By now, everyone has heard about the second half slow start of Aaron Judge, the right field slugger for the New York Yankees. The most common reason I've heard is based on his participation,and winning, of this year's Home Run Derby. I've read the stats about how a higher percentage of Home Run Derby participants have less productive second halves than those that abstain.
Can it physically fatigue them based on the fact that, especially in Judge's case, they take as many aggressive swings in one night as they might in a month's worth of games? Definitely. Is being in the Home Run Derby, and then the All-Star Game, a different type of mental fatigue? Of course. Is the one week interruption to the normal routine a disruptive force to timing and rhythm? Very possibly.
But coming from a Bio-Mechanics background, I would like to focus on exactly how Aaron Judge changed his swing mechanics in the Home Run Derby, and the contributing effect it has had on his slow post All-Star game start. The goal of every hitter is to transfer as much force from bat to ball as possible, in the most balanced and efficient way possible.
Through years and years of diligent practice, the hitter attempts to hone his swing mechanics to the point of it becoming second nature. It is the neural pathways that truly make mechanical movements automatic, being performed without conscious thought. Any deviation from this acts as a neural disruptor as the nervous system struggles to understand the change it is being asked to execute. Now this is the exact process one would go through to break a bad habit. Replace the old with the new, by executing the new desired skill thousands of times.
But Aaron Judge certainly doesn't desire to break any of his swinging habits. Therefore I ask the question, why would he primarily release his top hand during the Derby, yet maintain a two-handed grip on most of his powerfully hit balls while on balance? Sure he will release his top hand in games, but usually if he is reaching for a pitch, off-balance, or fooled by a pitch. None of these are issues in the Home Run Derby, however.
It seems subtle, but it can be huge. And it's my opinion, based on my neural studies of sports athletes, that the amount of forceful, focused repetition in which he swung with a very different swing finish, has negatively affected his natural mechanics. It is nothing he would consciously feel or be aware of, unless someone told him. The nervous system will eventually default back to what it has done most often, and most recently. Thus, it will take a volume of swings before he gets his "natural swing timing" back on point. Proof would be the Monster Blast he hit last night at Safeco Field, in which he finished his swing with both hands on the bat.
I believe he will begin to quickly get back to his first half form now that his volume of swings are eliminating any neural remnants of his Derby swing anomalies. There is much more science to this topic, but for now, I will be watching every game Aaron Judge plays, to see how far his next Bomb will travel.
