I came across a comparison video between world long driving champion Kyle Berkshire and home run hitter Shohei Ohtani and there’s only one problem with the mechanics, albeit a glaring problem.

I wonder if anyone would be able to say what it is?

Let’s take a look:

OK, do we know what the problem is?

Having played baseball myself, this was pretty easy to spot – Kyle Berkshire is hitting a golf ball sitting practically on the ground, where the overwhelming majority of the swing effort is or should be from the top down to the swing bottom.

Once you reach the swing bottom, any further effort and energy is wasted as the ball is already off the club face.

Ohtani on the other hand is hitting a baseball at or near waist level, where the swing effort is not down and through but outward, in the direction of the outfield and at the ball coming toward him.

Kyle Berkshire may be the longest driving human on the planet, but his mechanics are a massive waste of his strength and energy – putting all of his effort into swinging down would produce even more power than he currently does.

Imagine swinging a sledgehammer or axe into a post to impact just above the ground – where is your energy going, into the swing down to the post, or are you giving yourself a hernia trying to swing through the post and push it down the line?

Because that’s exactly the analogy you want to visualize when swinging a golf club – the swing is essentially over at the swing bottom, and the rest of it is just momentum and follow-through.

Just as I have advised that teaching people to imagine throwing their club down the line after impact makes the swinger focus on unnecessary effort past the ball (which is wasted effort, as the ball is already gone) and reaching peak acceleration after the ball position has already been passed, rather than having them imagine throwing their club as hard as they can into the ground ahead of the ball:

If you are swinging a club without a ball in the way to slow it down (or at least stop the acceleration) with its inertia, what would produce the higher club velocity and acceleration at the swing bottom – swinging down with all of one’s effort, or swinging down and then heaving the club forward after it reaches the swing bottom?

You could even test this out for yourself if you have a Swing Speed Radar:

… and some free space to avoid killing anyone – swing the club down as hard as you can into the swing bottom, record the speed, and then do it again except try to throw that club down the line as hard as you can.

See which one is highest.

You have people out there literally teaching baseball swing mechanics to golfers.

Madness.