Fresno, CA – Dr. Serge Gracovetsky, Physicist, Electrical Engineer, and author of the book The Spinal Engine says, "…the compressive pulse generated at heel-strike is essential to the locomotion process. The shape of this pulse must be very specific if maximum energy is to be transferred from the earth's gravitational field to the rotating pelvis."
Josh Donaldson received MLB Player of the Week's honors the week of June 1st.
There are two MLB power sluggers with very similar body types, Jose Bautista (6'0", 205-lbs) & Josh Donaldson (6'0", 220-lbs) of the Toronto Blue Jays. Height and weight according to Baseball-Reference.com.
Josh Donaldson has also said publicly (after his trade from the Oakland Athletics to the Toronto Blue Jays) that he re-tooled his swing after Jose Bautista's.
Josh Donaldson, according to ESPN Stats & Information Group, in the 695 plate appearances he played in 2014 (29 homers, homer every 23.9 PA's) his:
- Average true distance was 398.9 feet, and
- Average speed off the bat was 104.6 mph.
Jose Bautista, according to ESPN Stats & Information Group, in 673 plate appearances in 2014 (35 homers, homer every 19.2 PA's) his:
- Average true distance was 403.9 feet, and
- Average speed off the bat was 105.2 mph.
So, if Donaldson outweighs Bautista by 15-lbs, then why does Jose Bautista hit the ball farther, harder, and more often in comparing their swings in 2014?
According to Joey Myers from the Hitting Performance Lab, "Bautista starts opening his pelvis only two frames ahead of weighting his front foot. Joey Bats experiences a higher compressive force at landing than Donaldson does."
This is why 'staying closed' with the upper half, and committing the body to landing on the front foot sooner is crucial to an average increase of:
- 5 feet to average batted ball distance, and
- 0.6 mph to average ball exit speeds, and
- 4.7 less plate appearances per homer for Bautista.
My name is Joey Myers and I'm the founder of HittingPerformanceLab.com.
I'm a member of the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), the International Youth & Conditioning Association (IYCA), and Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). I'm also partnered with the Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA).
I played four years of Division-1 college baseball at Fresno State, I've spent the last decade in corrective fitness, and have a passionate curiosity to help baseball and softball players dramatically improve performance through the science of human movement.
It's NOT how you study, but what you study that counts. We apply proven human movement science to hitting a ball.