Watching Pujols feet when he hits

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Why was Pujols so low in the draft? I understand how someone like this can just be missed by so many.

 

The same way guys like Piazza and Grace went really low. Scouting is an inexact science.

 

Some would say it is not a science at all but an art. There was a good article about Pujols in last week's ESPN the magizine. He was a little pudgy comming out of junior college and I think he had a bad senior year. The article made it seem like he is an even better person than a ball player. It is hard not to like the guy.

 

In all of sports the worst I've ever seen is Dan Marino going in the fifth or six round.

Marino went in the first round. It was just late in the first round.

 

My memory was pretty bad there. I think he was like the fourth or fifth quarterback choosen that year. But there were a lot of good QBs in the draft, if my memory is still not bad

 

Yup, 5th QB, but still late first round.

[rawaction]

Why was Pujols so low in the draft? I understand how someone like this can just be missed by so many.

 

The same way guys like Piazza and Grace went really low. Scouting is an inexact science.

 

Some would say it is not a science at all but an art. There was a good article about Pujols in last week's ESPN the magizine. He was a little pudgy comming out of junior college and I think he had a bad senior year. The article made it seem like he is an even better person than a ball player. It is hard not to like the guy.

 

In all of sports the worst I've ever seen is Dan Marino going in the fifth or six round.

Marino went in the first round. It was just late in the first round.

 

My memory was pretty bad there. I think he was like the fourth or fifth quarterback choosen that year. But there were a lot of good QBs in the draft, if my memory is still not bad

 

Yeah, ahead of him were Elway, Kelly, Todd Blackledge, Tony Eason, Ken O'Brien. My bias thinks Marino is the best of the group, but you can argue for Elway and possibly Kelly. But the others were supposed as good and had decent careers.....sort of.

[KatJ]

That was a nice swing by Pujols for the homerun. Stiff front leg...excellent hip torque...perfect balance. Man, I hope kids are watching him.

 

Heck with the kids (not really) - I wouldn't mind our guys spending an evening or two studying his swing.

[rawaction]

BTW, Strawberry's swing was freakish. Amazing he ever hit a baseball.

[TB_11]

I love watching this guy hit. He hits to all fields and has such a nice swing fro a righty. What I am curious about is how far apart his feet are. They look to be far outside of his shoulders and he just lifts his stride foot on each pitch. I wish kids would watch this guy because I'm constantly teaching kids not to over stride and Pujols is a great example of this.

 

I was just talking to one of my friends who coaches Jr Bronco (9-10 year olds) back in the suburbs, and he was saying that he would rather see a long "Griffey" swing out of kids at that age rather than a Pujols/Bagwell swing. Reason being at that young age most of them don't have the power in the upper body to drive the ball out of the infield, and will get frustrated quickly with a Pujols/Bagwell swing. He said that in high school they should switch to the shorter swing as they develop more muscle in their upper body.

 

His two cents - thought it was interesting.

[bhogg]

BTW, Strawberry's swing was freakish. Amazing he ever hit a baseball.

 

 

cocaine is a powerful drug. . .. .

[Cubfanintheknow]

I was just talking to one of my friends who coaches Jr Bronco (9-10 year olds) back in the suburbs, and he was saying that he would rather see a long "Griffey" swing out of kids at that age rather than a Pujols/Bagwell swing. Reason being at that young age most of them don't have the power in the upper body to drive the ball out of the infield, and will get frustrated quickly with a Pujols/Bagwell swing. He said that in high school they should switch to the shorter swing as they develop more muscle in their upper body.

 

His two cents - thought it was interesting.

 

Interesting take.

 

I've been coaching 8-9 year olds in a Cal Ripken league. I've actually used Jeff Bagwell and Moises Alou as examples on their footwork. I've been keeping them away from the big leg kick because 1) they don't have the time for a big leg kick to stay with the faster pitchers in the league, 2) they have a tendency to bail out when they do stride and 3) they move their heads too much with a big stride, thus taking their eyes off the ball.

At this point, we're just stressing making contact with the ball. At their age, if they can just put the ball in play, anything can happen.

 

Plus, I'd rather have the kids get into good habits now rather than try to break bad habits later.

 

Slightly off-topic: any good baseball coaching forums and websites out there in cyberspace? I haven't done much surfing on the subject myself.

[fulldeck]

I certainly recognize the Cardinal organization's ability to recognize and develop talent, but Pujols is off the charts, and has been since the first day he stepped in from AA-ball for Bobby Bonilla. :shock:

 

The Cardinals got real lucky with this bloke, that's for sure.

 

You guys ask, 'why the Cardinals?' - luck, and that's it.

