Short to the ball.

It's a simple-sounding idea, but it turns out to be a fairly complicated concept.

And one that, too often, people get wrong.

In part, that's because it goes against two elements of the conventional wisdom about hitting and relies on a couple of new ideas...

1. The Spinning Ice Skater
2. Overlap

...which contradict each other, at least to a degree.

I like to say, when it comes to being (truly) short to the ball, stop thinking about DISTANCE and start thinking about TIME.

But that's only partially true.

Direct to the Ball

I started thinking about, and learning how to see and explain the concept of Short to the Ball, when I saw this picture of David Freese from the 2011 World Series.

I realized that, if you compare the picture above of David Freese to pictures that supposedly show a swing that is short to the ball, like the one below of Alex Rodriguez, you will see a dramatic difference.

In the picture above of Alex Rodriguez, which is purported to show what he looks like at the Point Of Contact, his hands are down by his front hip and have moved two feet or so -- the length of his arms -- away from his back shoulder.

I don't know many people who would argue that two feet is shorter than a few inches.

Of course, if you compare Alex Rodriguez's actual game swing to his supposed short swing, you will notice a very large and significant difference.

Notice how Alex Rodriguez, in his actual game swing, keeps his back elbow much more flexed than he does when he is demoing what he thinks his swing looks like. Obviously, a swing in which the back elbow stays flexed is going to be shorter than a swing in which the back elbow extends fully, and the more and the longer the back elbow stays flexed, the shorter and more compact the swing.

"Short to the Ball" is Actually Long to the Ball

One reason why I (still) spend so much time collecting photos is because, on occasion, a picture will give me a flash of insight and sum up one or more of the concepts that I teach. The picture below of David Freese is just such a picture. It is a great example of the concepts of Rotation and Connection.[1] More importantly, it goes a long way toward explaining...

• Why the widely-described, supposedly short to the ball A to C Swing is actually quite long to the ball.
• Why you don't see the A to C Swing in good hitters.

The thing to notice in the picture below...

...is that, while David Freese's shoulders have rotated roughly 90 degrees, his hands have moved very little relative to his back shoulder; at most, David Freese's hands have moved a few inches. The adjusting that he has done has been accomplished by Tilting forward over the plate and not by dropping his hands.

You can see the same basic thing in this center field view of the same swing.

Notice how much David Freese's shoulders rotate before the barrel leaves the side of his back shoulder and his back elbow starts to extend. Also notice that, at the Point Of Contact, David Freese's hands are still up by his back shoulder and his back elbow is still quite flexed.

You can see the same thing in the clip below that shows David Freese hitting a double to the base of the wall in the gap in right center field.

Notice how little David Freese' hands move relative to his back shoulder and how, at the Point Of Contact, his hands are up and in the plane of his shoulders and his back elbow is still bent roughly 90 degrees.

The Root Cause of the Problem

The problem is that many/most people don't know what a good position at the Point Of Contact actually looks like. They assume that it's what is shown in the picture below because that is what you see all over the internet and in most instructional videos.

As a result, they do what makes the most sense to get to that position as quickly and as directly as possible.

However, in truth good hitters rarely, if ever, look like that at the Point Of Contact.

At least not on their good swings.

Instead, the best hitters look like the pictures below.

Notice how, at the Point Of Contact, their back elbows are still bent 90 degrees and their hands are up, and in the plane of their shoulders, and not down at their front hips.

How to be Truly Short to the Ball

The pictures below show how a swing that is truly short to the ball is achieved.

As in the case of the picture of David Freese that started off this piece...

...notice how, in each case, their hands stay...

• Close to their back shoulder and maintaining Connection.
• Up and in a position of good Alignment.
• With the back elbow pinched and forming the Vertical V.

...up to and through the Point Of Contact.

Joe Mauer, David Freese, and Being Truly Short to the Ball

The picture below of Joe Mauer is another one that I frequently use when I talk about how good hitters are actually short to the ball.

The thing to notice is how, at the Point of Contact...

...Joe Mauer's back elbow is still bent significantly (the yellow line) and his hands are still in close proximity to his back shoulder (the green line).

For those who would say that the picture of Joe Mauer shows a hitter at an atypical position, the picture above of David Freese that started off this piece shows the same basic thing, but a fraction of a second earlier (notice how you can see the ball in the right side of the frame).

There simply isn't time for Freese to do anything with his arms and hands other than let the barrel whip out into the path of the ball, which is what happens in the clip above of the same swing by David Freese.

How do you Adjust While Staying Short to the Ball?

While the swings above will work for pitches up in the strike zone, will they work for pitches down in the strike zone?

The answer is that they will due to the concept of Tilt.

Notice how, in a larger view of the picture of David Freese that started off this piece, it's obvious that his shoulders aren't level to the ground.

Instead, he is Tilting forward over the plate.

You can see Tilt even more clearly in the clip below of Andres Torres' home run to right field during the 2010 World Series.

Notice how, rather than dropping his hands to adjust to the height of the pitch, Andres tilts forward over the plate. That allows him to make the adjustment while keeping his hands up by his back shoulder and in a position of good Alignment.

That effectively turns a low pitch into a high pitch.

In the same way, notice how Don Mattingly adjusts by tilting forward over the plate in the clip above. Mattingly gets to almost the same exact position that David Freese does.

As I explain in my piece on The Secret of Don Mattingly's Swing, this was a characteristic part of Don Mattingly's swing the secret to being truly short to the ball.

Notes

[1] This picture of David Freese...

...is a great example of both Rotation and Connection because, rather than getting his hands to that position by throwing his hands at the ball, he has gotten his hands to that position by Rotating his hips and his shoulders while keeping his hands in the same position relative to this back shoulder. That means that David Freese is swinging with his entire body and not just with his arms, wrists, and/or hands.