Monday, April 19, 2010

Swing Alalysis of the Great Pujols

Albert Pujols is the best hitter in all of baseball. The Great Pujols, as his manager, Tony La Russa, calls him, may go down as the greatest ever. So we should feel lucky to watch him play and take advantage of this time to learn from him.

Analyzing Pujols could be a practice unto itself. Here is a collection of some of the best the internet has to offer. We can study in great detail the mechanics of the Greatest - his wide base, his balance, how he cocks his hips, pulls his hands, keeps his head still and eyes down on the ball, how he braces his front leg, rotates his back heel and hips, how he matches the plane of the pitch and finishes high - the list goes on and on.
Pujols relentlessly studies video of himself and other hitters (often during games). Let's do the same........

Here's a YouTube video that breaks it all down in batting practice:



Here's a link to a USA Today swing analysis using four different angles and some explaination from Albert himself: CLICK HERE.

And finally, here's another swing analysis, using both pictures and video, that a blogger has put together himself: CLICK HERE.

Pujols is as good as it gets, so let's all enjoy watching him as much as possible while he is in the prime of his career.