Posted by: Teacherman () on Tue Mar 18 17:17:24 2003

I'm wondering what it taks to qualify as an "expert" on hitting? Not trying to bash anyone, but among Epstein, Lau, and Baker, none ever broke the .300 mark, yet they are the premiere experts on hitting instruction. How can that be?

Just as Tiger Woods has a golf coach who doesn't play near as good as him, people who don't or haven't led the bigs in hitting can learn the basics of the baseball swing. From the use of video, which is relatively new, the mechanics have been and will be studied. People can learn the mechanics and become "experts" at what causes the swing of mlb hitters to work. But not all can execute the good mechanics efficiently or as quickly as necessary or they don't have the mental discipline that the greats have. The difference is talent.

I really don't see it as an issue. The great golfers, tennis players, bowlers, billiard players and more all have coaches who know and see things that the athlete doesn't/can't see. And none of them play as well as their student.