This is a VERY brief overview of proper baseball swing mechanics. It’s meant to help develop a “big picture” view of the baseball swing, so that the more detailed posts make sense within the overall framework.
Proper Baseball Swing Mechanics
The baseball swing has two major players: The upper half and the lower half.
It’s important to understand how the upper and lower body work together in the proper sequence to create the quickest and most powerful swing possible.
All images and video are for educational purposes only.
Part 1 – Lower body.
The bottom half of the baseball swing creates torque while the upper half gets the bat presented properly.
- As our front foot hits the ground, the barrel of our bat works behind us as we get on plane with the pitch.
- As the tension is building in our front side keep the hands near our back shoulder as long as possible.
- This gets our front arm parallel to the ground and straightening out while the back elbow is touching (or getting as close to) the back hip.
Part 2 – Upper body.
- As the hips continue to open up, the upper half can’t stay closed any longer and will follow.
- This keeps the barrel of the bat in the hitting zone for a long time.
- This syncing action of the lower and upper halves creates a whip like action delivering the bat to the ball.
7 checkpoints
At contact we have 7 critical checkpoints for every baseball swing to make sure we are in an ideal position:
- Top hand should be palm up while the bottom hand should be palm down.
- You should be on your back toe or slightly off the ground with your back foot.
- A firm front leg, this keeps the created momentum working up through the body.
- Back elbow is “in the slot”
- The head should be inside your knees, creating a triangle.
- A straight line going from your head down through the back knee and into the ground.
- Eyes watching contact.
Click to learn more about the 7 checkpoints (with more video)
Swing Path
Finally, proper baseball swing mechanics includes a swing path that is level to the trajectory of the pitch. This ever so slight upward swing trajectory puts our bat on plane with the ball for as long as possible. Click to read more about the ideal bat path.
Where to learn more:
This site has many articles by various professional baseball players that go into more detail on hitting mechanics, mental strategy, and more. Click here to view all hitting posts, or check out which MLB & MiLB players and coaches have contributed to Pro Baseball Insider.
Another recommended resource, I’ve learned a lot from Bobby Tewksbary over at Tewksbary hitting. He’s done wonders, working with guys like Troy Tulowitsky and Chris Collabello.
