Hitters to Watch

As the playoffs begin it gives us an incredible opportunity to watch some of the elite players in the game. It’s really beneficial because we get to see many players who we may not get to see on a regular basis during the season. Few players are perfect, if any, however there are certain players who have different aspects of their swing that enables them to put up the type of numbers that they do. Here is a list of the players I believe you should watch and what aspects of their swing that you should look at.

Albert Pujols

You don’t get closer to perfection then with Albert. This is one of the many reasons as to why he is the best player in the game and could potentially become the best hitter of all time. With him you should watch everything that he does. Watch his pre-at-bat preparation, watch what he does in between each pitch (notice how he works on swinging downhill), his hip separation, his base, his use of the top hand, his extension and one handed follow through, and check out the back spin he generates. Most importantly however watch how he repeats his swing. Notice how every pitch he swings at he takes the same swing. Same effort, same tempo, same mechanics, everything! Watch for this as this is the key to becoming a great hitter

Chase Utley

Chase is another guy whose swing is very solid. Again check out his base, extension, bat path, hip separation, and repeatability. Especially his repeatability, he is pretty amazing as repeating every aspect of his swing over and over again, just like Pujols. His bat path is incredible as well. He takes a downhill, direct path and creates amazing backspin.

Ryan Howard

Now there are some major holes in Ryan’s swing. However, if you have the chance check out his hip separation. Ryan gets away with a lot of flaws due to his size however he does get better hip separation then just about anyone in the league. This allows him to create more torque then any other hitter. So if you watch the Phillies watch the separation between Ryan’s hips and hands it’s remarkable.

A-rod

A-rod is tough because there are great fluctuations in his swing when he is hot as opposed to when he is cold. However, if he happens to be on (and we all know I am praying that he is) check out his bat path. When he is hitting well he takes a direct, downhill bat path, creating great backspin to all fields. In addition he gets great extension with the use of the one handed follow through.

Derek Jeter

There is probably no more of a clutch player in the game then Jeter. While mechanically he isn’t very sound what you can learn from him is how he stays relaxed, slow, and controlled in pressure situations. Watch his body language, watch how he slows himself down and rarely rushes anything. If we can learn to copy his approach more of us would be clutch players as well.

These are just a few of the players who demonstrate some great skills. Make sure you don’t allow the postseason to go by without trying to learn from these players. Whatever team you are pulling for by all means have fun with it and root your head off. However, don’t become so clouded that you miss the valuable lessons that these players offer us.