12/6/2013 added a mention of the old youthbaseballcoaching site
11/2/2013 - 11/7/2013 initial post
List of Other Hitting Mechanics Instruction Websites (alphabetic)
I have listed the typical baseball hitting mechanics websites or forums that most people will run across. Some of these are better than others. They are listed purely in alphabetic order here.
Baseball Debate forum
Brett McMillan, former college (UCLA 2006) and MILB (Nats 2006-07) hitter, Seattle
Must be a member to post or view in the forum, since 2009
Baseball Fever - Fundamentals Forum
forum
Moderators: Jake Patterson and Cannonball Darrell Butler, both former high school coaches
Forum: Anyone can view discussions, members can post; swing GIFs in Clips thread
BaseballSwingMechanics.com website
, YouTube channel: BaseballSwingMuscles
Bob Speroni and Dr. Larry Van Such (no About Us page so I don't know who they are)
Free articles, eBook, and YouTube videos. Sell CDs.
Bat Speed.com website,
YouTube channel: MrBatSpeed
Jack Mankin
Free articles, Youtube videos, and public forum (forum stale since Feb 2013).
Sells DVDs and hitting aids.
Website/forum started Dec 1999. One of the first to analyze MLB hitters from video/VHS. One of the first online to talk about rotational vs. linear swings.
I was determined to give coaches the proven facts to teach the mechanics that generate power and bat-speed (and not simply someone's pet theory regarding it).
The study covered nine years and literally thousands of hours. The first two years I spent charting the swings of 185 professional players. I would video tape games shown on television and replay the swings back in frame by frame action. By placing a piece of clear plastic over the screen I was able to trace the movement of each part of the body and the bats reaction for each video frame of the swing. From the time the swing was initiated to contact required from 4 to 6 frames depending on the mechanics of the batter.
When I started the study, I made a sign and hung it over my desk. It read " Have no preconceived theory, report only what you observe." To make sure I correctly identified a players swing mechanics, I charted 15 swings (at good pitches to hit) of each player over a two year period. I then devised a system whereby I could identify players according to the characteristics of their mechanics. I used 39 different mechanical characteristics and developed 12 swing classifications that players fit into. It was truly amazing how close the performance stats were for players with the same classification. There was other very interesting findings I made during the charting phase of the research and I will discuss them with you when those subjects arise.
In the next part of the study I undertook the task of defining the forces acting on the bat that would cause the various reactions I had recorded. These reactions involve a great deal of rather complex physics. My only formal study of physics was those required for my engineering major in college. Not having a strong physics background, I spent a considerable amount of time discussing my finding with college physics departments. I cannot thank them enough for their help and patience.
BeaBetterHitter.com website
, YouTube channel: javvilin
Rick Down (former MLB hitting coach), Dick Williams (former MLB player), Marty Barrett (former MLB player)
Free articles, drills, email list, and videos. They link to a sister site where they sell baseball products at HittingStore.com
Englishbey Hitting website,
Steve Englishbey, former 1st round pick
Sells private forum, DVDs, clinics
From About Us:
Steve was an elite athlete, being selected in the first round of the Major League draft by the Houston Astros in 1972.
He has spent hundreds of hours studying video of elite baseball and softball hitters.
He has spent hundreds of hours on the field working with hitters of all ages and levels.
Steve is a trainer of athletes with a professional background in physiology, kinesiology and exercise science. This rare expertise enables him to understand how elite athletes create the necessary muscle actions and physical movements to swing a bat in the most efficient way possible and also to teach young hitters how to create the same muscle actions and physical movements.
Mike Epstein Hitting website,
YouTube channel: Jake Epstein Mike Epstein, former college (UC Berkeley), MLB (1965-1974) and 1964 Olympics hitter
Free articles. Sells lessons, camps, DVDs, and video uploads
From Ted Williams:
Mike Epstein played for me for three years when I managed the Washington Senators. He was always a keen student of hitting. I see Mike frequently and have parried batting technique and theory with him - both the physical and mental sides - on many of those occasions. I'm a tough guy to please and impress, but I believe Mike comprehends and teaches the science of proper hitting as skillfully as anyone I have run across in all my years in baseball.
From Wiki:
Mike Epstein runs a rotational hitting camp. Rotational hitting combines a linear phase (stride),
then blocking the front side and rotating around a stationary axis (rotational) when the hitter reaches his "balance point."
This hitting instruction has been used around the nation, typical on the West Coast.
However, Mike Epstein hitting instructors have been making their way to the East Coast,
like hitting instructor Anthony Brites, who provides Mike Epstein's patented hitting instruction
out of Turf Island in Oceanside, New York.
Hitting.com website
Dave Hudgens, MLB hitting coach
Nothing free. Sells DVDs, 'members-only' private forum, video analysis, and a 'Coaching Certification Program'.
Hitting.com is the personal online library of legendary hitting coach Dave Hudgens and home to his revolutionary instructional DVD series “Hitting for Excellence.” Hitting.com is the complete educational resource where players, parents and coaches can acquire and access everything necessary in order to fulfill maximum hitting potential. Whether you desire to improve your power hitting or your batting average, Hitting.com gives you total access to the worlds best hitting techniques and instruction.
