Swing Analysis – Barry Bonds
3/1/2008
Last Updated 3/1/2008
Chris O’Leary
[email protected]
314.494.1324
Text Copyright © 2008 Chris O’Leary
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
Barry Bonds has just started his stride. He does this by pushing back toward the catcher
with the side of his back foot.
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
Barry Bonds starts with his hands relatively low (the light blue dot). However, as he strides
Barry Bonds’ hands move both back and up toward his back shoulder to a more
conventional launch position. Albert Pujols hands do the opposite. They start quite high and
then drop as he is just about to swing.
18
Front Heel Planted: This is a 4 to 5 frame swing. Notice how Barry Bonds’ front knee is bent slightly in
this frame. Watch how he locks his front knee in the next couple of frames. This helps to power the
rotation of his hips. The distance from the yellow dot to the pink dot tells us how much Barry Bonds’ hips
moved forward and dropped as a result of his stride. I’d put Barry Bonds’ hip translation at roughly 7
inches and his hip drop at roughly 4 inches.
19
20
Notice how the inside of Barry Bonds’ front heel has just come off the ground. This is the result of the
rapid rotation of his hips.
21
Notice how, rather than extending through the Point Of Contact, Barry Bonds is still very connected.
Notice how his back elbow is still bent 90 degrees and his hands are rotating with his back shoulder. Also,
although some people think that hitters push off of their back feet at this point to power their hip rotation,
the truth is that at this moment Barry Bonds is being pulled up onto his back toe by the rotation of his hips.
His hip rotation is being assisted by the stiffening of his front knee.
22
Point Of Contact: It’s hard to say for sure due to the blurring, but it looks like Barry Bonds made contact
with the ball near his front heel (which is typical). Notice how Barry Bonds’ back elbow is still bent roughly
90 degrees at the Point Of Contact. While Barry Bonds’ back toe doesn’t come up in the air like some
hitters’ back toes do, he is certainly not squishing the bug at the Point Of Contact. Also, notice how Barry
Bonds’ back knee is bent 90 degrees at the Point Of Contact. Barry Bonds’ hips have just stopped rotating
in this frame. Notice how Barry Bonds’ hands are a foot or more higher than the head of the bat. He
certainly didn’t swing level to the ground.
23
Barry Bonds’ arms are extending into the Power V, but after the Point Of Contact. This makes the case
that extension is the effect of a powerful swing rather than the cause of a powerful swing.
24
25
Barry Bonds is squishing/squashing the bug in this frame, but this is several frames after the Point Of
Contact.
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
I love how Barry Bonds finishes his swing with his shoulders rotated 180 degrees. Talk about swinging all
the way through the ball!