The Dreaded Launch Angle Swing

We get asked all the time, “do you teach a launch angle swing?”

The Dreaded Launch Angle Swing

If you are into baseball at all, you’ve probably heard the term “launch angle” more and more over the past year or two.

Despite the popularity of the term, it seems to be one of the most misunderstood concepts in the game today.

Launch Angle, by definition, represents the vertical angle at which the ball leaves a player’s bat after being struck.

Now that sounds a little confusing right? This picture probably illustrates it better…

So launch angle is simply a metric, just like mph, seconds, or inches. What it is NOT, is a type of swing and that’s really where the confusion lies.

We get asked all the time, “do you teach a launch angle swing?”

And the answer is “no” because there is no such thing. Launch angle is a unit of measure, not a style or set of mechanics.

Don’t demonize launch angle. Since the beginning of baseball, line drives have been and will always be king. Launch angle simply gives us a more precise way to describe ball flight (or lack thereof). Hit line drives. Be obsessed!

PS-To the “swing level” crowd, should that “level swing” be level with the ground or level with the pitch? This picture is from Ted William’s “The Science of Hitting” book-so this is not a new concept, just a misunderstood one.

Ken Spangenberg
Director of Baseball
Maplezone Sports Institute