Starting Early forces your body to be slow, starting late=quick

The big new hitting discussion the last couple years has been about starting slow and early. Bautista and Donaldson have mastered the slow and early left lift that consistently build momentum through the movements of the load. However, there are only a certain type of body that can do this type of load. You have to have great balance/coordination. If those guys start too early they just slow their load, if they start too late they just speed up their load easily. Its not easy though, it is really impressive that guys like Donaldson, Bautista, can alter the timing sequence to adjust to the pitchers tempo. Everyone wanted to emulate Donaldson's swing last year, He was the MVP, and his swing is very sexy. I love watching that dude hit. But....you can't do his swing unless you are a gymnast, with fast twitch muscles and an accurate barrel, so stop trying.
Most of us need a more repeatable swing that is still explosive and accurate. I HATE WHEN HITTING PLUMBERS/COACHES YELL AT THEIR GUYS, "GET YOUR FOOT DOWN TOMMY!" If I played for that plumber I would step out of the box and say, "No Shit Bud" I've watched a lot of baseball and I've never seen a hitter swing with his front foot in the air. Your body won't allow you to swing with your front foot in the air. Your eyes know the swing that the body needs to hit that particular incoming pitch. You just need to relax your body when the pitcher is about to let go of the ball because a tense muscle is a slow muscle and your eyes are the most important muscles to hitting. Just think be quick and accurate with the barrel of your bat.
These plumber hitting coaches are making too many hitters into Robots, and explain hitting a baseball like its a concept similar to how the atom simultaneous combusts at the impact of a nuclear reaction between granite and sulfur, blah blah blah. This is Hitting: if the pitcher throws 3 strikes over that house shaped object, and the strike zone is determined by where the catcher catches the ball, you're out, If you get 4 balls you go to first, if the ball hits you, go to first. If you hit the ball and one of the 9 guys doesn't catch it, run to first, you have to beat the ball to first or you are out. If you hit the ball over the outfield fence thats called a homer and it ruins the pitchers day :) If you hit the ball on the middle of the bat its goes harder and farther off your bat. You get judged on how many times you get on base and also how many times there are guys on base when you hit and you let them go touch home because of how you hit the ball.
You can load/land/hold your hands/ start/ swing however you want if you are good at being accurate with the barrel. All us hitting coaches are trying to do is show you how to fine tune your mechanics to make your barrel more accurate. But if you hit it on the barrel consistently your swing is good, don't let anyone change it. I really like Justin Bour's swing. He is a dumpy, slow twitched human but his swing is violent/quick and accurate. He trusts his swing, tries to time up the pitcher, but he actually has good timing instead of most amateurs who just simply start moving too early, which makes their barrel late. Start later than you think, trust your eyes, and be quick/accurate with your barrel. Below are pics from Bour's no doubter last night.


This is the part where most amateur hitters are at the top of their load/leg lift, because when the pitcher lifts his leg I lift my leg to get my timing with the pitchers blah, blah, blah. You're not trying to time up your body with the pitcher, you are trying to time up your body with the ball, cause thats what you are trying to hit.

As the ball gets to release point on a big league pitcher that throws a nasty 89mph sinker, thats when you want to be at the top of your load, whatever that is, for Bour it's a leg kick. If you are playing D3 college baseball and almost all the "good pitchers" throws 82-84 straight fastball, with a devastating get me over 72mph curve ball they throw right down the middle, and a nasty slider or change they throw 58 feet and you swing at because you start too early so when your eyes have to make the decision to swing when the ball is still 40 feet from you it looks like a good pitch to hit to your eyes and your coach is yelling, "get your foot down bud!" so your brain isn't focusing on the ball its focusing on getting your foot down even though your brain and eyes will get your foot down when its time if you are relaxed during your load.


Body still hasn't started to turn to give your eyes the correct length of time to tell the brain the swing that is needed to be accurate with the barrel on that pitch and your upper body is in the "attacking posture" which just means your chest is leaning towards home plate to set up a quick turn of the barrel started with the back shoulder.

Back Shoulder initiates the turn of the barrel to hit the ball so that your barrel moves quick and explosive because your back shoulder can turn the barrel faster than pushing your hands to start the barrel.

Then you just focus on being quick and accurate with your barrel, and its better to be a little "jamned" then hitting be ball off the end of the bat, when you hit it off the end it just means you started the turn too early, which you see A LOT at the amateur level because the plumber coach says over and over, "get your foot down" which means, "don't be late!"

you don't care how you "finish" because you already hit the ball and your "finish" is irrelevant, its just your body naturally decelerating the barrel after contact.

And then if you are accurate with your barrel the ball lands in the upper deck and you ruin the pitchers day :)


Here is the full video of the swing so you can see the actual sequence of the timing of the swing.
http://m.mlb.com/video/v1384610483/atlmia-bour-crushes-a-solo-home-run-to-right-field

How to be accurate consistently

Executing pitches is about how and where you release the ball and the pressure you put on  certain fingers on the ball at release. It's that simple. Pros just release the ball closer to the hitter than amateurs do. The pitching blogs will talk about a longer stride, with a pronated release and extension of the arm that can be taught with a package of $100 weight ball set. . The reason that generating momentum and energy in the delivery of the arm to release is soo important is to give your arm the momentum to release the ball out front without bouncing the ball. Thats why Tim Lincecum in his prime had such nasty stuff at his height. His unique delivery and huge stride had the purpose of allowing him to release the ball to home plate closer than any other pitcher in the world with his height. "Hitting is timing, the pitcher's job is to upset the hitters timing" The hitters job is to hit the ball on the barrel consistently, the pitchers job is to throw the ball to the catcher's glove with the ball being in flight for the shortest distance possible. The pitcher doesn't throw the ball 60 feet, 6 inches. That's the distance from the rubber to the back of home plate. The pitcher can control the distance they throw the ball. The pitcher has to throw the ball from where he lets go of the ball to where the catcher's glove is, that's when the umpire calls the pitch a ball or strike. Watch how and where the big leaguers release the ball. The MLB pitchers just consistently release the ball closer to the catcher and make balls look like strikes and strikes look like balls to the hitters eyes as the ball travels to the catchers glove.

Chris Sale is the best pitcher in Baseball

Kershaw used to be but Chris has passed him by. He just simply is consistent with how he lets the ball leave his hand which is closer to home plate than most. He throws from a unique arm angle and is 6'6'' so the hitter has a shorter amount a time for his eyes to read the ball before the catcher catches the ball. There is soo much Sale does that pitching bloggers would say is incorrect. He is consistent with his mechanics until release point which is all that matters but all the time the pitching bloggers waste talking about, "extension" and "follow through" are irrelevant. Those things are just how your body naturally decelerates the arm and have nothing to do with how the ball travels out of your hand.
Sale has mastered making his pitches to the eyes of the hitter look like balls that end up strikes and look like strikes that end up balls. That's pitching. End of story.