Hitting Illustrated website
Rich Schenck, St. Louis
Free GIFs and snarky private forum since 2006. Sells private lessons.
Hitting is a Guess website,
YouTube channel: Perry Husband
Perry Husband, played in college and MILB
Sells: DVD, video analysis, ebooks, training aids
Perry Husband - Professional Hitting Instructor - Consultant - MVP College World Series Div II 1984 - Member of Cal State University Northridge Sports Hall Of Fame - Member of Antelope Valley College Sports Hall Of Fame - Speaker at the ABCA National Coaches Clinic 2004 - Set a National Junior College record with a 32 game hitting streak 1981 - Drafted 16th Round & Played in the Minnesota Twins farm system for 2 years
laflippin youtube channel
Hundreds of free slow motion swing clips of MLB players in games
LearnBaseballHitting.com website,
YouTube channel: prorespons
Coach Joe Brockhoff, former Tulane head baseball coach
Sells the Super 8 Hitting System DVDs, a book, and hitting aids
About Us:
For over 25 years thousands of happy clients have learned the correct way to become
better hitters using Joe's unique and effective baseball hitting tips.
Joe compiled a 641-358-2 career record at Tulane University, as well as being inducted into the Tulane Athletic Hall of Fame. During his era, Joe's teams scored more than 7,000 runs, had more than 9,000 hits, 900 home runs, and 45 Tulane players went on to play Professional baseball.
Joe has developed several publications and videos on baseball fundamentals: The Super 8 Hitting System (1998), Baseball Coach's Administrative Handbook (1998),"The Complete Hitting Program" Video (1995) ,"The SpeedBatTM" video, the Brockbuster, a hitting training aid (1996), The Pro-Style Pitching Program (2001), and an assortment of instructional aids, of which a favorite, that he developed while coaching at Tulane, is his SpeedBat, a tool for developing the correct hitting technique, and the Reader Board, (2008), a visual tool for learning to read pitches and applying the proper stroke.
John Mallee website,
YouTube channel: MajorLeagueBatting John Mallee, Astros hitting coach
Free Youtube videos (30 or so). Sells camps, DVDs, lessons
The 6 Absolutes of a professional hitter:
1. Go back before you go forward (lower half load)
2. Walk away from the hands (stride-separate)
3. Keep head in-between feet (maintain dynamic balance, center, axis)
4. Start swing with lower half, ground up (foot, knee, hips, hands last)
5. Take a straight line to and through the ball ( stay inside)
6. Maintain balance throughout the swing
Natural Hitting website
, YouTube channel: NaturalHitting
Sean Dixon, son of Jim Dixon
Some free articles and GIFs. Sells a DVD and offers personal instruction.
Chris O'Leary website,
Chris O'Leary
Free articles with GIFs. Sells DVDs, ebooks, and private forum.
About Us:
Over the past few years, I have become something of an expert when it comes to pitching mechanics and hitting mechanics and have leveraged my communication skills to help explain how the best pitchers and hitters actually do what they do.
My work on baseball pitching and hitting is followed by a large number of major league scouts, cross checkers, coaches, and player development people. I have also helped multiple players get to the major leagues, including Andres Torres of the New York Mets.
The PT Method or Back Back Back.com
aka The Parker Training System
, YouTube channel: parkertraining
Darrell (Sparky) Parker, former fastpitch travel coach
Free ebook. Sells articles, videos and video series with a paid membership.
Coach Parker has created a remarkable training system that is like no other. From college programs down to little league, from baseball to softball, coach Parker produces quality players and coaches year after year. With 23 years of experience as a coach & professional hitting instructor, combined with a professional career in education, coach Parker has masterfully combined his two passions into a powerful training system designed for every player and coach in the game. A true student of the game and a coach that prides himself in "always learning." Coach Parker holds a M.A.Ed and is currently working towards his Ph.D. A coach that thoroughly understands the mechanics of great hitting and combines it with the art of teaching like very few coaches can.
Sparky has been coaching baseball and fastpitch on the Eastside since 1988 and has experienced high levels of success. In 1993, Sparky coached a Kirkland U-18 girls fastpitch team to a World Series Championship. In 1999, he coached a U-14 Juniors to a fourth place world series finish and followed it up two years later with a 2nd place finish, in 2001. Over the past 8 years he has focused specifically on training coaches and players all across the country.
I have been coaching for 23 years and have attended 100's of seminars on hitting over the years. Out of every clinic and every seminar that I have attended, no one has ever once said, "would you like to know how Edgar swings? how about Barry? Arod? or Jr?" "It wasn't until I came across Mike Epstein that I began to comprehend what hitting really was all about. Even though I may not agree with the teaching system Epstein he uses, I can honestly say that he is truly a pioneer and has been an instrumental influence in my coaching career, and for this I am sincerely grateful
Pro Baseball Insider is a platform for MLB and MiLB players to donate their knowledge. We have 100's of pages of free baseball instruction (quality, often advanced instruction, and often including videos and diagrams) which has been exclusively written by professional baseball players, coaches, scouts and trainers, and nearly all of it is completely free to the public.