 

No scout could ever predict the kind of success this guy has had since day-one.

 

I am sooooo envious of the Cardinal fans because of Pujols...

 

Oh, how my hatred for the Cardinals runs deep!

Well obviously, if they'd known what pujols would be, or even suspected, he wouldn't have been 12th round.

But at some point (period of time), you have to attribute the general success of a farm system to skill rather than luck

 

13th round - 402nd pick

 

Scouts worried that he didn't have a position, had a questionable arm, and was overweight. He had a tryout with Tampa before the draft and he didnt have a good hitting session. They expected HR's and Pujols kept hitting line drives. Not only that, but they had him work behind the plate as a catcher.

 

 

The scout at Tampa resigned when the team didn't draft him.

[CuseCubFan69]

I love watching this guy hit. He hits to all fields and has such a nice swing fro a righty. What I am curious about is how far apart his feet are. They look to be far outside of his shoulders and he just lifts his stride foot on each pitch. I wish kids would watch this guy because I'm constantly teaching kids not to over stride and Pujols is a great example of this.

 

I was just talking to one of my friends who coaches Jr Bronco (9-10 year olds) back in the suburbs, and he was saying that he would rather see a long "Griffey" swing out of kids at that age rather than a Pujols/Bagwell swing. Reason being at that young age most of them don't have the power in the upper body to drive the ball out of the infield, and will get frustrated quickly with a Pujols/Bagwell swing. He said that in high school they should switch to the shorter swing as they develop more muscle in their upper body.

 

His two cents - thought it was interesting.

 

Not me. I want the kids to swing correctly from the get go and trying to change a kids bad mechanics when he is 12-14 years old is a very hard thing to do. If he has had moderate success with a long swing he will be reluctant to change and once he starts facing pitchers with some serious heat or that can change speeds he will get eaten up.

[TB_11]

I love watching this guy hit. He hits to all fields and has such a nice swing fro a righty. What I am curious about is how far apart his feet are. They look to be far outside of his shoulders and he just lifts his stride foot on each pitch. I wish kids would watch this guy because I'm constantly teaching kids not to over stride and Pujols is a great example of this.

 

I was just talking to one of my friends who coaches Jr Bronco (9-10 year olds) back in the suburbs, and he was saying that he would rather see a long "Griffey" swing out of kids at that age rather than a Pujols/Bagwell swing. Reason being at that young age most of them don't have the power in the upper body to drive the ball out of the infield, and will get frustrated quickly with a Pujols/Bagwell swing. He said that in high school they should switch to the shorter swing as they develop more muscle in their upper body.

 

His two cents - thought it was interesting.

 

Not me. I want the kids to swing correctly from the get go and trying to change a kids bad mechanics when he is 12-14 years old is a very hard thing to do. If he has had moderate success with a long swing he will be reluctant to change and once he starts facing pitchers with some serious heat or that can change speeds he will get eaten up.

 

Interesting take. I know from playing through high school that was true for pitchers (and throwing in general), but many of us tinkered and changed with our stances as we started to face better pitching junior and senior year of high school.

 

Also I just watched Albert's feet as he hit a 450 ft home run off Brad Lidge to fight off elimination. That was unbelievable.

[gus_dog]

I just watched Albert's feet as he hit a 450 ft home run off Brad Lidge to fight off elimination. That was unbelievable.

 

I watched it too, and yes, it was unbelievable. :shock:

 

Pujols is an awesome player.

[sethuel1]

I just watched Albert's feet as he hit a 450 ft home run off Brad Lidge to fight off elimination. That was unbelievable.

 

I watched it too, and yes, it was unbelievable. :shock:

 

Pujols is an awesome player.

 

450 may be an understatement on that homer.

[XZero771679666304]

I just watched Albert's feet as he hit a 450 ft home run off Brad Lidge to fight off elimination. That was unbelievable.

 

I watched it too, and yes, it was unbelievable. :shock:

 

Pujols is an awesome player.

 

450 may be an understatement on that homer.

 

Fat Elvis shout take notice of what a real home run looks like.

[CuseCubFan69]

I love watching this guy hit. He hits to all fields and has such a nice swing fro a righty. What I am curious about is how far apart his feet are. They look to be far outside of his shoulders and he just lifts his stride foot on each pitch. I wish kids would watch this guy because I'm constantly teaching kids not to over stride and Pujols is a great example of this.

 

I was just talking to one of my friends who coaches Jr Bronco (9-10 year olds) back in the suburbs, and he was saying that he would rather see a long "Griffey" swing out of kids at that age rather than a Pujols/Bagwell swing. Reason being at that young age most of them don't have the power in the upper body to drive the ball out of the infield, and will get frustrated quickly with a Pujols/Bagwell swing. He said that in high school they should switch to the shorter swing as they develop more muscle in their upper body.

