Baseball Intellect has an absolutely gorgeous video of Ackley's swing.  You might open two windows while we take a quick look.

=== Necessary, but not Sufficient, Dept. ===

Bear in mind that a great swing does not equal an All-Star major leaguer.  You could give me Ted Williams' swing, and I still wouldn't be able to make contact against Miguel Batista.

But Ackley's swing lights up the D-O-V pinball machine for record scores.  He's got the stroke for a .300/.400/.500 career.  Thusly:

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  === LOAD ===

Most hitters have a much less compact "load" than Ackley does.  For example, Bret Boone used an exaggerated hand pump and back-knee bend.   Ichiro rotates his shoulders extremely as the ball comes in.  Jay Buhner stepped forward a good 30 inches as the ball came in.

The basics of loading are 1) closing the front shoulder and hip pocket, and 2) moving the weight back slightly (with a golf-like bending of the front knee) or sinking it.

You want excellent balance "at the top" -- that is, you should be able to load, pause, and be comfortable.

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Ackley's load is as good as anything I've ever seen.  Not only is he balanced and comfortable at the top, but also notice the angle of his bat cock as he begins his throughstroke.  This extreme angle is the secret to long-ball hitting in golf.  Ackley's looks like Ichiro's.

Tiger Woods' swing was found to have more wrist cock than others', and he holds it later in his throughstroke.

Now look at Ackley's wrist cock, and ask yourself this:  1) How could he have any more wrist cock than he does?  2) How could he release it any later?

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From an aiki standpoint, Ackley barely moves at all -- he's very compact -- but you can sense the extreme muscle tension as he goes back.  This is the "moving without motion" concept in aikido -- your muscles move underneath the skin, so to speak.

At any rate, Ackley's load is enough to bring tears to your eyes.   It's compact, powerful, balanced, and leveraged -- and graceful at the same time.

Unbelievable.

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=== STEP ===

The step begins the throughstroke, and it's what times the hitter to the ball, as opposed to the pitcher.  You don't hit the pitcher; you hit the ball.  During the step, the hitter begins to adapt his swing to the individual pitch.

On the step, you want to:

• Land on the big toe softly, keeping your weight on the back leg
• Keep your eyes rock-steady
• Rotate around the hub of your spine
• Not be late (you can adjust if too early, but not if too late)
  

If you were to grab Ackley's hair during the throughstroke, he not only wouldn't say "OW," he wouldn't even notice that you'd grabbed his hair.

Judge for yourself the calmness and eye-steadiness of Ackley at the step phase.

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=== PIVOT ===

Making a very long story short, you're watching for how far the belt buckle pivots around.   Ackley's rotates to face precisely squared-up to the pitcher, which is a long but not Manny-like pivot.

Check for yourself how much Ackley's head moves -- we're talking about back-to-front travel of the head, now -- as his body rotates under his spine. 

We've talked about the pop-a-shot effect as a basketball shooter's eyes move during his stroke.  Ackley, by contrast, has a calm view of a still world as he applies the energy to the ball.

I never was able to master this, myself -- golf, softball, whatever.  I can't apply maximum force to anything while keeping my head super calm, my mouth relaxed, and my wits about me.   Must be nice.  :- )

As you review the swing videos, think "relaxation" as you examine Ackley's head during the swing.  How relaxed can you get?

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Also see Dustin Ackley's Swing Mechanics II

Cheers,

Jeff