QCBaseball.com
, YouTube channel: DonatQCBaseball
Don Edlin, former college player and high school coach
Free hitting articles and drills. No products sold.
SetPro.com website
Paul Nyman
Free articles, GIFs, and forum since 1999. Sells books and private forum access.
An engineer by training whose company, Sports Engineering & Training Products [setpro.com], strives to maximize a players baseball potential through the design of proprietary swing and throw training products
Elite Baseball Training website
, YouTube channel: 2xturf
Justin Stone, played at Eastern Illinois University and was a former asst coach at Indiana State
Nothing free. Sells camps, lessons, and DVDs
About Us:
Welcome to Elite Baseball Training, Chicagoland’s premier baseball development group. Elite Baseball Training was created by renowned hitting instructor Justin Stone with the goal of bringing MLB quality instruction to the aspiring ball player. Justin and his Elite Staff, which includes some of the best baseball instructors in the Chicagoland area, utilize state of the art technology to help you accomplish your goals on the field. By incorporating Digital Motion Analysis along with 3D Motion Analysis in training sessions Elite looks to be the most progressive Illinois baseball academy.
No matter what you are looking for to help develop your game, Elite Baseball Training has a program for you. Our list of services includes, baseball lessons, fastpitch lessons, hitting instruction, pitching instruction, regular baseball classes and baseball camps, summer baseball camps, travel teams and baseball equipment in our online store!
SwingTraining.Net website
. YouTube channel: swingtraining
Jeff Albert, hitting coach for the Cardinals
Free articles and videos. Sells paid lessons
TewksHitting.com website,
aka AB Athletics
aka Elite Swing Mechanics.com
, YouTube channel: TewksHitting
Bobby Tewksbary, former college player, former asst HS coach, former asst college coach
Nothing free. Sells eBook, video analysis, private instruction, private forum
There are three basic swing pattern that exist.
The Push Pattern (Linear.)
The Pull Pattern. (Rotational.)
The Elite Pattern. (What the best hitters do!)
Touch Em All Baseball website,
YouTube channel:
touchemallbaseball
Matt Antonelli, played for Wake Forest (04-05), drafted first round 2006, played in MLB with Padres and others (2007-2013)
Free YouTube videos (over 200). Sells lessons and video analysis.
Our mission at Touch ‘Em All Baseball is to develop and improve the performance of baseball and softball players at all skill levels and ages in the Boston area and around the country. We do this by providing some of the most knowledgable coaches in the country for personal, group or team instruction. Our staff has coached or played at every level of baseball from Little League all the way to the Major Leagues.
Dr. Yeager's Baseball website, ISOBaseball.com website since 2011
, Youtube channels: DrYeagersBaseball
and ISObaseball
Dr. Chris Yeager, PhD Southern Miss., former college player and grad asst coach (So Miss), high school coach, and pro scout analyst (Padres 04-06 and Mariners 09-11)
Free Youtube videos. Sells lessons, DVDs and paid private forum at dryeagersbaseball.com, and hitting aids and DVD at isobaseball.com.
About Us:
Dr. Chris Yeager holds a PHD in Human Performance from the University of Southern Mississippi.
The National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) recognizes Dr. Yeager as a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS).
Dr. Yeager served as the Hitting and Pitching Mechanics Analyst for the San Diego Padres Player Development Department 2004-2006 (Ty Waller, Director).
Dr. Yeager served as the Hitting and Pitching Mechanics Analyst for the Seattle Mariners Pro Scouting Department 2009-2011 (Carmen Fusco, Director).
Dr. Yeager has experience as a collegiate baseball coach and player, a university instructor and a keynote speaker at numerous venues.
He is a published researcher and author and he has produced numerous groundbreaking videos including:
“The Physics and Physiology of the Baseball Swing” Created and produced by Chris Yeager. Informational video. 2000.
“The Kinetic Chain in the Baseball Player Explained” Created and produced by Chris Yeager. Informational video. 2003.
“How the Major Leaguer Optimizes the Kinetic Link in the Lower Body” Created and produced by Chris Yeager. Informational video. 2003.
“Visual Evidence that Changes in a Batter’s Center of Pressure Occur During the Stride” Created and produced by Chris Yeager. Informational video. 2003.
“The Kinetics of the Professional Baseball Swing” Created and produced by Chris Yeager. Informational video. 2004.
“Back Elbow Function and Body Segment Rotation in the Elite Hitter” Created and produced by Chris Yeager. Informational video. 2004.
“Lead Arm Function and Separation in the Elite Hitter” Created and produced by Chris Yeager. Informational video. 2005
I must give a shout out to the (now defunct) site youthbaseballcoaching.com/swings.html run by Brian Conger from approx. 2003-2007.
He had some of the first video clips of MLB hitters that most people had ever seen.
