Swing Site
This page is a visual tool to help you get better. If it helps great, if not, no biggie. It is intended to help you see how the best players in the world swing. The first set of videos should especially be helpful, see if you can spot the differences in their swings. Then spend some time comparing your swing to theirs.
The three drills at the bottom will help all of you. And you can do them all off of the tee. If you have started to make some improvements from this page or our work together and want me to take a look at your videos, send them to mike@conangroup.com. I will take a look and give you some feedback within a few days.
Note: The videos are the reason I posted the links. I am not necessarily endorsing anyone’s approach. Many of them just post great videos to watch!
Some definitions
Load - Creating resistance (stretching leg and back simultaneously) within your body so that the bat can then explode forward towards the baseball. (Like spinning a top, you spin a top backward to have energy moving forward.) When players are loaded their shoulders will point towards opposite middle infielder.
Coiling - turning rear leg rearward until hip socket bottoms out (turn back pocket towards pitcher)
Scap loading - coiling your back, by pulling rear arm up and back. (scapula) Think of it like you are pulling your fist back to punch.
launch - The first explosion of the swing, this move determines the entire swing! You will finish on whatever path you begin.
Bat Path - The direction the bat travels from the launch to the point of contact.
Tilt - The movement of the torso in an upward direction so the swing plane matches the pitch, which is moving at a downward angle
Pushing - swinging with mostly arms, often releases load too early and “muscles” it. Feels like you are “pushing” into front leg.
Pulling - Scapula and leg pull back and then explode. The rear leg is the driver of the swing, holding the load in leg and back until launch. Tilt make it feels like your rear leg is “pulling” the bat through the zone.
As you watch the swings below here are some things to look for:
1) Where is their weight when they swing? (load)
-watch the movement of their heads, does it stay over the center of their bodies, move rearward, or move towards their front foot?
-Look at feet before, during, and after the swing (especially feet after the swing shows where their weight is)
2) Where is their weight when they launch/start to swing the bat? (load)
-Is the launch before or after they shift weight? (watch hands and front foot)
-Where is bat pointed at launch? (at catcher)
-Do they swing the foot down after launch, as they launch, or shift weight to the front foot and then launch?
-Easiest way to tell is by looking at their center mass at launch
3) Look at their arms through the swing (bat path)
-Do they maintain a triangle to start the swing?
-Do their hands “outrace” their bodies?
-Or do they swing with their backs and arms staying with shoulders?
-is there a first move with the hands/bat forward or to bring the knob “up”?
-Do they launch toward the pull side or the opposite middle infielder?
4) Look at the tilt of their torsos
-The swing path is the easiest way to see this. watch how the bat moves
- Are they straight or tilted so their swings can match a pitch that is coming in at a downward angle?
- If you can’t tell, look at their belt loops or the front and back shoulder (is one significantly higher than the other at Impact and afterward.)
- Look after the swing at the tilted straight line from the front leg to the front shoulder
5) Are they pushing with their chests and arms or “pulling” and driving with their weighted rear legs?
-look at their arms in relationship to their bodies… do they stay “connected”? or do the arms race ahead?
-Watch how they load into their back hip socket and then hold it as they do their forward move and drive swing with its release
6) There is a link to your swings on the bottom
-Pull it up and compare what you are doing to what these pros are doing and see what stands out.
-Look for one thing you can work on (maybe it is loading into hip and scapula, tilting a little to match pitch coming down, thinking center/oppo at plate, less forward head movement, maybe it is a little less weight movement, maybe pulling with your back instead of pushing with arms, staying behind the baseball and waiting for it to come to you rather than lunging at it.)
Swing changes where you can clearly see above the differences by best players in the World
This section will be the easiest for you to see how the best players in the world changed their swings so that they could hit the ball harder more consistently. Look closely at the things above.
Aaron Judge
https://x.com/Teacherman1986/status/1468703760079806464?s=20https://x.com/Teacherman1986/status/1640895043215949824?s=20https://x.com/Teacherman1986/status/1693795742471623006?s=20Ohtani
https://x.com/Teacherman1986/status/1462969762724593665?s=20Harper
https://x.com/mikeconan/status/1261337385771470849?s=20Buxton
https://x.com/fuzzyfromyt/status/1519028460395540481?s=20Alex Bregman
https://x.com/Teacherman1986/status/1732743655318790261?s=20https://twitter.com/mikeconan/status/1281956890281299968?s=21Rutschman
https://x.com/TJHannam10/status/1733148371689308479?s=20Ketel Marte (former Mariner) - Became superstar after leaving Mariners
https://x.com/TeeganLeader/status/1284122013490196484?s=20Kerry Carpenter
https://x.com/Teacherman1986/status/1604820755526856705?s=20Elly De La Cruz
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4ED0MDv8_Y/?igsh=OGVxYXNqa2w4cnM3Cody Bellinger
https://x.com/Teacherman1986/status/1756059627588919611?s=20Gleyber Torres
https://x.com/Teacherman1986/status/1742540573049786831?s=20Trout vs Judge in High School!
