Posted by: george stanley (saint_george13@yahoo.com) on Thu Dec 13 16:13:42 2007

> > > When hitting, how stright do you keep your lead arm (your left arm if you're a right handed batter)when you pull your hands back before the pitch? I have always had my arm pretty straight throught the whole swing, but at this hitting clinic I'm going to the insturctor said to bend more at the elbows because I had to long of a swing. When I watched Major League players in slow motion, many of them had a very straight arm, while others had a bigger bend at the elbow. So, in short, should worry about having too long a swing if I can swing fast enough, or would it be immossible to keep up with some pitches (mainly inside)with my lead elbow not being bent.
> > >
> > > BTW my right arm's elbow is bent, just not my left arm.
> >
> > hi ray!
> > try this: sit on a barstool, then have someone spin you around fairly quickly... now extend your arms out like you're on the cross... what do you think will happen?.. YOU WILL SLOW DOWN!! now put your hands on your belt buckle..EVEN THOUGH YOUR WERE SLOWING DOWN, YOU WILL NOW SPEED UP!!!
> > what does this mean & hopw does this apply to hitting?!? LOGIC says your batspeed will be slower with your arms extended than if you keep your hands in tight... which is in direct contravention to those people who say when you get your arms extended you will generate more power... NOT!!
> >
> > keep BOTH ELBOWS in tight to your body...make your hands the rotational axis around which the bat revolves.. you will generate more batspeed.. go play or watch some racquetball.. those guys understand how to generate racquet head speed.. when they get a lollipop to hammer, you NEVER SEE THEM STRIKE THE BALL WITH THEIR ARM EXTENDED.. THEIR POWER ELBOW IS RIGHT ON THEIR HIP... go see for yourself.
> > keep your hands as high as comfortably possible... at least eye-high.. from that position, you will be coming DOWN on any pitch, thus increasing your batspeed..especially one up in the zone.. if you are coming down even the slightest bit on a letter high pitch, hopefully you will generate just enough additional batspeed to catch up to that pitch & drive it instead of fouling it off or popping it up..if you hold your hands only shoulder or letter high or lower, your chances of catching up to that pitch are geatly diminished..
> >
> > also. keep your arms & hamds as far back as comfortably possible...they should be hidden from the pitcher's view by your front shoulder... SAFETY FIRST!! this will shield your hands from an inside pitch that might whack you on the hands... this happens far too often to hitters that hold their hands at the letters or extended away from their body in plain sight of the pitcher.. ALSO, this creates a hole in your stance for the pitcher to throw at- just inside & just below your hands is THE spot you will not able to get your hands inside of...WHY?!?! BECAUSE YOU WILL HAVE TO DROP YOUR HANDS & DRAW THEM BACK TO BE ABLE TO HANDLE THAT PITCH.. CAUSING YOU TO BE LATE & GET SAWED OFF.. thus making for an automatic 1st pitch foul strike.. & you must stay out of the 0-1 & 0-2 hole, where hitters are batting .170 & .194, respectively.
> > with your hands up & back as far as comfortably possible, from there you:
> > 1. protect your hands
> > 2. are able to come down on even a letter high pitch
> > 3. reduce the tendency to drop your hands, do a little circle hitch with your hands, or draw back your arms & hands after the pitch is released... you're already there where you should be, so you can go directly forward. LESS WINDUP MEANS GETTING THERE SOONER!
> > #2 & #3 will greatly reduce the number of pitches you are late on...
> > you will begin to get there on time more often, thus driving those pitches you have in the past been fouling off or popping up
> >
> > lotsa guys say i'm nuts, ray... those are the ones who endorse EVERYTHING all MLB hitters do.. their mentality is "if-vlad-is-doing-it-it-must-be-right-so-i'm-gonna-do-it-too, & who-the-hell-are-you-to-have-an-idea-that's-different-from-the-guy-making-$10mill/yr?? you must be nuts!"
> > i say if einstein had never thought outside the box, there would be no atomic theory.. i also say the hitter's primary goal on a day to day basis is not consistency like everyone else sez, rather to try to understand what their weaknesses are, & try to improve on a daily basis.. basically, if you cannot conceive of success, you will not achieve success..
> > be like everyone else, or use LOGIC & PHYSICS, WHICH ARE IRREFUTABLE POINTS OF FACTS TO GUIDE YOU IN YOUR QUEST TO BE BETTER THAN EVERYONE ELSE..
> > good luck to you
>
> George,
>
> I know I said I would not commit on your posts anymore but I just couldn't help myself on this one.
>
> You've got to be kidding me!! "KEEP BOTH ELBOWS IN TIGHT TO YOUR BODY" please you would never even get close to hitting a MLB pitcher by doing that, in fact you would struggle with most good highschool pitchers.
>
> "keep your hands as high as comfortably possible... at least eye-high.. from that position, you will be coming DOWN on any pitch, thus increasing your batspeed.." George if you are coming down on the ball you don't stand a chance. Your timing would have to be perfect, in order to cross the pitches path as it is on a down angle. If you do get lucky enough to make contact while coming DOWN on the pitch, you will most likely pop up or beat it into the ground.
>
> You are describing a low level Little League swing.
>
> You need to get on plane with the pitch which would be an upperward angle, not down. The lower the pitch the steeper the angle, the higher the pitch the flater the angle.
>
> The front elbow HAS TO LEAD UP. You talk about Physics what about equal and opposites. If the back elbow comes down and stays in your hip like you describe then the front elbow must come up. If both elbows stay down then you are jamming yourself and binding up your hands and arms.
>
> You don't really teach this do you? Please tell me you write this stuff just to get some kind of rise out of someone.

