Bat Speed -- Baseball Hitting Forum

Posted by: () on Wed Mar 26 19:19:47 2003

That is 100% false. If you stop tracking the ball around half way(32ft) you half almost no chance at hitting the baseball. You must track the ball all the way to the bat, yes it is possible because all good ball players do it. Look at pictures of a batters eyes and head at contact, they are right at the spot where the ball is hitting the bat. How can you hit a 90+ mph fastball with movement if u dont look at the ball all the way into the hitting zone? You cant!
> >
> >
> >
> > I'm sorry to say that you are 100% wrong. Keep in mind that you are just 15 years old, and don't know everything about hitting yet. Yes, you seem very knowledgeable, but in this issue you are wrong. If you rotate your shoulders properly, your rear shoulder will force your head to a position where you can't even see the ball through the corner of your eye. You are not giving your body and hand-eye coordination enough credit. NO ONE sees the ball actually hit the bat and leave. Some players see it farther that others, but unless they do not rotate their shoulders properly, they don't see it hit the bat. Their head and eyes may be down on the ball, but they don't actually see it hit the bat. It is impossible to tract the ball the last so many feet to the ball (I'm not sure but I think 8-10ft).
> >
> > The best example I have of this is in this years March Madness Sports Illustrated issue (March 24, 2003). In there, there is an article about Barry Bonds and the Giants entitled, "Is Everybody Happy?" On the third page of that article there is a picture of Grissom swinging. Looking at the picture one could make an easy assumption that he hit this ball very solidly. But look at his head and eyes. They are focused at a point that is about halfway between the pitchers mound and home plate. SO YOU CAN HIT WITHOUT ACTUALLY SEEING THE BALL MAKE CONTACT WITH THE BAT.
> >
> > You need to trust yourself and your abilities. Tracting the ball as far as possible is necessary, but if you try to actually see the ball hit the bat, you will be hurting your mechanics. Remember as Jack says on the home page, these mechanics are new and challange some of the old ways that you probably have been taught your whole life.
>
> I still dont agree with you, i agree that you cant see the ball hit the bat, but think about this for a second, how are you going to hit a late breaking slider if you only track the ball half way? you cant
>
> Take a look at these pictures of Ken Griffey Jr, whom according to Jack has the mechanics down pretty good.
> http://www.geocities.com/jrflyaway/pictures/fa139.jpg
> http://www.geocities.com/captaindanger21/picsthumbnails/jo220.jpg
>
> there are more on the site that you can search through but i think you get the idea. in fact, YOU CAN apply proper mechanics and track the baseball that far!

WHOA! Hold on a second. I never said that you only tract the ball halfway. In fact, that is not what John said, either. He said that

"If the pitch is a fastball that does not move, and the player sees the ball at some distance from the plate (32ft), the player more than likely will make some kind of contact with it. This is provided they have a point of visual reference. If the ball moves 15 to 30 degrees, the player will miss it."

So all of us are talking about different things. We all agree that you cannot see the ball make contact with the bat. I believe that John is correct. IF THE PITCH IS A STRAIGHT FASTBALL, all you need to do is concentrate and recognize the pitch. Once you have fully recognized the pitch and pitch location, you should be able to hit it without having to tract it the rest of the way. On a straight fastball, you should fully recognize by the time it reaches halfway to the plate.

Now, on a moving pitch you need to tract it longer. There is a point where you can't tract it any longer, which is about 8-10 feet in front of the plate. The keep is to REALLY concentrate and recognize the pitch as soon as possible, and don't swing until you recognize the pitch. That is very important. Tract the ball as far as you can, recognize the pitch as soon as possible, and don't swing until you have fully recognized the pitch.

Basically I think we are in agreement, we just didn't realize it. That last paragraph should help you with you're pulling off problem.

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> That is 100% false. If you stop tracking the ball around half way(32ft) you half almost no chance at hitting the baseball. You must track the ball all the way to the bat, yes it is possible because all good ball players do it. Look at pictures of a batters eyes and head at contact, they are right at the spot where the ball is hitting the bat. How can you hit a 90+ mph fastball with movement if u dont look at the ball all the way into the hitting zone? You cant!
> > > 
> > > 
> > > 
> > > I'm sorry to say that you are 100% wrong.  Keep in mind that you are just 15 years old, and don't know everything about hitting yet.  Yes, you seem very knowledgeable, but in this issue you are wrong.  If you rotate your shoulders properly, your rear shoulder will force your head to a position where you can't even see the ball through the corner of your eye.  You are not giving your body and hand-eye coordination enough credit.  NO ONE sees the ball actually hit the bat and leave.  Some players see it farther that others, but unless they do not rotate their shoulders properly, they don't see it hit the bat.  Their head and eyes may be down on the ball, but they don't actually see it hit the bat.  It is impossible to tract the ball the last so many feet to the ball (I'm not sure but I think 8-10ft).  
> > > 
> > > The best example I have of this is in this years March Madness Sports Illustrated issue (March 24, 2003).  In there, there is an article about Barry Bonds and the Giants entitled, "Is Everybody Happy?"  On the third page of that article there is a picture of Grissom swinging.  Looking at the picture one could make an easy assumption that he hit this ball very solidly.  But look at his head and eyes.  They are focused at a point that is about halfway between the pitchers mound and home plate.  SO YOU CAN HIT WITHOUT ACTUALLY SEEING THE BALL MAKE CONTACT WITH THE BAT.  
> > > 
> > > You need to trust yourself and your abilities.  Tracting the ball as far as possible is necessary, but if you try to actually see the ball hit the bat, you will be hurting your mechanics.  Remember as Jack says on the home page, these mechanics are new and challange some of the old ways that you probably have been taught your whole life.   
> > 
> > I still dont agree with you, i agree that you cant see the ball hit the bat, but think about this for a second, how are you going to hit a late breaking slider if you only track the ball half way? you cant
> > 
> > Take a look at these pictures of Ken Griffey Jr, whom according to Jack has the mechanics down pretty good.
> > http://www.geocities.com/jrflyaway/pictures/fa139.jpg
> > http://www.geocities.com/captaindanger21/picsthumbnails/jo220.jpg
> > 
> > there are more on the site that you can search through but i think you get the idea.  in fact, YOU CAN apply proper mechanics and track the baseball that far!
> 
> 
> WHOA!  Hold on a second.  I never said that you only tract the ball halfway.  In fact, that is not what John said, either.  He said that 
> 
> "If the pitch is a fastball that does not move, and the player sees the ball at some distance from the plate (32ft), the player more than likely will make some kind of contact with it.  This is provided they have a point of visual reference. If the ball moves 15 to 30 degrees, the player will miss it."
> 
> So all of us are talking about different things.  We all agree that you cannot see the ball make contact with the bat.  I believe that John is correct.  IF THE PITCH IS A STRAIGHT FASTBALL, all you need to do is concentrate and recognize the pitch.  Once you have fully recognized the pitch and pitch location, you should be able to hit it without having to tract it the rest of the way.  On a straight fastball, you should fully recognize by the time it reaches halfway to the plate.
> 
> Now, on a moving pitch you need to tract it longer.  There is a point where you can't tract it any longer, which is about 8-10 feet in front of the plate.  The keep is to REALLY concentrate and recognize the pitch as soon as possible, and don't swing until you recognize the pitch.  That is very important.  Tract the ball as far as you can, recognize the pitch as soon as possible, and don't swing until you have fully recognized the pitch.
> 
> Basically I think we are in agreement, we just didn't realize it.  That last paragraph should help you with you're pulling off problem.

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