https://x.com/gritnj/status/1714709283227549938?s=20Best players in the world swings
Trout
Trout In High school -
https://x.com/ChezWhizzz/status/1493656139451576326?s=20Trout Front view
https://x.com/ChezWhizzz/status/1490920549073457156?s=20Trout Slow Motion
https://x.com/HyattCraig/status/1291940542037676033?s=20Trout Bat path
https://x.com/mikeconan/status/1444649096384434189?s=20Judge
https://x.com/MLB/status/1290299016119570433?s=20https://x.com/swingTHENhit/status/1290689603134009345?s=20https://x.com/portlandbbclub/status/1564835600683106305?s=20Bonds and Judge Side By Side
https://x.com/Teacherman1986/status/1484658846404681743?s=20Tatis
https://x.com/ChezWhizzz/status/1648000619460820996?s=20https://x.com/TJHannam10/status/1764840757494505690?s=20Julio
https://x.com/HyattCraig/status/1592745691646132224?s=20Soto
Soto back view
https://x.com/gritnj/status/1583081697024741376?s=20Soto side view
- https://x.com/Teacherman1986/status/1391782755076165634?s=20Machado
https://x.com/DannyVietti/status/1394485227783790593?s=20Pedroia
https://x.com/ChezWhizzz/status/1494138902596173828?s=20Betts
https://x.com/HyattCraig/status/1443776424263892994?s=20Acuna
https://x.com/gritnj/status/1393371381203603458?s=20Salvador Perez
https://x.com/Royals/status/1446158387884924961?s=20Bichette
https://x.com/ChezWhizzz/status/1413976839538843650?s=20Vlad Junior
https://x.com/MLBEurope/status/1164900100524707840?s=20Nelson Cruz
https://x.com/Teacherman1986/status/1287754997200039939?s=20Slow Motion
https://x.com/Teacherman1986/status/1280695415717978112?s=20Comparison
https://x.com/Teacherman1986/status/1657132103631355904?s=20Freeman
Check Swing
https://x.com/ChezWhizzz/status/1588923059163234304?s=20Mirrored so he looks right-handed
https://x.com/ChezWhizzz/status/1730258986014851329?s=20Gleybor Torres
https://x.com/Teacherman1986/status/1726785097666613725?s=20Goldschmidt
https://x.com/HyattCraig/status/1591266235530244096?s=20Turner
https://x.com/gritnj/status/1361324955951104002?s=20Chris Taylor (game winner for Dodgers a few years ago!)
https://x.com/Teacherman1986/status/1444255625169575938?s=20Old School Swings
Barry Bonds
https://x.com/BaseballBros/status/1363656384328384517?s=20https://x.com/IanJenkins24/status/1662922444368216065?s=20https://x.com/Teacherman1986/status/1607108704956211200?s=20Manny Ramirez
https://x.com/Teacherman1986/status/1743601760294326471?s=20Front View
https://x.com/ChezWhizzz/status/1378556396065673219?s=20Ken Griffey Junior (with righty)
https://x.com/Teacherman1986/status/1445570169628069896?s=20Edgar Martinez
https://x.com/PeabodyHitDev/status/1498326254478454785?s=20Prince Fielder (Big man/wicked quick bat)
https://x.com/ChezWhizzz/status/1750281858376462532?s=20George Brett
https://x.com/Teacherman1986/status/1390491547922272257?s=20Don Mattingly
https://x.com/gritnj/status/1613928022658224129?s=20Albert Belle
https://x.com/rayramelli/status/1484223567877349376?s=20Reggie Jackson
https://x.com/Teacherman1986/status/1366189285527977986?s=20Ted Williams
https://x.com/gritnj/status/1663958215208337420?s=20Mickey Mantle
https://x.com/Teacherman1986/status/1372697410376437766?s=20Willie Mays
https://x.com/gritnj/status/1618765696460279808?s=20Swing compilations
Full Swings
https://twitter.com/chezwhizzz/status/1285015114618490880?s=21Loading/ Gathering
https://x.com/RunNGun8/status/1492250919072899073?s=20https://x.com/Teacherman1986/status/1761369465940312442?s=20https://x.com/Teacherman1986/status/1381587584460193792?s=20Best Players in World Launching
https://x.com/gritnj/status/1715016283522019370?s=20https://x.com/Teacherman1986/status/1761369465940312442?s=20Ted Williams (and others “swinging foot down”)
https://x.com/gritnj/status/1657435198714175490?s=2012 players launching from Load
https://x.com/Teacherman1986/status/1445399279300972557?s=20Load and Launch
All of these players load by coiling into rear hip socket and pulling scapula tight. Then, their shoulders are all lined up towards opposite middle infielder. Bats point to catcher. Then, they launch their bats in the direction of that middle infielder, rearward and then forward. Some trigger launch by thinking of a violent snap, others think of dropping the elbow into the slot, but they all do it in line with opposite middle infielder.
