Every time I see Bryce Harper strike a baseball I wonder the same thing: "How does he hit with that kind of bat speed?" I think many hitters wonder the same thing. There is definitely a huge element of natural talent and bat speed when it comes to Bryce Harper's hitting, but his technique is also flawless. He does things that all other major league hitters do, but he does them better and more extremely. According to my analysis, I can pick up three major things that contribute to his massive exit speeds. These three things are his hip separation, his contact point, and his follow through. These three things are parts of the swing that all players need to be working on to add bat speed and power.
First let's talk about the hip separation. I couldn't find a quality picture of this in a Nationals uniform, so this picture is from his JUCO days.
Get up at your computer and put your body in that position right now. Do you feel the torque that it creates. Look at how the hips have rotated about half way, but the upper body has stayed completely closed with the hands back. Many hitters, even at the major league level, rotate the lower and upper body almost simultaneously. You have to create this separation in the swing to produce optimal torque. To practice this, start your swing from this position just to feel how your swing should progress.
Now let's talk about the contact point. Here is a picture of Bryce Harper just before he makes contact for a home run:
Notice that before contact is made he is already against a firm front side, and his back foot has been pulled of the ground from the explosion of his hips. Many hitters don't ever get to this position, and the ones that do get to it after contact. Here is why it needs to happen before contact: If you do it after contact you haven't hit the baseball with maximum bat speed. Simple physics says that you need to hit the baseball with the highest amount of bat speed you have. This picture clearly shows Bryce Harper hitting the baseball with all of his weight transferred into the ball.
The last element of Harper's swing that creates the power he has may be the least talked about thing in hitting. It's the follow through. Many hitters who are taught by today's hitting coaches would end their swings where Harper is in the above picture, however look where Bryce ends his swing:
Do you see how his back shoulder is pointed to where he hit the baseball? Contrary to popular belief, this isn't a bad thing. Your shoulder needs to stay down on the ball until contact, but then you need to explode through the baseball with your upper body. Surely you've heard, "Short to it, long through it,"? How about we use, "Lower body to it, upper body through it,"? Use the upper body to explode through the baseball. This will take a massive number of reps to perfect, because if the timing is even slightly off you will come around the baseball and hit it very weakly.
To perfect this kind of swing, use a progression. Start with pyramid swings. Swing without moving your feet and keep your back shoulder down on the ball the whole time. Next, take a regular swing, but do not finish with the upper half. After you've taken some swings like that, go to the full swing. Keep that shoulder down to contact and then explode through the baseball with your upper half. This progression will give you a feel for the timing that things should happen in the swing. You will be amazed with the power that this creates.
Tip of the Day: During season keep your repetitions in batting practice lower than in the off season. You don't need to take 300 swings a day. Just make sure you're keeping your swing a part of your muscle memory.
Until Next Time!
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