What is the Horai Swing? My experience practicing and trying it out in amateur baseball.

Preface

Due to the recent impact of the coronavirus, I haven't been able to go to amateur baseball games.
I haven't even been able to go to the batting cages, so I haven't been able to practice baseball much at all.
However, to avoid becoming sedentary, I maintained my motivation by practicing against a wall and swinging my bat at a nearby park, and by watching practice videos.

Among them, I often watchYouTube channel "qooninTV"I came across a video about an interesting hitting technique, and I found myself watching it intently.

This time, I'd like to write an article as a kind of memo about my impressions after watching this video and putting it into practice.
However, this video is probably more suited to people who have already solidified their hitting technique to some extent but are struggling to improve, rather than complete beginners.

movie

First, please watch this video.
For now, just watching the video above is fine.

"In just 15 minutes, your batting will dramatically change! Top pros lay the club head down and create a wave-like motion... Everything about the Horai Swing"

Mr. Horai demonstrates the Horai Swing! Whether the ball is high or low, the hands are always below... This is a professional swing.

"Horai Swing" refers to the type of swing advocated by Akihiko Horai.
Mr. Horai himself is a professional baseball player and coach.

I don't think this swing is particularly unique or innovative.
However, I feel that it clearly explains the essence of the common elements in batting that many players have arrived at through their own individual efforts.

Points to improve when comparing it to my own batting.

I think different people will find different things to focus on when watching this video.
In my case, what I focused on was the trajectory of the bat head.

Up until now, my image of the bat's trajectory was to hit the ball in a straight line, taking the shortest possible distance, from the top of my swing.
However, upon closer examination, this batting technique results in the bat's trajectory coming in from diagonally above relative to the ball's trajectory, which reduces the likelihood of making solid contact (there's a high chance of hitting it from above).

When I tried to put the Horai Swing into practice, the trajectory of the bat was no longer a straight line, but rather a curved path coming out from behind my back.
As a result,Because I can now time my bat's trajectory to match the ball's trajectory earlier, I've become more reliable at making contact with the ball.

Furthermore, even when the point of contact is closer to the body, there is still space behind the body for the bat to come out, which increases the time you can see the ball.

At first glance, this batting technique appears to result in a trajectory where the bat takes a roundabout path.
However, this isn't a bad detour like a door swing; it's a detour designed to generate centrifugal force, so it's like a running start.

Up until now, I had been conditioned to believe that "swinging doors are bad,"For someone like me, who was always trying to swing the bat in the shortest possible distance, this was a new discovery.

Practice at a batting center

The other day, I went to a batting cage, focusing on the feeling of "bringing the bat through my back."
Then, I noticed a fairly clear effect.

For the first while after I started playing, I spent time correcting the fact that I was hitting the ball a little too early.
With my previous swing, the bat moved in a straight line from diagonally above, so unless I placed the point of contact a certain distance forward, I couldn't get the swing's trajectory to match the ball's trajectory.

However, with the improved swing, the bat takes a longer route around the back, resulting in a curved trajectory.
As a result, it became possible to get the bat's trajectory to match the ball's trajectory relatively quickly, and to hit the ball even when the point of contact was close to the body.

I now feel like I have more time and space to hit the ball, even in situations where it would have been difficult to hit before.
I don't feel like I've completely mastered this swing yet, so I want to continue working on it until it becomes second nature.

summary

Some people may have already mastered the swing techniques I've introduced here.
Some people probably do it without even consciously thinking about it.

However, I think there are people like me who can gain significant benefits from making these corrections.
I felt that using this swing as a model, comparing it to my own, and analyzing which aspects I should incorporate was the quickest way to improve.