Trout and Baez -(How to Load like a Pro - Antonelli
Best video on loading I have ever seen
I would encourage you to watch this video and then rewatch swings above.
https://youtu.be/d7iGYW0ydFs?si=JHj5s8yFeQMrrBBqLoad and Launch Compilation
https://x.com/Teacherman1986/status/1761369465940312442?s=20Trout Load into launch position
https://x.com/TJHannam10/status/1481805893608124418?s=204 of the best (Ohtani, Betts, Ramirez, hamilton) all loading and launching
https://x.com/gritnj/status/1743711766691942612?s=20Judge Load and Launch
https://x.com/gritnj/status/1753137899690656171?s=20https://x.com/gritnj/status/1757861968159936649?s=20https://x.com/Teacherman1986/status/1761050543097569502?s=20Soto
https://x.com/Teacherman1986/status/1760046159282737251?s=20Alvarez
https://x.com/Teacherman1986/status/1739386895207948369?s=20Soler
https://x.com/gritnj/status/1388143483488243716?s=20Ohtani Warm up routine (He is practicing launch and staying tight)
https://x.com/Teacherman1986/status/1765378335775903755?s=20Magglio Ordonez
https://x.com/Teacherman1986/status/1739141890484629843?s=20
(launch of swing same for 6 different pitch locations, 6 different home runs)
https://x.com/mikeconan/status/1245907152763412481?s=20Pujols
https://x.com/Teacherman1986/status/1741799183395295407?s=20Barry Bonds
https://x.com/Teacherman1986/status/1440042020844621833?s=20https://x.com/Teacherman1986/status/1746999787432366121?s=20Manny Ramirez (look which direction his bat launches for a pull home run)
https://x.com/gritnj/status/1499119077822017552?s=20Don Mattingly
https://x.com/gritnj/status/1613928022658224129?s=20Sometimes Pros don’t even know how they actually Swing, They think they do one thing… and do another. I could post tons of videos, but here is one.
Nick Swisher (He thinks he pushes to lauch, but in game he actually launches rearward!)
https://x.com/Teacherman1986/status/1439994393897865220?s=20
Hitting Thoughts and Approach
Big Papi - Staying Loaded
https://x.com/ChezWhizzz/status/1396866305714753545?s=20Christian Yellich By big Papi - Staying Loaded
https://x.com/PeabodyHitDev/status/1494315249654132736?s=20Manny Ramirez
https://x.com/Teacherman1986/status/1734570462812791115?s=20Aaron Judge - Loading early and Staying loaded and Approach at plate
https://x.com/CoachSolly10/status/1570103929395974144?s=20https://x.com/ChezWhizzz/status/1648000619460820996?s=20MIke Trout - Approach at Plate
https://x.com/MarvTraining/status/1426550600649609221?s=20Derek Jeter - Approach at Plate
https://x.com/TJHannam10/status/1734414440613781878?s=20Alex Bregman - Hand Path
https://x.com/gritnj/status/1508819390036418560?s=20https://x.com/gritnj/status/1508834562754945026?s=20Marsh
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3g2SG5rg60/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_linkFreddie Freeman
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C2QMUoEOepE/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_linkhttps://www.instagram.com/reel/C3wRjfJOIib/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_linkDante Bichette (Bo Bichette’s dad) - Hand Path
https://x.com/uTeeBaseball/status/1663361949613080578?s=20Albert Pujols - Demonstates hand path
https://x.com/Teacherman1986/status/1443230026296659976?s=20Ted Williams teaches a little kid Hand path
https://x.com/uTeeBaseball/status/1741875954174058670?s=20Trout and Betts - Confidence at Plate is key
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3-ppDuORCw/?igsh=MWZveXMwYzNkNm5ndA%3D%3DJim Thome on Vlad Guerrero
https://x.com/MLBNetwork/status/1518930393503649793?s=20Vlad Junior
https://x.com/qualityatbats/status/1605009301260488704?s=20Hitting drills you can do at Home on a tee
(If you did each of these drills 10-20 times twice a day on the weekend, you will see instant improvement.)
