Alright, Isaac Newton didn't really have a first law of baseball. But he did have a first law of motion (law of inertia) that can very much be applied to sports, baseball, and what we really care about here, hitting. Here is how that first law of motion reads:
Every body continues in its state of rest, or of uniform motion in a straight line, unless it is compelled to change that state by forces impressed upon it.
In simpler terms "an object in motion stays in motion or at rest until acted upon by a force." So how does this physics concept apply to baseball and specifically our swing?
From a young age, we are always taught to simplify things to "make them easier". We have a tendency to apply this to everything, including our baseball swing. The problem is we don't always apply this in the correct way when it comes to swinging a bat. It can be good advice to simplify what you're doing at the plate. Maybe you tone down your leg kick or other drastic movements you have. Or maybe you simplify from a mental standpoint and aren't trying to hit every pitch. What we DON'T want to do is eliminate all movement to the point we are trying to hit from a standstill.
You will often hear hitting coaches talk about the importance of "rhythm". Rhythm requires some sort of movement. This doesn't mean you need to have a wild bat tip or even any stride at all to be successful, but you do need to create some movement as part of your rhythm to be the most athletic hitter possible.
Let's go back to Newton's law. If I have zero movement, it means that I am going to need to use more energy to get my swing started. If I already have some movement, I have to use less energy and my body is getting a running start into my swing. Here are some examples of player's moving as part of their setup:
The Arenado and Sheffield videos are exaggerated versions of guys that have a lot of movement in their setup. I also wanted to choose someone with very little movement to show and Hideki was someone that came to mind. You will notice with a lot of Asian players (Ichiro, Ohtani, Matsui, etc.), their movement prior to the pitch is very minimal. This doesn't mean it's not there. You can clearly see Matsui in this video just have a slight front foot movement while he's waiting for the ball to be delivered. This gives him just enough movement to get himself in rhythm.
So if you are someone that is dead still in his setup, think about adding just a little something. As part of our upcoming sessions we may talk about other benefits of movement (barrel getting running start, ability to be adjustable to breaking balls, etc.) but for now understand that it gets you in rhythm and also decreases your reaction time, which is super important when you need to make a split second movement.
I know how much you all love physics, but the bell has rung on this class and you are officially released.
Happy Hacking!
