Posted by: han king () on Fri Feb 14 11:34:26 2003

Last night I had a person who could not hit a lick, try to tell me why I was wrong and how I was wrong. The fact of the matter is he had no clue on what he was talking about, and he did not want to understand what I was trying to say. Everyday I check this board to read the e-mails and they are no differant than the people who come into my cage and try to teach their kid how to hit. These people could be looking at the best or worst hitter in the world and would not know the difference. So, Hank Kings of the world without listening to all the information that's available and fully understanding it don't pop off like you know. You don't. That includes me, when I have a problem I call Jack and I ask, bacause I do not know everything all the time.
> > > > >>>
> > > > >>i believe that we can all get better as well, and i also believe we can all get worse. i read this site front to back, and i understand that there are some serious flaws in the writings that i would not want any young player or accomplished player to try to implement into their swing.
> > > > i can speak freely, and i will, a friend of mine,who is also a basball man, found this sight and called yesterday to ask me to read it and give him my take on it.
> > > > there are certain things in life that remain the same, and hitting is one of them. so do i think i know it all, no, but i've studied it, i understand it, hitting is not going to change. we've all read books by the great names, and although there are some slight diffs. there are certain key points that are the same in all of them. this theory here directly goes against things in hitting that have been proven correct for over a hundred years.
> > > > i'm sure jack is a great guy, and i'm sure everyone chatting here has there heart in the right place, but lets not reinvent the wheel.
> > > > i realise i just got here, i also realise i'm a bully, but i'm not going to sit here and let bad habits be formed without disputing the info. every theory is not ment to be taught.
> > >
> > > Hank-
> > > you said:
> > > "there are certain key points that are the same in all of them [books by the great names]. this theory here directly goes against things in hitting that have been proven correct for over a hundred years"
> > >
> > > Please specify what theses things are. Its hard to respond without something concrete to discuss.
> > >>>
> > >>
> > >good point, just to go to a couple and then i gotta run.
> > 1st, shifting the bodies wieght forward to some degree against a firm front side. this does add power to the swing! for example, a rotational hitter will have some percentage of his wieght left on his back side foot at contact, based on what i read it would seem to be 50%. a wieght shift hitter could have as little as 0% of his wieght on his backside foot at contact or maybe 30% depending on how strong he is and what he is comfortable with. now, if the hitter ways 200 lbs. and he delivers his full body weight or even 70% of his wieght he is going to gain an advantage of power over a hitter who leaves 50% or more of his wieght and drive energy plugged into the ground behind him. the key to a wieght shift is that it is short very exposive and the hitter be strong enough to hold himself behind his firm front side. there is your leverage point, there is torque.
> > how many hitters do we see with there back foot slightly of the ground at contact, griffey, big frank, arod just to name a few pretty good ones, and i'm not going to teach a player to have his back foot in the air at contact, the degree to which you take the wieght shift is personal, it has alot to do with strength and skill level.
> > another point of the teachings here that i just couldn't endorse is the idea that the hitters entire front side rotates simaltaneously, this is going to teach young hitter to spin off there contact point.
> > a hitter must keep his front shoulder directional to the pitcher as long as possible, this will help him to hit to all fields. also the chest and head must remain on the ball at point of contact, if for no other reasons than vision and the desire to hit the ball to the off field when it leads you there.
> > these are some direct diff. for you, that are key elements to hitting
>
> Hank,
>
> Wieght shift isn't something you control, it's part of the eccentric/concentric body and muscle actions. You only need to swing a bat with a basic kinetic sense and awareness to create weight shift.
>
> How much acceleration takes place and the direction of the acceleraton determines how much weight ends up against the front leg. This isn't left out in this approach and is often discussed, why it seems the fort leg is responsible for hip rotation during the swing, compared to the back leg.
>
> The goal isn't to be over the front leg with back foot up in the air on every swing. If this happens, so be it, and often happens as an adjustment compared to a mechanical absolute.
>
> The front shoulder starts in, pointing at the pitcher. The swing is a turn (right or left) toward the target. How long it stays in depends on individuals.
>
> Shawn
>
> shawn, i said nothing about being over your front foot at contact. a hitter is deff. behind a firm front side. don't put words in my mouth.the back foot may or may not come up based on how hard the forward push and is usually recoiled back on after impact, the firm front side controls the length of the shift.
and i disagree about the shift not being something that is controlled. a hitter pushes forward on the ball of his back foot, to what degree is surely controlled by the hitter. any object cannot create acceleration without something to push against. the hitter uses the ground with his back foot.
i think there may be some useful things here, i would agree that the front side of the hip could play a strong roll in the hip rotation as well, but the lead factor deff. the backside drive.