Want to understand why your hitters miss underneath, top balls, or can’t square velocity?🤔 Start with contact point and learn how it affects mechanics, metrics, and ball flight. Let’s break it down‼️🔥 THREAD TIME🧵

Everything starts with timing. If a hitter isn’t on time, it honestly doesn’t matter how “good” the swing looks. Timing is what allows those movements to actually work. In this case, the hitter wasn’t just late with the swing last year. He was late starting his gather and that’s where everything begins to break down. When you’re late into the load: - You don’t have time to fully get loaded. - You don’t have time to create separation. In place of this, hitters will panic. That “panic” is real. It’s the body’s natural response to being rushed. The ball is already on you, so everything speeds up at once just to catch up. That’s why you see: - Everything firing together (pelvis, torso and hands). - Loss of stretch and separation. - No real depth in the swing. - Poor adjustability overall. It’s not a mechanical issue. It’s a time constraint issue. What’s different now is not just that he’s “on time” more often. He is on time with his body. He’s giving himself enough time to: - Fully gather into the load. - Actually separate the upper and lower half. - Let the swing happen more naturally. When you create separation on time or earlier: - You build real depth with the swing plane. - You can hold the upper half back longer. - You improve swing decisions. - You gain true adjustability when fooled by pitches. Separation isn’t just a movement. It’s a product of timing and the sequence of the swing. When a hitter finally has both, you stop seeing panic, and you start seeing control. Great breakdown!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Big focus with Chase this past weekend came down to one key feel: Back heel releasing too early and was leading to premature rear hip extension. Once that happens, you lose the ground, lose posture, and bat path is thrown off because of it. Adjustment #1: Feet in cement + added flow drill We locked him into a position where: - He had to stay grounded. - Back heel needs to stay engaged. - He was then challenged to turn as far as possible without losing that connection with the ground. This did a few things immediately: - Delayed heel release. - Kept him in posture longer. - Allowed him to hold space through rotation instead of popping out of it just before contact. Adjustment #2: Clean up the load pattern He was previously in more of a rock to slide pattern when he was put in this drill constraint: - Weight was drifting back to load. - Then shifting or slidingf forward. - Minimal true coil or tension causing some of that premature rear hip extension. We flipped that to: - Counter rotate over center of your body. - Thinking “load down” instead of back. From there, cued: “Pull the front hip back” This unlocked: - Better pelvis-torso separation. - More efficient rotational direction. - Ability to maintain posture through the turn. This drill continues to be a staple in Chase's development at the plate. Oh and he pitches pretty good too!!!

This looks really good. It also looks like he’s starting a little less open than he was last year, which is probably helping clean up some of the timing issues and allowing him to get to his loaded position sooner instead of getting caught in the middle of the move. There also seems to be more emphasis on torso forward bend. I’d still love to see a little more pelvis forward bend at the top of the load and let that drive the torso working over the plate (hammer some step behinds in a low pitch environment). I think that would make him even more adjustable from the top of the zone and down as he makes his forward move. The hand position looks pretty similar, but it seems like he’s trying to stay more vertical through the turn, with his barrel, which gives the barrel more time in the zone and improves overall plate coverage. That’s a big part of what I think allowed him to elevate this type of pitch (more vertical bat angle at contact). Definitely headed in the right direction. It is another good reminder that tiny adjustments can make a huge impact.

This is exactly why I do what I do. I had a guy who had not seen a ton of playing time in previous years reach out to me about a week or two before heading out for his spring break baseball trip. He wanted to dive into some swing stuff and figure out what was holding him back. Going into it, our first focus was on the upper half. We wanted to let the body load the hands instead of forcing the hands to load independently. A big cue for him was starting the hands more out front and farther away from the body and almost feeling like they were starting “over the plate.” Before that, he was getting into a position where the barrel was stuck behind him, the scap was overloaded and overly flexed, and everything became too static too soon in the swing. It was not a dynamic launch position, and it created a weird bat path because he had to add a hitch just to get the hands moving and get the barrel out of that position. Once we cleaned that up, we moved farther down the chain and attacked the lower half. The lower half was never really getting loaded. He would start open, then basically just step back to neutral position without ever creating real tension in the back hip during the load. By adding more rear hip coil, he was able to load the hands more naturally into the position we wanted, which immediately improved hsi overall sequence. Then the huge unlock came from getting the pelvis open out of that load. That gave him the space to clear, rotate, and finally start elevating the ball to the pull side. One cue that really clicked for him was “draw a half circle with the front foot,” which helped him create better separation out of the forward move and organize the lower half much more efficiently. Pretty successful trip for Drew after that. 9 hits in 6 games, 1 grand slam, 5 RBIs, and a .562 average over the trip. I would say the adjustments worked!!! Huge thanks to Drew for trusting me, buying in, and putting in the work.

This is a really useful visual and it makes a ton of sense. I tell a lot of hitters who struggle to coil into the back hip that the goal is to get the back hip working inside the front hip during the load. In this image, you can think of the pelvis/load line shifting toward second base, which is a great visual for helping hitters understand how to create that coil during their load. From there, I think you can coach it in two different ways depending on the hitter. For some guys, the cue is simply rotating the back hip through the baseball which sometimes backfires because they simply spin off too soon. For others, it is better to think about pulling the front hip back. Ultimately, both cues are working toward the same outcome to maximize rotation. This move is what helps propel the back hip, creates the stretch needed to begin rotation into foot plant, and sets up a cleaner move in terms of rotation into contact. It is such a simple way to cue hitters because this image gives them a target for where the hips need to work towards during the load. That helps organize them into a better counter rotated position at the top of the move, which then gives them a real chance to rotate fully and efficiently into contact.