Hover Drill / feet together drill / Gather Drill
This drill helps you stay in your load and keep your power source, helps you to stay explosive. (Will also improve bat speed.)
Antonelli Baseball https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6k8NZZMjsag
Blast Motion https://x.com/Blast_Bsbl/status/1374857133880193030?s=20
1) Put feet together
2) lift the front leg,
3) load by coiling (rear pocket to the pitcher and pulling the back arm back/up)
4) Pulll back the load and hold it while you move forward.
5) let it burst
Here is top draft choice Jackson Holliday, this kid will be a household name soon. He is doing the hover drill off of front toss/flips, but you can do it off tee.
https://x.com/Teacherman1986/status/1753423980218769879?s=20Stretch and Fire drill / Feet at pitcher Drill
This drill is mostly for bat path. it will help you get keep your front shoulder in and launch towards the oppostie middle infielder, (working inside to outside.) The drill also helps you feel the load and stay loaded behind the ball.
Antonelli Baseball
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naDY7a1ART8Aaron Judge doing the drill
https://x.com/Teacherman1986/status/1745633257603899777?s=201) Point feet directly at pitcher (can’t see it in video unfornately)
2) Coil into normal upper body hitting position while keeping feet pointed towards pitcher
3) Swing and hit ball toward opposite middle infielder. (2b for righty, SS for left)
Hook ‘em Drill
Helps you load upper and lower half, stay loaded while doing the forward move, get a good stride
Diveline Baseball
https://youtu.be/IyCE0hey7-I1) Hook front foot behind lead foot
2) Slowly Begin moving front foot forward
3) Load as you begin
4) keep weight over back foot as long as possible
5) Explode to swing
Connection Drill - (Ball in Arm Drill)
This drill keeps you from casting, allows you to stay quick. It forces you to swing with your big muscles (back) and not push with arms. This will give you that nice triangle where your arms stay in same position throughout swing until contact.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4KECS1uz8P/?igsh=MTZpbzUxbm1mMTE0MA%3D%3D1) Hold smaller ball in your arm
2) Swing - Ball should not release until after contact with baseball
Best players in world working on this
Ohtani - Pre-swing
https://x.com/Teacherman1986/status/1765378335775903755?s=20Judge - Insider Bat (staying tight/ avoid casting bat)
https://x.com/Teacherman1986/status/1747255040329576795?s=20C-Team Swings
WEEK 1
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Ft-RTJa6Kj5xe8RB0xwZv3BQpO4mKnGp?usp=sharingWeek 2
Overall, Some good improvement boys. Can definitely see much more emphasis on load in most of your swings. Many of you are a little too loaded, your shoulders are pointed more at corner infielder rather than middle infielder. That is an easy fix! Sam wins the most improved award. His swing was already solid, but he looks quicker this round.
I posted your raw swings and I hi-lighted another copy for each of you. I hi-lighted how your shoulders lined up when loaded and when you finished. I hilighted with a red circle where it looked like you launched your bat. Most of you launched the bat at the ball. A few of you launched it earlier though. A couple of you I couldn’t tell where the bat was launched.
Areas everyone needs work on… launch. Launch is supposed to be a sudden blast off. If you watch the pros you will see a blur behind their heads at launch it is so fast. If you don’t launch with a boom, you end up with a long slow swing, tough to hit with long and slow beyond 6th grade.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1MvjxQOnbbPYe0a5BzweWEZ8Lui4CwK0g?usp=sharingWEEK 3 SWINGS
See some progress and some regress here. All in all, everyone’s swing looks quicker than when we started. A lot of you are loading and many of you have worked on launching your bat towards opposite middle infielder. Some of you went back to your old swings, which is fine. Like we said from the beginning, if what we are doing isn’t helping, stick with what works for you.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1yqF2lIQV-_YMNH8TRfma5RqCSW_pJQAN?usp=sharing