Jay Bruce hopes swing tweak leads to more success in 2016

[OnBaseMachine]

Cincinnati Enquirer article on Jay Bruce and an adjustment to his swing.

“’The chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too strong to be broken,’” the 28-year-old said, quoting Johnson by the way of Buffett. “That’s what I felt like. You didn’t notice it, and then you’re like, ‘S--t, man, there it is.’”

Bruce has always kept his left elbow high as he readies his swing, and it never really affected his performance. During his first six years in the big leagues, he hit .257 with a .330 on-base and .482 slugging.

But slowly over time, his hands started creeping up higher than his elbow. Over the last two seasons, they’ve hovered near his ear as he loads for his swing. Not-so-coincidentally, he’s hit just .222 with a .695 OPS over that span.

He’s worked since Christmas to return his hands to a more powerful load position next the ‘C’ logo on his upper chest. His teammates have already noticed.

“The guys who have seen my swing, they’ve asked, ‘Did you lower your hands?’” Bruce said. “The affirmation that it looks different is good.”

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/spor...2016/81372788/

[traderumor]

Sort of like the "best shape of my life" annual rite of passage into a new season. Swing adjustments that are going to make the season great.

[lollipopcurve]

It's clear some kind of adjustment is needed -- glad to see he's trying. I'm hoping to see a quieter setup all around.

[BernieCarbo]

Hmm, it was my understanding that he was just unlucky and that he would be fine.

Well, at least he's being proactive. That's the beauty of the modern age where a player has endless video where some of these things can be sorted out. It probably won't help pitch recognition, and I have to wonder where his elbow was when he was on a tear for a few weeks, but it's good he's aware of a problem.

[757690]

Let's hope it works better for Bruce than it did for Heisey.

http://www.foxsports.com/ohio/story/...raining-030314

To that end, Heisey has dropped his hands lower in his batting stance, "And so far it is working. This early in spring you don't want to peak too soon but it is good to get your confidence back."

And the hands? "Lowering my hands relaxes me," he said. "The higher your hands, the more tension in your shoulders and less flexibility.

[RedlegJake]

The difference in Heisey and Bruce, of course, is Heisey had no solid seasons to look back to (or return to form). Hey, maybe it helps and he's a valuable piece again come July

[GADawg]

It's clear some kind of adjustment is needed -- glad to see he's trying. I'm hoping to see a quieter setup all around.

amen! I can barely watch him or Billyst the plate....quiet things down!

[Wonderful Monds]

Let's hope it works better for Bruce than it did for Heisey.

http://www.foxsports.com/ohio/story/...raining-030314

I recall that it DID work for Heisey, but then he abandoned it or couldn't maintain the adjustment for whatever reason, and boom, back to suck town he went.

[TheBigLebowski]

He'll hit 50.

[GADawg]

He'll hit 50.

I don't doubt it.....25 from May 1-May 14 and 25 from July 15-July 30 and all with at least a 6 run lead or a 6 run deficit

[WrongVerb]

The difference in Heisey and Bruce, of course, is Heisey had no solid seasons to look back to (or return to form). Hey, maybe it helps and he's a valuable piece again come July

And Heisey went back to his old form by mid-season that year. He actually started off with some success that April.

When muscle memory is that ingrained, it is an incredibly difficult thing to do to hold on to a change for the long term. That said, I believe innate talent allows a player to do just that, and Bruce certainly has more talent than Heisey.

[Ghosts of 1990]

Spoiler alert: it won't/doesn't.

[Larry Schuler]

HE. IS. THE. WORST!a!!!!

[Crumbley]

HE. IS. THE. WORST!a!!!!

Nah, just among them.

[lidspinner]

its never to late.....but my biggest fear has never been his swing or his hand placement.....I agree, his swing just didnt look right these past few years but I am 100% of the opinion that when a player struggles, he looks for the easiest and quickest fix, or the simplest fix.....and in this case, tweaking his hands sounds like the easiest thing to do for multiple reasons......

but when you go back and watch video, something I do way to much of in the winter...and something my kids probably would tell you that I am obsessed with(watching video to correct things) ...Jay Bruce's swing is the least thing I would be worrying about....I hope it works for him and there is a reason I am not working as a hitting coach...its obvious he/they know way more than I do....but I see a huge issue with Jays pitch recognition from his early years to these past few years....
dont get me wrong, Jay has always had problems seeing the curve and slider, his problem these past few years has been once he realizes the pitch is a curve/slider, its to late to hold off, he has already committed to swing....in his early years you can see Jay step, load, shift his weight, start to flow his hands through the zone then hold back......that my friends is 100% pitch recognition and its something that can be fixed but he needs to be working on that instead of trying to fix muscle memory, which is very hard to do and takes years to fix.

again, I pray I am wrong and this tweak rights his swing wrongs, but until Jay starts learning to see a pitch for what it is then I think he is still going to flare open his hips and shoulders on sliders in the dirt, Jay is still going to take those half hearted cuts on curves that he though were fastballs.....

time will tell, but methinks age is catching up with his muscles and his eyes, tweaking his hands might help him, we will see....I still think the bigger issue is seeing the pitch adn that comes with time watching film on pitchers and time in the batters box with pitchers who will wear him out.

I am pulling for him either way.