How does Jose Bautista of the Toronto Blue Jays go from hitting no more than 16 home runs in any season between 2004-2009 to ruthlessly demolishing 54 HR’s in 2010 and 43 HR’s in 2011?
Drugs? I’m not inclined to think so.
Shorter swing and more usage of his lower half? Yep, that’ll do it.
But, don’t take my word for it, watch what Bautista has to say about the changes he made…
The key part of the video comes at the 1:20 mark. He explains how he now starts slow and early in his swing preparation.
I watch young hitters all the time start their pre pitch movement much too late. Consequently, their arms do much of the work. Unfortunately, there is not power in the arms solely. You must get energy from the lower half. Otherwise you’re finished.
Our Hitting Mechanics 101 video shows just how the start slow and early process is done. Check it out here.
