Summary
- Watch retired Professional ballplayer Matt Walbeck explain the fundamentals of and methods of how to start hitting with a level swing at various heights with a focus on your posture.
- And so I just wanted to demonstrate three different pitch heights into a net, I'm going to hit some balls off the tees here, and just kind of give you a different thought of really what level means to be hitting with a level swing, because in the true sense of level, you would think that every pitch that is thrown, you need to be level to the ground.
- So with this pitch here, if I want to make contact by hitting with a level swing to a high pitch here, I want to make sure that my hands are slightly above the ball on this pitch.
- That way, as I'm hitting through the ball, I'm hitting with a level swing due to my posture and approach, and my swing plane is going up in this direction here for just a nice, smooth baseball swing.
- But again, to be a successful batter, keep your posture nice and athletic and let your hitting with a level swing be compared to your posture, you're going to be on-plane earlier, which means that if it's a little bit of a faster pitch, you can still make contact, and you're going to stay through it longer, which means if it's an off-speed pitch, you're still going to be able to make contact.
The focus of being level through the ball depends on your posture. Level to the ball is not the same as level to the ground, this is something that every player needs to understand.
Watch retired Professional Ballplayer Matt Walbeck explain how to get on plane with a level swing at various degrees of height with a focus on your posture.
Hitting with a Level Swing - Video Transcript
Hey, good day, everybody. Hope you're all doing well. Just wanted to touch base today. And today's topic is about hitting with a level swing. And there's a lot of coaches, and all the way through youth players and up, you hear about, "You got to have a level swing. You have to have a level swing." So I wanted to talk a little bit about that today because I think the terminology of having a level swing is somewhat misunderstood, in that people would equate level as level to the ground.
And so I just wanted to demonstrate three different pitch heights into a net, I'm going to hit some balls off the tees here, and just kind of give you a different thought of really what level means, because in the true sense of level, you would think that every pitch that is thrown, you need to be level to the ground. And so one of the problems with that is, well, what do you do on a pitch that's low in the zone? How are you possibly going to get down and hit swing level to the ground there?
So I want to simplify it for you a little bit and just talk about the plane of the pitch, and understanding that our swing has to move underneath our shoulders in this plane here, in this direction. So the focus of being level through the ball depends on your posture. And so as you get into an athletic stance with your posture, you're going to want to maintain this posture throughout your swing, and your bat angle is going to be a result of proper posture.
So it's easier for me to basically demonstrate and then actually try to explain it because it's hard for someone to conceptually understand it.
But let me go ahead and just give you an example here. So we've got three different tee sizes, tee heights. Shout out to the guys at Tanner Tee. They do a great job with their quality of material and just the way these tees work. They're awesome.
So what I'm going to do is I'm going to attempt to hit three different pitch heights. This is likely a ball out of the zone, which is just below my chest. And then I'm going to take a pitch that's about thigh high, and I'm going to hit it into the net. And then also a pitch that's a pitcher's pitch, low below the knees. I'm going to try and lift that ball too and hit it into this area here.
I've put a little bungee cord here as my target, because when I'm hitting off the tee, I'm working on my mechanics, of course, but I also want to have a target that I'm hitting to. I want to have an end result. My goal is to hit the ball, most of the time, off the tee, about this high. I just want to hit line drives. And I want to stay through the ball an extra foot.
So with this pitch here, if I want to make contact and have a level swing to a high pitch here, I want to make sure that my hands are slightly above the ball on this pitch. Because every time we make contact, our hands need to be above the ball. Depending on how high it is, is going to determine the distance between your hands and the end of the bat. Okay?
So I'm just going to do a regular swing here. I see my target is right about here, and I'm going to hit that ball right into my target. I want to hold my follow through. And so you'll notice when I hit this pitch, my hands are just slightly above contact. That way, as I'm hitting through the ball, I'm level due to my posture, and my swing plane is going up in this direction here for just a nice, smooth swing.
Okay. Now I'm going to move it down to give you another look at a lower pitch about thigh high. And my goal is the same. I still want to hit the ball right back up the middle. The only difference is going to be where my hands are when I'm making contact.
Same thing. So I'm getting that same upward trajectory that I want that's going to create backspin and a line drive. In other words, I'm not swinging like this, level to the ground. I don't want to do that because now I'm rolling my wrist over. I'm not hitting through the ball with effortless power. Okay?
So let's move on to the lower pitch. My posture is going to remain the same. The only thing that's going to be different here is my barrel is going to be lower. The angle is going to be steeper. I'm still swinging level to my posture and my plane. This way is level. It's not this way. So I'm still going to try and hit it up.
So you can see the follow through on all three of those swings is pretty much the same. The only thing that's different is the distance and angle of where my hands are in relation to the contact point.
But again, if you keep your posture nice and athletic and let your swing stay level compared to your posture, you're going to be on plane earlier, which means that if it's a little bit of a faster pitch, you can still make contact, and you're going to stay through it longer, which means if it's an off speed pitch, you're still going to be able to make contact. As opposed to staying level to the ground, where you're in and out of the zone, in and out. You want to stay through it with effortless power.
All right. So I hope that helps you. Be sure to check out our website. We've got a lot of great online classes going right now, and I hope to see you there. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out to us with an email. All right. Have a great day, everybody.
Credit: Matt Walbeck, Walbeck Baseball Academy
Instagram: @WalbeckBaseballAcademy
Website: gowalbeck.com