Posted by: THG () on Wed Nov 14 12:13:27 2007

> >>> Jack/Board. I believe that some of the most fundamental reasons why hitters have trouble hitting the outside pitch are:
>
> 1. The hitter is not close enough to the plate. Thus if he pulls off the pitch and or is fooled he does not have enough plate coverage to hit the ball.
>
> 2. Almost every hitter uses the same length bat. It stands to reason that if a hitter is shorter, has shorter arms, or is way away from the plate, would not it make sense that he experiment with a bat a half inch or so longer?
>
> 3. The batter does not trust himself/his mechanics to wait longer in an effort to effectively maximize his full swing as opposed to casting the hands to meet the ball across the plate. Reaching for the ball reduces the potential power.
>
> 4. The hitter is to pull conscious in his approach which would effectively cancel out the outer part of the plate.
>
> 5. Not striding with a 45 degree angle toward the plate as some theories recommend. <<<
>
> Hi THG
>
> I have found the reason most average hitters have trouble reaching outside pitches is more due to “bat drag” than their hands not being wide enough to make solid contact. In other words, their hands were there, but the bat-head was not. Understanding why their mechanics left the bat-head dragging farther behind the hands on outside pitches is the key to helping him improve.
>
> Jack Mankin

Jack. Just so that I can understand, what is your definition of bat drag? And do you find the drag is just on that avg hitters outside pitch effort or the swing in its entirety?

Per the avg hitter and based upon your comment, I would conclude that the drag has a lot to do with the hitters last ditch effort to swing at a pitch that is to far away because he hax already committed to pulling the ball and or committed to hit a fastball middle in. The after result is a likely feeble atempt to make plate coverage because his legs (hip turn) have already committed early.

I think from your study, you will also discover why some hitter tap out weakly to the pitch on the pitch outside. (They are not waiting, staying back long enough.)