Posted by: Graylon (g_dunc@hotmail.com) on Wed Nov 28 09:16:25 2007

> > > > is he back side rotational or what?
> > >
> > > hey mike,
> > > i wish i knew what the term back side rotational means & exactly what the definition of the term is...specifically what part of the back side is rotating... i really don't know either. i am not all that familiar with the terminology utililzed on this site.. but i am going to guess you are referring to side energy being generated by his
> > > back side, which is the same as all other hitters, the power side...
> > >
> > > i do however know the definition of TORQUE:(from the latin "torquere"-to twist)
> > > THE TURNING OR ROTATION OF FORCE ABOUT AN AXIS
> > > barry bonds is a great hitter because of several things he does BEFORE he begins his swing, which put him in a position to generate not just GOOD batspeed, but the BEST batspeed he can possinly gnereate.
> > >
> > > 1. he stands very close to the plate.. no bending over from the waist & dropping his power hand off the bat & reaching for bad pitches. he understands the ball must come over the plate, & he is VERY DISCIPLINED when it comes to swinging at a good pitch..this mental aspect of swinging only at strikes is overlooked by many coaches when speaking of being a good hitter. your MENTAL ASPECT IS JUST AS IMPORTANT AS THE PHYSICAL ASPECT.. IT IS A SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP. THEY ARE OF EQUAL IMPORTANCE. TO BE DEFICIENT IN ONE ASPECT IS TO DRAG DOWN YOU OVERALL PERFORMANCE SUCCESS. remind yourself constantly.
> > >
> > > 2. he has a fairly closed stance compared to most hitters, but not as closed as i would recommend.. his base is short, with his feet directly under his weight,which is very important. it allows you to transfer your weight from one foot to the other a lot quicker than those morons with their feet spread as far as possible ala jeff bagwell.. a wide stance diminishes your ability to torque, thus slowing your bat.
> > >
> > > 3. BEST THING HE DOES: his hands are in tight to his body; this means when he torques, his body & hand speed & thus his bat speed are maximized.. as opposed to the idiots who stand a foot away from the plate & swing with their arms extended... those fools are completely
> > > defiant of the law of PHYSICS which states that the closer you are to the axis of rotation, the faster you will go... the farther away, the slower.. keep you hands in tight to your body (axis).
> > >
> > > 4. a short step & getting right to the business at hand: unloading!!!
> > > a short step translates into a small base which will torque faster than a wide base. this is important for 2 reasons: less time spent getting underway.. you must understand the most frequent result of a swing by ALL MLB hitters is: THEY ARE LATE LATE LATE LATE LATE!!!
> > > DEGREES OF TARDINESS RESULT IN DIFFERENT DEGREES OF BAD RESULTS:FLY OUT, POPUP, POP FOUL, FOUL TIP & THE WORST TARDINESS OF ALL... MISSING COMPLETELY. most hitters do not understand this part.. they think they just simply miss a pitch, when in fact they are late to the ball FAR more frequently than they hit a ball on the button. to understand this & make adjustments that will improve your being late is to look at what you are doing that is constantly making you late, & implement a change in your stance or swing which will increase your batspeed, thus getting you there on time.. a good batting coach will do tis for you.. seldom can a hitter figure out for himself what the problem is, & determine what it is that needs to change.. only a 2nd pair of eyes can do that. this has to do with poor coaching... which does not construct a sound theory, thus a sound stance, thus a sound swing..far too many hitters are left to their devices concerning a stance & swing which "feels comfortable"... comfort has nothing to do with it.. in fact if you are very comfortable then you are invariably not doing anywhere near as good as you should. instead you should learning more about LOGIC & PHYSICS, which are for the most part foreign language terms to most hitters."i am a baseball player, I don't know or wanna know anything about LOGIC or PHYSICS." true, but you are engaging in an activity which is governed by the LAWS OF LOGIC & PHYSICS.. SO YOU BETTER LEARN ABOUT THEM... otherwise you will be just ordinary, & not realizing your full potential.
> > >
> > > barry does some things that make him vulnerable, just like everyone else. he holds his hand too low.. which means he is vulnerable to pitches above the belt inner half.. this spot is his greatest weakness.. it is not possible to hold you hands that low & still get around on that pitch.. it is physically impossible. smart pitchers
> > > will pound him in that spot, especially on the 1st pitch, which he invariably foul it off.. now you have him 0-1. a breaking ball up & away can get another foul off.. once you have him at 0-2, you have the advantage of trying to entice him into swinging at a bad pitch out of the strike zone.. changing speed & location from pitch to pitch is your best line of attack.. notice i didn't say best chance..
> > > no matter how good you think he is, still fails to get a hit 70% of the time.
> >
> >
> >
> > George Stanley. You bring up some good points. But regard to pitching Barry Bonds, that is not the way to go.
> >
> > You would have a lot better chance sticking to changing speeds the entire at bat and then going up and in (out of the strikezone). Reason being is he is not going to swing at the high fb early in the count unless he is going for some milestone. Better yet you are digging yourself an early deficit if you think you can get a hanging/high breaking pitch over without him hitting it way out of the park. Lastly, only a pitcher with exceptional stuff can even think of applying what you speak of (unless he is below his standards of hitting.)
>
> the one thing you are overlooking, or are minimizing is the importance of the location on the first pitch..if i put that pitch exactly where i want, he MUST FAIL..he will be victim to the laws of PHYSICS. most pitchers do not realize that when you throw that first pitch up/in, IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE YOUR FASTEST PITCH!!!.. because of the location, & the fact his hands are so low, it means that if you hit your spot, IT WILL BE IMPOSSIBLE FOR HIM TO PUT THE BALL IN PLAY.. in fact, the slower you throw that 1st pitch, the better the chances he will be enticed to swing...the better the chances he will get just enough of it to pop it up in the field of play.. this goes against your natural tendenciy to throw it as hard as you can.. he can only get a small piece of that pitch & probably foul it straight back..the trick is always to hit your spot... if i put the ball in the spot i want to, he simply can not put it in play..if i restrain myself from putting too much giddyup on that pitch, he may pop it up.
> with 2 strikes, an off speed breaking ball down/in out of the zone has gotten him many times.. dance with what has worked before.

George,

What you over look when you give your opinion on how to pitch to Bonds is that he doesn't "earn his money" swinging at pitches that he can't hit. He is looking for one pitch and one pitch only, the pitch that he can destroy. As far as being perfect with your pitches is a very hard thing, I know they are major league pitchers but they still miss there spots and Bonds makes them pay because he is looking for that mistake.