Recently, the St. Louis Cardinals won their 11th World Series in franchise history. Much of their success in 2011 can be attributed to one of the best hitters of recent memory and perhaps all time--Albert Pujols. Over Pujols' MLB career, he has impressively hit 445 HR while driving in 1329 RBI, and also collecting an astonishing .328 career batting average. There is no doubt that he is great--but why? Coach Pavlue dives into Pujols' swing to breakdown his impressive success as a hitter:
In the video above, we can see that Pujols starts with a very athletic stance with his knees slightly bent, torso upright, and gripping the bat with the correct "knocking knuckles" loose grip. The basic mechanics of Pujols' stance can be mastered easily by any hitter--it's what he does after the pitch is released that sets him apart from the game's greatest.
The first thing that I notice is that Pujols does not take a "stride" or "step" when the pitch is traveling towards him. This is a common misconception with the baseball swing. It is not necessary to stride or step towards the pitcher. Rather, what is important, is that a hitter creates separation between his front foot and his hands. The more separation, the further the bat must travel to the ball, and the more momentum the bat will bring with it through the hitting zone. Creating separation can easily be achieved by shifting your hands and weight towards your backside (many coaches refer to this as a "trigger" or "load"). This particular video of Pujols shows him already "loaded" and ready to swing at the pitch.
The second thing that I notice is that Pujols' first movement towards the baseball is with the knob of the bat--NOT with the barrel of the bat. This action is commonly referred to as keeping your hands "inside the ball". As a hitter, you want to bring the knob of the bat towards a point in between the baseball and your body. If we can successfully do this, along with keeping our eyes and head down on the ball, the barrel of the bat will square up with the baseball. Additionally, keeping your hands "inside the ball" will allow you to more successfully drive the baseball through the middle of the field. If you do not keep your hands "inside the ball", more often than not, you will not hit the baseball on the sweet spot of the bat. If you get lucky and do hit the baseball on the sweet spot of the bat, you will not hit the ball with as much power and carry as you would if you kept your hands "inside the ball". As we can see from the video, Pujols' knob comes through the zone first, to a point somewhere between the baseball and his body, and the barrel of the bat "whips" behind the knob and explodes THROUGH the baseball. I say THROUGH the baseball because if you do not keep your hands "inside the ball", the barrel will wrap around the baseball, decreasing your bat speed and contact ability.
Now let's take a look at Pujols' swing at contact position, just before he hits the baseball. On the video, this point is at about 4 seconds. First of all, we can see that Pujols has the correct "palm-up, palm-down" contact position with his hands. This hand positioning allows him to get maximum bat whip and extension of the bat through the zone. Secondly, we see that Pujols' front leg is straight and his front foot is closed to the pitcher. By having his foot closed, he is better able to transfer his power from his backside to the baseball. Additionally, keeping his foot closed and front leg braced allows Pujols to stay square to the pitcher and drive the baseball through the middle of the field. As we can see, Pujols' hips have fired through the zone, with his belly button facing the pitcher. At contact, Pujols is about to release all of his power that has been harnessed in his lower half.
Now let's take a look at Pujols after contact. This can be seen at about 6 seconds. As we can see, Pujols has completely transferred his weight from his backside to his front side. In fact, Pujols back leg actually comes off of the ground for a few moments. Pujols is able to do this because he does such a superb job of bracing his front side with his front leg, allowing him to fully transfer his weight through the baseball and to his front side. Lastly, notice that Pujols finishes high above his front shoulder. This is important because many young hitters see someone like Pujols finish high and misconceive this as having to take an uppercut swing to be a successful hitter. Pujols bat travel straight down to the baseball, and just after contact is made, he finishes high above his front shoulder to create good carry and lift on his hit. This is why Pujols has had so much success as a power hitter.
Last point of emphasis--notice that Pujols is BALANCED throughout the entire swing. This is essential to becoming a great hitter. If you are not balanced, you will not have the ability to make consistent contact, let alone, drive the baseball with authority.
We can all learn something by breaking down the swings of some of the game's greatest players, and Pujols is certainly one of the very best at handling the bat.
