BILLINGS — How does a 70-year-old grandpa blast a ball off a tee quicker than a teenager in his prime? The short answer is technique.
Rich Schenck (pronounced "Skenk") not only has it, but he also teaches it to some of Major League Baseball’s biggest stars.
“Most people push their bat forward. I believe it needs to be like a Nike swoosh and go backward before it goes forward,” Schenck explained recently to MTN Sports.
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Master that technique, and you might make the big leagues, like New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, whom Schenck coaches. Judge is hitting nearly .400 this season — far ahead of any other MLB player.
Schenck was recently at Pirtz Field in Billings, letting young local hopefuls in on his secret.
“My swing has been under,” said 15-year-old Tanner Stiegemeier, demonstrating in thin air. “I’m hoping I can get it more up.”
Teammates Chase Langford and Gehrig Hust also had their own beat on how to swing a better bat.
“I got to get my hands quick,” said Hust, 13.
“Probably quick hands and bat speed … bat velocity,” added Langford.
Schenck, who also shared advice with coaches, made the quick day trip to Billings while visiting his daughter’s family in Belgrade. It was sort of a favor to his son-in-law, J.D. Stephenson, who is friends with Billings coach Bobby Beers. They work together with the Montana Institute of Sport.
“In three short years, we’ve been able to get into 200 schools, develop P.E. curriculums, support coaches and create opportunities for youth sports,” said Stephenson, CEO of the organization.
“I think one of the things kids this young don’t understand is the consistency it takes (to succeed at a high level),” Beers added.
Schenck’s background in developing the Nike swoosh technique truly rewinds time.
“This thing called the internet was new, and I started going online to get information to help my boys enjoy the game better,” Schenck recalled.
He never did play pro ball but was a Division II college catcher who aspired to hit like Barry Bonds.
“He was the best hitter in the game at that time, and maybe forever,” Schenck said.
So, Schenck set up a hitting station with video recordings in his basement.
“I would ask, what’s his lead arm doing … my lead arm doing? What’s his head doing … my head doing? What’s his bat doing, my bat … my leg, his leg?” he explained.
Schenck mastered the philosophy he teaches today — "launch quickness,” he calls it — and his big break came when he delivered a breakthrough for a young Aaron Judge, who was struggling in the minor leagues nine years ago.
“The first day I was with Aaron, I put a ball on a tee for him and a ball on a tee for me. I was 62 years old and looked like this … and he was 24 and just a physically cut specimen. And he could not hit the ball before me,” Schenck said.
Judge figured it out, endorsed Schenck on Twitter, and the lives of both men changed forever. Judge went on to win American League Rookie of the Year the following season in 2017, the first Yankee to do so since Derek Jeter.
Schenck, meanwhile, blossomed to help other Major League stars and continues to tutor teens — and he’s still quicker.
