Reading your kid's swing video like a coach (without coaching them)

A parent in Tehaleh emailed us recently asking what they should be looking for when they film their kid's swing.

Great question. Here's the honest answer:

You're not looking to coach. You're looking to spot patterns.

The difference matters. A parent who watches video to give technique cues will usually do more harm than good. A parent who watches video to spot consistency or to track week-over-week change will do enormous good — even without ever saying anything about it to the player.

What to film

• Side angle, phone on a tripod, eye-level with the hitter.
• Tee work works fine. Soft toss works fine. Live BP works fine. Don't worry about getting a "perfect" rep — you want representative ones.
• 5–10 swings per video. More than that and you'll never re-watch them.
• Save them. Even if you don't watch them this week, watch them next month against this week's.

That's it. Don't overthink the production.

What to look for

Four things. None of them require knowing how to hit a baseball at a high level.

1. Front-foot landing position

Watch where the front foot lands across 5 swings. Is it landing in the same spot, in the same direction, every time?

Good sign: Consistent landing spot, foot pointed roughly toward the pitcher or slightly closed.

Worth flagging to your coach: Front foot lands somewhere different every time. Or lands open (toward third base for a right-handed hitter), or steps in the bucket (toward the catcher's side).

Consistency matters more than perfection.

2. Head position at contact

Pause the video at contact. Where is the kid's head?

Good sign: Head is over (or slightly behind) the back hip. Eyes are looking at where the ball was.

Worth flagging: Head has drifted forward, toward the pitcher, or is pulling out toward the dugout. Either way, the eyes are no longer on the ball at contact.

3. Back-elbow path

Watch the back elbow from load to contact. Does it drop down into the slot, or does it slide forward in front of the hands?

Good sign: Back elbow drops and stays behind or aligned with the hands.

Worth flagging: Back elbow gets ahead of the hands — this is the bat drag we wrote about in another post. Very common, very fixable, but worth catching early.

4. Balance at finish

Hold on the final frame. Is the hitter balanced — on their front foot or split between both — or are they falling backward, forward, or to the side?

Good sign: Controlled finish. Back foot might come slightly off the ground, but they're not stumbling.

Worth flagging: Falling off the back side (head bailing toward the catcher) or lunging onto the front foot (head past the front knee). Either is a balance issue worth showing to a coach.

What NEVER to do at home

Here's where most parents go wrong. You see something on film. You bring it up to the kid at dinner. The kid hears it as criticism. The next swing they take is worse than the one you filmed.

Four phrases to retire:

• "I noticed your front foot was..."
• "Your head was coming off the ball..."
• "You're dropping your back elbow again..."
• "Watch this video — see what you're doing here?"

All four are well-meaning. All four sabotage the work.

Why: the player needs to feel the change in their body to make it stick. A parent's verbal coaching cue at home creates an over-thinking loop that locks the swing up. The player tries to "fix" what the parent said and ends up worse than before.

That's the coach's job — to translate what video shows into a feel the player can carry into the next swing. That happens in lessons. Not at dinner.

What to do with what you see

Three options that work:

1. Send it to the coach. If you see something flag-worthy, send the clip to your coach with one line: "Is this something to work on?" Let them decide what to do with it.
2. Save it for comparison. You don't have to act on every video. Just file them by date. The month-over-month comparison is where the real value lives.
3. Show it to the player only if they ask. Let your kid be the one who initiates "can we look at the video?" If they do, watch it together silently. Let them speak first.

The bigger point

A parent with a phone and a tripod is the single most valuable asset in a young player's development — but only if the parent's role stays parent-shaped.

Film. Save. Send. Don't coach. The compounding works without you ever saying a word about mechanics.

Every session at the garage is recorded, with tagged moments + a written analysis returned within 48 hours — so you don't have to be the coach. Book a free first session and we'll send you a clip your kid will actually watch with you.