hey ray...

you obviously did not do the labratory experiment i suggested... baseball players should understand this is a study in the science of mechanical physics.. you will generate more batspeed with your hands in tight than you wil with them extended... this is a fact...this is not negotiable. the sooner you learn this the sooner you will generate greater batspeed & improve..

in one sentence, you dismiss the power of GRAVITY... you say up is better than down...
WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG.

jet fighter pilots, military tacticians, viking axe fighters all understand the power of gravity.. THEY ALL SEEK THE HIGHER GROUND SO THEY ARE ABOVE THE ENEMY & CAN THUS COME DOWN ON THEM WITH GREATER FORCE!!! HELLO?!?!?!? the best jets are the ones with the most power that can get above their opponents, so they are diving down on them...they don't get down near the ground & fly upwards at the enemy..

military commanders want to get on the hill so they can fire down on the enemy... they don't get in the gully because it's easier to advance up the hill..

if you in a sword fight or axe fight, you don't uppercut... you get your weapon as high as you can & come down on your opponent... why?? becasue you exert greater force that way..

this is a perfect example of baseball players thinking they are immune to the LAWS OF LOGIC & PHYSICS... that they don't apply to them.. THERE IS NO EXCEPTION CLAUSE IN THE LAWS OF LOGIC & PHYSICS FOR BASEBALL HITTERS..

your swing describes a pendulum.. that is, your swing starts downward .. at some point it reaches the apex & starts upward.. the downward impetus will generate greater batspeed than an upward swing..
yes, you must get on the plane with the ball..yes, THEN the swing starts upward..i am not endorsing any new & different theory in that respect... only that hitters should start out up so they might come down & catch up to a pitch up in the zone... you have to be located in the best position to catch a pitch no matter where it is in the strike zone.. & THAT IS HANDS UP!! when your hands are down around your letters, YOU STAND NO CHANCE OF CATCHING UP TO A PITCH ABOVE YOUR HANDS!!!! NONE WHATSOEVER!! this is what an understanding of PHYSICS will teach you.. but all you rocket science hitters refuse to want to figure out that when your hands are doing only one thing, that is coming upward on a pitch, YOU WILL FAIL.. that is why so many hitters are late on so many pitches they should be driving... instead they pop up, foul off, or miss completely far more pitches than they actually hit on the button..
consider this the first day of your enlightenment... try the barstool
experiment.. then come back & argue with me about getting your arms extended... go to a racquetball court & watch the A players... when they have time to set up a kill shot, or on a serve, NO ONE HAS A STRAIGHT POWER ARM.. THEY ALL HAVE THEIR POWER HAND IN TIGHT ON THEIR BODY IN ORDER TO GENERATE THE GREATEST TORQUE THUS THE MAXIMUM RACQUET HEAD SPEED..
this will be the first step in understanding you have no concept of
what is really going on.. sorry.
but i still love you & encourage you to improve..
i ask "what is the hitter's primary goal on a day-to-day basis?"
i get from many coaches "consistency"... WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG
that's an ok answer... BUT..I believe that is not GOAL SPECIFIC enough.. here's a little LOGIC lesson:
if you want to be consistent, that means your goal is to be ONLY just as good today as you were yesterday, then the laws of evolution will get you.. if you don't improve, you go backward.. you will gradually become less & less proficient until you are out of the league..

i believe the correct answer is you should try to understand what your weaknesses are & make adjustments that will help you improve..
only then will you be better tomorrow than you are today.. that is the difference between the winners & the losers.

if you cannot conceive of success, you can not achieve success.
if einstein had not thought outside the box, he would not have constructed the atomic theory
if you want to be another sheep & follow the conventional wisdom, be ny guest..but..
i am hoping my giving you a little different mindset will help you to improve at a greater rate than before..all the luck in the world to you.