Another really interesting posture adjustment here. Last season we saw more torso forward bend in the setup, whereas now he’s starting taller with a slightly open stance. That change does a few important things. The open stance helps him get into the back hip more effectively, but it also allows his timing to be a little later. You can see the foot stay in the air longer, which keeps the body moving and allows him to land closer to the swing decision or start of rotation. Objects in motion stay in motion. I hate when hitters intentionally get the foot down early and then try to restart the swing from a static position. It’s incredibly hard to generate speed when the body has to go from still to explosive again. Keeping the move going allows the swing to build from the ground up while the body continues moving as the swing progresses. The other thing this adjustment helps with is not getting too far over the plate early. When hitters start too bent over and closed off, they can become stagnant. Starting a little taller lets the body stay dynamic and free moving, and then he can build into the forward bend naturally as the swing develops. That’s what ultimately leads to better rhythm and a more athletic move into contact while allowing that space for rotation to continue to be there as the swing progresses.

Great analysis here as usual. This is an adjustment I’m starting to see a lot with hitters who tend to make that “crunch” move at the top of the load. In 2024, you can see he is a bit over crunched at the top and there is a heavy emphasis on torso forward bend, and with that comes excessive torso side bend as well. When a hitter gets into that position, it can limit space for rotation and force the body to make compensations later in the swing effecting bat path. In 2025, he sets up in a higher pitch posture with noticeably less forward bend and less side bend at the top of the load. That small adjustment creates a big downstream effect for him. It allows the swing to stay more level through the zone for longer and gives him more space to rotate. In 2024 he often had to rip out of that side bend and pop out of the forward bend just to adjust to pitches at the top of the zone and clear space for rotation of the body and the barrel itself up until contact. This is a great example of how the position at the top of the load can dictate how adjustable the swing is later. The better we organize the body early, the easier it is to make adjustments into contact and that’s exactly what we’re seeing from him in 2025.

One of the most misunderstood cues in hitting is "stay back." Too often, hitters interpret that as hanging on the backside, when in reality an effective swing still requires a forward move. That move creates linear direction before rotation and helps the body work downhill and sets the swing up to level out through contact. When hitters overly prioritize staying back without moving forward, they often lose adjustability out front and produce higher attack angles that create holes in the swing. The key is separation: the lower half can move forward while the shoulders and hands remain back. That is what truly allows a hitter to move forward as much as they want and maintain adjustability with their upper half. This applies even more when hitters are fooled by offspeed and get caught too forward. The upper half saves them. Separation saves them.

Go check this out!!!

Great cue by @BrandonDim24 "Just turn left"

SPACE. SPACE. SPACE. SPACE. SO MUCH SPACE!

This is exactly why you don’t throw inside to a hitter who opens this well with the pelvis. When the lower half clears this efficiently, it creates immediate space for the barrel to work out front and turn with intent. Would love to see how he does on an outside pitch and if he maintain that same lower half intent. It is possible. It just a matter of him being able to keep those shoulders back with his hands to maximize his adjustability and plate coverage.

Big fan of this swing. Dude is going to be a dawg for the Guards this year. It’s definitely a different stance and process than what we traditionally see, but there’s a lot of value in what he’s developing for himself. He’s got almost a double toe tap going before he even lifts the leg. That serves two purposes: • Keeps him moving instead of stagnant. • Helps him get into a stacked position before the leg lift, which makes coiling and stability a lot easier. The only thing I’d say is he could probably work slightly more back with those toe taps. Right now when he makes his forward move he can get a little wide, which could make it tougher to rotate without disconnecting from the backside and hands. I think he’ll have a ton of success out front (contact point) with his current setup, but ideally you want to make sure he can still produce that same success a few inches deeper at contact if he gets fooled or is a little late. More time in the zone = more adjustability. Overall though, I love the direction he’s headed in at the plate!!!!

Dude is going to have an insane 2026 season. But I want to talk about the swing on the left for a second. This is something we’re starting to see more and more from hitters. Especially guys who struggle to stay over the plate with their torso. Instead of working into posture during the swing, they preset torso forward bend in the setup and then gain even more into foot plant. This sets the hitter up to absolutely destroy balls at the bottom of the zone, but there’s a tradeoff. If that posture is held through the turn, it tends to produce a more vertical bat path, which creates a hole at the top of the zone. Now when a pitch shows up at the top of the zone, the hitter has to compromise which craetes a flaw. The only way to get to that pitch is to pull themselves out of posture so the hands can work up to the ball. By the time that happens: • The move is late. • The bat path disconnects from the body. • The barrel loses efficiency through the zone. There’s a lot of value in starting taller and working into posture as the swing progresses (you can feel the move way more and it is more athletic with rythym). That allows the hitter to: • Cover the top of the zone. • Leave space for the barrel to slot. • Still adjust down with torso side bend. *without compromising the bat path*

Big fan of this conversation when we start talking about the load. There are a lot of hitters out there who get very pushy with the hands during the load and it ends up killing their ability to rotate efficiently because they push out of that pushy load at contact. The feel I’ve always given hitters is simple: Your pelvis and torso load your hands, not the other way around. You shouldn’t be aggressively pulling the hands back toward the catcher first. Instead, we want to load the body the same way we want to sequence the swing. Pelvis - Torso - Arms - Hands When the body loads this way, the hands naturally move with it. That’s when hitters start to find the posture relationship between the pelvis and torso, and more importantly how that rear shoulder or torso side bend begins to shape their bat path. At that point the hands and barrel are just along for the ride. A great drill for this is simply taking game speed swings with the bat resting on the outside of the shoulder. It forces the hitter to feel the body loading the hands and keeps the hands connected to the body throughout the turn letting posture dictate bat path.