Friday, May 29, 2015
Wilin Rosario Baseball Batting Tips: Small Hitter’s Way To Power
Baseball Batting Tips From Wilin Rosario: Big Power Without
David v. Goliath photo courtesy: Blog.HeatSpring.com
Being, Ahem, BIG…
Question…
How do you defeat a man who stands 9-feet, 9-inches tall? What if this man had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing 125-pounds; on his legs he wears bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin is slung on his back. His spear shaft is like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighs 15-pounds.
I’ve just described Goliath from 1 Samuel 17. So how does David, a boy shepherd, defeat this huge man with one blow? Besides being a man of God, he was an expert marksman with the sling shot…
“Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.” – 1 Samuel 49
3-times NY Bestselling author Tim Ferriss said that being effective is doing the right things. And being efficient is doing things right.
Unmatched physically, bowing up to Goliath, David was “effective” by using a slingshot. And being an expert marksman (efficient) with the weapon, made Goliath look like he brought a knife to a gun fight!
So what do baseball batting tips and Wilin Rosario from the Colorado Rockies have to do with the story of David & Goliath?
You a “Small” Hitter?
Wilin “Baby Bull” Rosario is a small hitter compared to behemoths like Albert Pujols, Giancarlo Stanton, and Miguel Cabrera. Rosario stands 5-foot, 11-inches, and weighs in at 220-pounds, according to FanGraphs.com.
Sure, 220-pounds isn’t small by any stretch. But 5-foot, 11-inches sure is, especially by today’s standards…hence the nickname “Baby Bull”.
Just for fun, let’s compare Wilin Rosario (David) to Miguel Cabrera (Goliath). Key metrics are according to ESPN’s HitTracker.com…
Look at the difference between their Avg. True Distance and Avg. Ball Exit Speeds of 2012 homers…
- Wilin Rosario had 426 plate appearances to Miguel Cabrera’s 697. Rosario has smaller data points.
- Miggy’s 16 extra dingers may have brought down his Avg. True Distance and Avg. Ball Exit Speed.
But still, even with the mismatch of plate appearance data, and accounting for Miggy’s extra homers, on paper Wilin Rosario shouldn’t even be in the same room with Miguel Cabrera.
So what is empowering a small slugger like Rosario to compete with the Goliaths of baseball?
Science.
Baseball Batting Tips #1: Stop Standing Still!
Look at the vertical yellow line, and how far forward Wilin Rosario gets before he makes his turn…
One thing Wilin Rosario does really well is he “un-weights” the bat. There are two ways he does this:
- With forward momentum, and
- Slight barrel tilt toward the pitcher just before the fall.
CLICK HERE to see the results of a Zepp swing experiment I did testing a longer stride against a wide no-stride approach.
Baseball Batting Tips #2: BIG Power in Using the Skeleton
Watch how Wilin Rosario: 1) Shows his numbers to the pitcher, 2) Hides his hands from the pitcher, and 3) Creates a downhill shoulder angle before front foot hits the ground.
Spinal engine mechanics are key! Here’s how Wilin Rosario uses his skeleton, by:
- Showing the pitcher his numbers,
- Hiding his hands, and
- A downhill shoulder angle.
I call this the Catapult Loading System. CLICK HERE to see the results of another Zepp swing experiment I did testing showing the numbers versus NOT showing the numbers.
So how does a small slugger compete with a big one? Being effective is strictly following human movement rules proven by science. And then being efficient within those movements. Just like David was effective with using the sling shot against a foe twice his size. And, only needed one shot (efficient) to take the BIG guy down.
The problem would be when the big sluggers start doing this stuff ??
I’m the founder of the Hitting Performance Lab. I’m a member of the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), the International Youth and Conditioning Association (IYCA), and the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). I’m also partnered with the Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA).
I’ve spent 10 years in the corrective fitness field, and have too many certifications to bore you with. I also played four years of Division One baseball at Fresno State (2000-2003).
It’s NOT how you study, but what you study that counts. I apply proven human movement science to hitting a ball.
I’m the founder of the Hitting Performance Lab. I’m a member of the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), the International Youth and Conditioning Association (IYCA), and the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR).I’m also partnered with the Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA).
I’ve spent 10 years in the corrective fitness field, and have too many certifications to bore you with.I also played four years of Division One baseball at Fresno State (2000-2003).
It’s NOT how you study, but what you study that counts.I apply proven human movement science to hitting a ball.
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My name is Joey Myers and I'm the founder of HittingPerformanceLab.com.
I'm a member of the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), the International Youth & Conditioning Association (IYCA), and Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). I'm also partnered with the Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA).
I played four years of Division-1 college baseball at Fresno State, I've spent the last decade in corrective fitness, and have a passionate curiosity to help baseball and softball players dramatically improve performance through the science of human movement.
It's NOT how you study, but what you study that counts. We apply proven human movement science to hitting a ball.