 

His two cents - thought it was interesting.

 

Not me. I want the kids to swing correctly from the get go and trying to change a kids bad mechanics when he is 12-14 years old is a very hard thing to do. If he has had moderate success with a long swing he will be reluctant to change and once he starts facing pitchers with some serious heat or that can change speeds he will get eaten up.

 

Interesting take. I know from playing through high school that was true for pitchers (and throwing in general), but many of us tinkered and changed with our stances as we started to face better pitching junior and senior year of high school.

 

Also I just watched Albert's feet as he hit a 450 ft home run off Brad Lidge to fight off elimination. That was unbelievable.

 

A stance is one thing but changing hitting mechanics is quite another. Kids have to know and be told that a good swing will work at any age.

 

Let me also add when you have a kid that has made Little League All Stars and think they have the swing down...they are an interesting breed to fix. If I have kids that are doing the proper mechanics from Day 1 it makes tweeking so much easier. It's the coaches job in the younger ages to try to do his or her best and teach the kids the best proper mechanics they can. The many wrong things taught are the overstride "Step into the ball", elbow up and Swing hard and long and the ball will go farther while simple things like the Knocking knuckles being lined up and back foot pivit (Squish the bug) are being over looked. The hip torque is so important when it comes to power and I don't know why that's not pushed instead of the long swing.

 

Pujols is a wonderful hitter to watch, his swing just looks so effortless.

[TB_11]

I love watching this guy hit. He hits to all fields and has such a nice swing fro a righty. What I am curious about is how far apart his feet are. They look to be far outside of his shoulders and he just lifts his stride foot on each pitch. I wish kids would watch this guy because I'm constantly teaching kids not to over stride and Pujols is a great example of this.

 

I was just talking to one of my friends who coaches Jr Bronco (9-10 year olds) back in the suburbs, and he was saying that he would rather see a long "Griffey" swing out of kids at that age rather than a Pujols/Bagwell swing. Reason being at that young age most of them don't have the power in the upper body to drive the ball out of the infield, and will get frustrated quickly with a Pujols/Bagwell swing. He said that in high school they should switch to the shorter swing as they develop more muscle in their upper body.

 

His two cents - thought it was interesting.

 

Not me. I want the kids to swing correctly from the get go and trying to change a kids bad mechanics when he is 12-14 years old is a very hard thing to do. If he has had moderate success with a long swing he will be reluctant to change and once he starts facing pitchers with some serious heat or that can change speeds he will get eaten up.

 

Interesting take. I know from playing through high school that was true for pitchers (and throwing in general), but many of us tinkered and changed with our stances as we started to face better pitching junior and senior year of high school.

 

Also I just watched Albert's feet as he hit a 450 ft home run off Brad Lidge to fight off elimination. That was unbelievable.

 

A stance is one thing but changing hitting mechanics is quite another. Kids have to know and be told that a good swing will work at any age.

 

Let me also add when you have a kid that has made Little League All Stars and think they have the swing down...they are an interesting breed to fix. If I have kids that are doing the proper mechanics from Day 1 it makes tweeking so much easier. It's the coaches job in the younger ages to try to do his or her best and teach the kids the best proper mechanics they can. The many wrong things taught are the overstride "Step into the ball", elbow up and Swing hard and long and the ball will go farther while simple things like the Knocking knuckles being lined up and back foot pivit (Squish the bug) are being over looked. The hip torque is so important when it comes to power and I don't know why that's not pushed instead of the long swing.

 

Pujols is a wonderful hitter to watch, his swing just looks so effortless.

 

Actually that's a very good point. The guys on my high school team who were labeled 'naturals' from t-ball through pony league (13-14 year olds) actually didn't seem to do as well in high school, since their reliance on their natural talent wasn't enough to compensate for a lack of fundamentals.

 

In high school as those of us who were labeled good to very good in Little League started putting on "muscle" (if that's what you want to call what was on my 5'8", 130lb frame then) we started to focus more on hip torque, along with hand-eye coordination and pitch recognition, and moved away from the grip-it-and-rip-it mentality we all had in Little League. Aside from the pre-labeled "naturals" mentioned above, most of us made the adjustment fairly well - we saw more line drives and well-hit ground balls.

 

Btw Cuse it's good to hear someone in Little League who's preaching development and fundamentals....... I definitely didn't see that in all my coaches growing up. We had our fair share of coaches who would rather see a 6-2-5-1-5-2-5-2-3 double play that wins the game than a kid developing and enjoying baseball.