Up to Down, not back to front. Kevin Brown swing evolution.

 Kevin Brown was a 22nd round pick by the Cubs that got up to AAA. If he was drafted by not such a loaded organization he would of got to the big leagues. Kev was a good college player. Freshman all-American and a solid Sophomore and Junior year, The first video is of his junior year where he had a good college swing, the rest of the videos are from his senior year when he had a pro swing playing college baseball and his numbers showed that. Kev wanted to learn the pro swing and I taught it to him. However, he is still my favorite hitter I've ever coached because of his consistent work. He was the same everyday in the cage and always had an intent to get better. He wanted to be uncomfortable, because he knew that meant he was trying something new that might help him in the game. The best cage hitter I've ever coached name is Who Givesashit. Brownie understood that and was always trying to prepare his swing for the game when the pitcher is 60 feet away.

Kevin's swing evolution took a consistent daily focus in the cage. Most hitters are trying to perfect the first swing that was taught to them. That's what Kev did for 3 good years at Bryant. In Kev's senior year I asked him if he wanted to get drafted and Kev said, " I'm getting to the big leagues and getting drafted" and I said, "well you gotta start loading the barrel and preparing for the incoming pitch like a pro. Pros make the decision to swing or take way later than amateurs and pros can drive balls within their body cause their swing path is longer." Amateurs need to hit the ball out front to drive it." Brownie just said, "ok lets do it." Kev was obsessed with making his swing pro, he spent tons of time working on his craft in the cage with and without me. By the time the spring rolled around he had a pro swing. When you have a pro swing in college the numbers you put up are a joke. Brownie led our team in everything that year but the most impressive thing to me was if you didn't throw it over to Kev he just walked. He broke the NCAA record for most times on base in a row with 19. 9 of those plate appearances were walks. Brownie understood that it's about the pitches you take to set up pitches you will get later in the AB. If you swing at a 1-0 ball and roll it over, the 2-0, 3-0, 3-1 pitches are lost in history. When the pitcher executes and you don't have 2 strikes take it, because 99% of the time the amateur pitcher can't do it again.

Below are Kev's swing from Junior, where he hit "back to front" like almost every amateur hitter. If you time it up perfect you can hit it a long way. Kev had 9 HRs that year but only hit 280 because he would chase the ball down because he made his decision to swing at the amateur level so the pitches that ended up bouncing look liked strikes to his eyes when he made the decision to swing. For another post, you should go back to front, only in a plus count when you are cheating to a fastball.

 Your body can move the barrel better if your foot is away from the ground, it opens space for the body to store energy.

 Leaning on the back leg to load BACK 😞

 land like you are stepping on ice to see if it will break with most of the weight still on the back leg.

finish forward with most of the weight on the front leg.

Below is Kev's absolute bomb off a good pitcher from Ohio State early in his senior year. Illustrates the adjustments he made to his swing to make him pro. He loaded up not back and he is storing energy in his back groin but his knee is still inside his back foot. 

When he lands he has "separation" of his lower and upper body, his shoulder is pointed at the ball and his belt buckle is pointed at 3rd base. 

He TURNS his back shoulder down into the zone to start the movement of the barrel and as he starts to rotate to contact his weight is even and his head is in the middle of his body. The pro swing is up to down to rotate, once a pro lands he doesn't go forward any more HE JUST TURNS.

He makes the pitcher do his job which is to throw the ball the distance to the catcher not to home plate. The amateur umpire calls balls and strikes based on the location of the pitch when the catcher catches it. If it bounces before the catcher they can't call it a strike. 

Out front the right way, not going to get the ball and his back arm is still connected to his body. Once the arm starts to straighten the barrel is decelerating. 

The back shoulder is pointed to the pitcher at the finish, "replace the shoulders"

And as a pro when you know its out, you flip your bat 😎

Kev's transformation from a good college hitter as a junior to a professional hitter still playing in college was really fun to watch. He dominated and obviously cause he paid his dues to the Baseball Gods throughout the year with his work, Kev had the biggest hit in Bryant University's history. Jelen Beeks who is on the 40 man for the Boston Red Sox right now came in to pitch for Arkansas in a 1-1 game and threw a 97 FB on the black in and Kev trusted his pro swing that was late but had good enough bat path that he hit a line drive over the SS head to win the game in the NCAA regional to beat an SEC team. Weird how shit works out when you pay your dues and love the work that makes you a STUD.

If you want to be a pro you gotta act like a pro and WORK LIKE A PRO ON A SWING THAT A PRO WOULD HAVE. You can do it, so save the excuse that you can't because those guys are just naturals. That's bullshit, decide what you want to do and do the work to make it a reality.