Back then people didn't go crazy with instruction, in particular if you were raking...not saying that is good or bad, just that is the way it was. For whatever reason I "lost" my swing when I came back from tearing my ACL before my Jr. year in HS. I was still lost when I got to college and it was only at that point that somebody tried to help me with my swing. My Dad played college baseball and had seen enough swings to know what a good one looked like but growing up his contribution to my hitting, other than throwing me BP everyday in the summer, was telling me that he thought my hands were too high in my stance when I was 11 or 12 (looking at my DD it must be a genetic thing LOL).

 

[julray]

He grew up in the Domincan before the baseball academies down there were a mainstay.When he moved to the US, in his senior year of HS they walked him so many times he only had 33 official ABs, he hit 8 HR. He played 1 year of college where he hit .461 with 22 HRs. He spent a total of 1 year in the minors. His first year in the bigs he hit .329 with 37 HR and 130 RBIs. So yes, I think it is entirely possible that they just let this guy hit...nobody wants to be the guy who screws up somebody that has always hit...

Like I said, he is a bit younger than me but not by much. Back then people didn't go crazy with instruction, in particular if you were raking...

The video was from 2011, AP was in the majors for 10 years already. It really wasn't "back then". Again I think it's very very unlikely that he did not receive instruction or did not have an in depth conversation regarding the mechanics of his swing. Plus I've heard players older than AP say many times they were instructed to take the know to the ball.

It's only lately that we are really getting technical, breaking the swing down frame by frame. I see value in it, but I am starting to wonder if we should be focusing more on feel, perception etc, rather than a very mechanical/technical approach to what the perfect swing is.

 

[_MIA_]

The video was from 2011, AP was in the majors for 10 years already. It really wasn't "back then". Again I think it's very very unlikely that he did not receive instruction or did not have an in depth conversation regarding the mechanics of his swing. Plus I've heard players older than AP say many times they were instructed to take the know to the ball

You are missing the point. Let me ask you something. You know how to talk right? Can you explain how you do it in a way that you could teach somebody who wasn't able to?

 

[_MIA_]

It's only lately that we are really getting technical, breaking the swing down frame by frame. I see value in it, but I am starting to wonder if we should be focusing more on feel, perception etc, rather than a very mechanical/technical approach to what the perfect swing is.

From the way back machine...

Honest question regarding amount of instruction

First of all just joined the forum and am glad to see so many people passionate about softball. Also I apologize if the content of this thread has been discussed previously or if I have placed it in the wrong forum. My question (well maybe not a question but more of a comment?? ) is in regards...

www.discussfastpitch.com

 

[julray]

You are missing the point. Let me ask you something. You know how to talk right? Can you explain to me how you do it?

That's debatable,

I am not a professional talker.. why don't we ask a speech therapist? In AP's case, his life, his job, his career success depended on his swing.... this video is 10 years into his career. He's an expert on his swing, he eat's, drinks, sleeps his swing. He's gone over it a million times. Just simply implying that he hasn't received instruction or hasn't really thought about how he gets the job done is a little naive IMO. 10 years as the best speech therapist in the world and I would be able to explain to you how to speak... for certain.

 

[_MIA_]

That's debatable,

I am not a professional talker.. why don't we ask a speech therapist? In AP's case, his life, his job, his career success depended on his swing.... this video is 10 years into his career. He's an expert on his swing, he eat's, drinks, sleeps his swing. He's gone over it a million times. Just simply implying that he hasn't received instruction or hasn't really thought about how he gets the job done is a little naive IMO. 10 years as the best speech therapist in the world and I would be able to explain to you how to speak... for certain.

Fair enough.

One thing I am pretty sure of is that AP knows what HIS swing needs to FEEL like in order for HIM to have success and I am sure that demo is a good interpretation of that FEEL. Whether or not that translates to other people is debatable imo.

 

[julray]

Fair enough.

One thing I am pretty sure of is that AP knows what HIS swing needs to FEEL like in order for HIM to have success and I am sure that demo is a good interpretation of that FEEL. Whether or not that translates to other people is debatable imo.

Agreed.. and I can see it in his swing, just not to the extreme of the demo, but that's quite common anyway

 

[FP26]

That's debatable,

I am not a professional talker.. why don't we ask a speech therapist? In AP's case, his life, his job, his career success depended on his swing.... this video is 10 years into his career. He's an expert on his swing, he eat's, drinks, sleeps his swing. He's gone over it a million times. Just simply implying that he hasn't received instruction or hasn't really thought about how he gets the job done is a little naive IMO. 10 years as the best speech therapist in the world and I would be able to explain to you how to speak... for certain.

Albert Pujols is a professional baseball players and one of the best hitters of all time. I don't think anyone is debating that. However, just like you and I, he is not a professional talker or professional teacher. Swinging a bat and explaining how to swing a bat are two different skill sets. Some are able to do both. But having the ability to do one, doesn't guarantee you can do the other.

 

[Work=wins]

Albert Pujols is a professional baseball players and one of the best hitters of all time. I don't think anyone is debating that. However, just like you and I, he is not a professional talker or professional teacher. Swinging a bat and explaining how to swing a bat are two different skill sets. Some are able to do both. But having the ability to do one, doesn't guarantee you can do the other.

Lol. He’s not a professional communicator so he can’t explain himself? The slightest chink you will find my friend

It’s just a fact in instructional history that many can’t communicate hitting cues because they don’t understand them completely. ‘Knob to the ball’ or countless others get bad reps. ‘Stay back’ is another. But we all know that really just means keep the weight in the back hip until you release the swing. You still gotta transfer weight forward.

Knob to the ball is a directional cue that will get you adjusting to pitches in different locations. Without barrel articulations which can be detrimental to barrel path etc.

Not directed at you FP. Just putting it out there.