Optimal Power Performance

The gym is your friend. More Gym, less med balls

A quick launch is built before the swing ever starts. The rear leg holds the move, the upper body keeps the stretch, and the barrel fires when the hitter decides to go.

Ready at Release doesn’t mean slow, it means you got to your launch position on time. Get there with urgency, stay stacked on the rear leg and hold the move without leaking or dumping the barrel. Once you decide to swing, swing the front foot down and let the rear leg launch the barrel

Pushy hands are usually what turn a good move into a rollover. The second your hands go forward to” get the ball” The barrel gets around it, you lose depth and the swing turns spinny. Keep the hand pivot tight, turn the barrel behind you, and let the rear leg deliver it through baseball.

Try pushing your hands through this pitch and you’ll feel exactly why hitters get spinny, rotational, and roll over on sweepers. The only way to actually cover this ball is to keep the hand pivot tight, turn the barrel behind you, and let the rear leg take you through it. When the force is behind you instead of out front the sweepers stops owning you.

The Launchd short bat is one of my favorite tools for feeling a tighter, hand, pivot, because it lets you turn the barrel rear word without the full bat, pulling you out of the move. The goal is to keep the hand, pivot tight near the shoulder, feel the barrel work behind you, and then carry the same snap into your real swing.

On and around the rear leg is the start of the move, but it’s only half of what actually creates the stretch. From there you need the forward and backpiece so you can create that rubber band effect, otherwise you’re just coiled on the backside with nowhere to go but rotational.

Stretch and fire isn’t supposed to be a different swing, it’s supposed to exaggerate the rear leg launch you need in your real swing. The goal is to feel the stretch get held on the backside, then fire from the rear leg without drifting, pushing or spinning off the ball. When the drill swing and game swing have the same rear leg launch, the move becomes way easier to trust at full speed.

This is why direction matters so much, especially on a breaking ball that backs up instead of fully sliding off the plate. He works downhill first, stays on the move and lets the force he already created behind him run back into the baseball instead of jumping off it. A lot of hitters spin off these pitches because they lead with the shoulder or try to attack the ball directly, which pulls them out of the zone too early. The goal is to stay on it as long as possible, keep your direction away and let the rear leg and hand pivot work back through the ball.