Add Power to Your Baseball Swing

Every baseball player would love to be able to hit for power, but not every baseball player is a natural like Bryce Harper. There are a lot of things that go into a powerful baseball swing, and no one swing method or form is the right fit for all hitters. However, there are some "Cream and Clear"-free ways that can help all players add power. With the strategy and preparation, you can develop both your mind and body for power hitting as well as improve your form regardless of your preferred stance or swing.

Steps

Getting Ready to Slug

  1. Head to the gym. You won't be able to drive a ball over the batter's eye in center field just be reading articles online at home. You'll need to get into the gym and work on building up and reinforcing the most important key to your swing - your body. While a massive chest, broad shoulders, and bulging biceps look impressive, a powerful swing actually requires other muscles.[1]
  2. Strengthen your legs. While the swinging seems to be done by your upper body, your upper body is mostly a vehicle for delivering the power that your legs generate. Work on improving lower body strength. Powerful, multi-joint moves like squats, lunges, and cleans are a great way to build up functional lower body strength.[2]
  3. Don't neglect your core. Abs, obliques, and your lower back muscles are necessary for stabilizing your upper body and delivering the power generated by your legs through contact with the ball. A weak core will compromise the kinetic chain from your lower body to the head of the bat.
  4. Build your grip and forearms. While biceps may look good at the beach, they do little for your baseball swing. Strong wrists and a strong grip, on the other hand, add both stability and bat speed to your swing. Don't neglect them. [1]
  5. Focus on flexibility. There is a reason why athletes from all-star baseball sluggers to NFL running backs and receivers take yoga and dance classes to give them an edge in their sports. You should do the same.
    • Focusing on flexibility through exercises like yoga, which builds core strength and stability as well as increases range of motion. [3]
    • By making your body more flexible you'll boost your reaction time and bat speed in addition to keeping your kinetic chain fluid and powerful.
  6. Learn to relax. While the effects of learning to relax are physical, the process is mental. Some athletes use meditation or yoga to relax, some repeat reassuring phrases or mantras. Sluggers and hitting coaches know that trying to hit a home run with every swing is a sure-fire way to start a hitting slump.
    • Find what your mind needs in order to help yourself relax and stay focused.
    • Relaxation will both eliminate distractions from your mind and allow your body to be calm, loose, and powerful through your swing, which allows your bat to whip through the strike zone with increased speed. [1]

Executing the Fundamentals

  1. Transfer your weight smoothly as you swing. While you are trying to generate power, you must keep your balance through your swing. Smoothly transferring your weight forward while generating power from your legs will allow for maximum torque upon impact with the ball. The more torque you generate, the more energy will be transferred to the ball.
  2. Keep your hands in. Whether you are dealing with an inside swing or an outside swing, it is important to keep your hands close to your body. Most of your swing is generated in your hands and wrists. If your hands are extended your bat speed will slow and your power will drop. The palm of your dominant (top) hand should remain facing upwards through contact in order to drive through the ball.
  3. Control your swing. Don't over-swing, or try to put any extra power into it. Most of the power in a swing is generated through your hips and wrists. Allow that power to flow through your body smoothly. Trying to swing extra hard will harm rather than help you.
    • Trying to "muscle" through the ball will usually result in your body tightening up, which compromises your natural kinetic chain and prevents your wrists from snapping into your swing as quickly.
    • Light muscles are fast muscles. Tight muscles are slow muscles. [4]
  4. Follow through. Properly following through is important for multiple reasons. Not only will it help you to add all-important distance generating backspin to the ball, but it will help point out any flaws in your swing.[5] In most cases, you want your hands to finish high which ensures that the bat head stays through the hitting zone as long as possible.



Tips

  • Load your swing through your hips, and let your hands follow. Your lower body thrusting your trunk and arms will generate more power than your arms and shoulders alone. Unlocking your hips will unlock your bat speed.
  • Bat speed is far more important than bat weight. Ted Williams and dozens of other Hall of Fame sluggers proved that years ago.
  • Keep your eye on the ball all the way in. The most powerful swing in the world won't do you an ounce of good if you can't hit the ball.
  • Don't get upset at failure. Focus on learning from it. Even the best big league hitters fail to get a hit about 70% of the time. Control what you can control and don't worry about what you can't.
  • Push the knob of the bat to the ball which will keep your hands inside.
  • While some novice hitters think swinging down on the ball will produce ground balls and line drives this reasoning is too simple. You'll not only have more power hitting down on the ball, but if you strike the middle or lower half of the ball you will generate backspin, which is essentially for distance.[1]

Warnings

  • Always wear a helmet for safety. You are going to wear one in a game anyway, so you may as well practice with it.
  • Use a properly weighted bat that you can swing easily. Bat speed is far more important than bat weight. Would you hit a ball further if you swung a tree? No.
  • Do dynamic stretches and exercises before hitting. You will avoid injury and enhance performance.
  • Do not do steroids or drugs. While the "Cream" and the "Clear" are the easiest way to add cheap power they fell out of fashion in the 1990's along with parachute pants and platform sneakers. Don't bring them back.
  • Do not swing so fast that you lose your balance. After your swing your body should still be balanced and ready to run.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 http://probaseballinsider.com/how-to-hit-homeruns/
  2. ↑ http://www.muscleandfitness.com/workouts/legs-exercises/ultimate-leg-training-workout
  3. ↑ http://www.shape.com/fitness/workouts/top-5-yoga-poses-athletes
  4. ↑ http://www.beabetterhitter.com/the-grip-it-starts-with-the-hands/
  5. ↑ http://baseball.physics.illinois.edu/AJPFeb08.pdf
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