Posted by: george stanley (saint_george13@yahoo.com) on Wed Jan 9 15:39:36 2008

> > >>> Over the years it has come to be accepted on this sit that swing flaws are the reason for slumps. And although that is likely and initial problem, it does not explain why hitters go through slumps during the playoffs when they may have come of hot streaks or career years. I believe most of the slump has to do with their thought process which involves mechanics. Also a lot of credit has to be given to the pitcher. But some of the hitters are missing pitches right down the middle of the plate. Basically they are just not picking the ball soon enough or well enough to apply a solid swing. And anyone can execute great mechanics when there is no duress from top of the line pitcher. Kenny Rodgers was completely dominant 2 years ago and it was not the swing plane that put those hitters into slumps, it was the thought process. The same can be said for Clay Buckholz no hitter. <<<
> >
> > Hi THG
> >
> > I agree with you that not all batting slumps can be attributed to flawed mechanics. As you pointed out, good pitching and other factors can keep even the best hitters production down for a good period of time. However, I found that in many cases, video analysis does show some batters did develop mechanical flaws during their slump that effected performance.
> >
> > In the case of A-Rod’s batting slumps, I do not think we can attribute it solely to pitching or not picking up the ball soon enough. During his slumps, he exhibited the same mechanical flaws in the Home Run Hitting Derby as he did against good pitching. Obviously, the pitcher in the Derby was serving up the best possible balls to hit. Yet, he still exhibited the same flaws that hampered his game production.
> >
> > Below are two clips where I discuss mechanics that produce a productive swing plane and a clip of the flaw in A-Rod’s plane.
> >
> > <a href="http://www.batspeed.com/media/Sosa_Swing_Plane.wmv">Sosa’s swing plane</a
> >
> >
> > <a href="http://www.batspeed.com/media/Abreu_Swing_Plane.wmv">Abreu’s swing plane</a
> >
> >
> > <a href="http://www.batspeed.com/media/A-Rod_Swing_Plane.wmv">A-Rod’s swing plane</a –
> >
> >
> > Jack Mankin
>
>
> Jack. Thanks for the info and I do agree to a large degree with your analysis, but perhaps at sometime we need to touch on the mental side at a future date. Why? Because many such slumps be they mechanical occur when the hitter is likely overtrying. And the homerun derby is a classic case of why a hitter may over try. As such a number of hitters produce no homeruns at all.
>
> For the most part they may simply be flying off pitches or perhaps it is the swing plane. But if they were hitting well before what happened? Perhaps they are thinking to much and in a pinch forget to do what works and go back to ways of the past. In the clip it appears that A-Rod collapses his swing and actually looks like he was fooled by the pitch. As such he legs appear in my opinion to collapse in a effort to lunge at the ball. Perhaps he was thinking about going to the opposite field initially and then remember it was an offspeed pitch but was already in a pull mode?
>
> Don't get me wrong A-Rod is a great player and an asset to any team. But in his best season regarding clutch performances he reverted to the A-Rod of old in last seasons playoff. Even on the one homerun he hit it was not a good swing but because he is so strong it went out. As a matter of fact he looked surprised because he knew that pitch was not struck well.
>
> Abreu and Sosa are more offspeed hitters so I would expect them to do better in homerun derby.
>
> One interesting note I happened to notice Brad Hawp in the playoffs. He was completely overmatched until a pitch was thrown low and in for his homerun. On any pitch that was thigh high or higher it could be seen that he needed to start his approach sooner.


HI TH!
i am ECSTATIC that YOU mentioned this event as you observed it,
TH.. NOT ME!!
you have unwittingly walked right into the muzzle of what i have blasting at you people for the last few months!!!!!
what you observed happening to brad hawpe happens with such mind numbing regularity in MLB... if only you were made aware of it, & took the time to look for it!!! and once you do see it, then you will ask yourself the same question i asked myself "IF I CAN FIGURE IT OUT, THEN WHY DOESN'T ANYONE WITH AN MLB UNIFORM SEE IT & DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT?!?!?"

this is the cornerstone from which my theory in constructed..
PRIMARY observation:
ALL HITTERS HIT CERTAIN PITCHES IN CERTAIN SPOTS..
ALL HITTERS MISS (described as pop up, foul off, or miss completely)CERTAIN OTHER PITCHES IN CERTAIN OTHER SPOTS..
now ask WHY?
all other things being equal..(such as hand-to-eye co-ordination & reflexes) the only readily evident physical difference between each hitter is THEY ALL HAVE DIFFERENT STANCES & SWINGS!!
THEREFORE: the reason hitters hit SOME pitches & NOT others is the stance or the swing causes them to be ON TIME for SOME pitches, but
LATE on certain OTHER pitches...
now you mention BRAD HAWPE... he is helpless to hit anything other than down/in,, much the same as countless other hitters in MLB... this guy is an extreme example, but an example noneotheless.. a pitch in any spot other than down/in leaves him late to the ball. WHY? BECAUSE HIS BATSPEED IS DIMINISHED TO THE POINT THE ONLY BALL HE CAN CATCH UP TO IS THE ONE FARTHEST AWAY FROM WHERE HE STARTS HIS BAT END... THE PITCH KNEE-HIGH INNER HALF!!! you are under the impression that if he started out sooner, he might get to the ball in time..yet his computer (brain, specifically the timing judgement function) won't LET him fire sooner, because his brain is telling him he should be able to get there on time if he fires when he has been firing..
THE PROBLEM LIES IN EITHER HIS STANCE OR SWING, IN WHICH THERE IS SOME ACTION HE IS IMPLEMENTING WHICH MAKES HIM CONSISTENTLY LATE TO THE BALL... THAT IS, HE IS UNKNOWINGLY DOING SOMETHING WHICH GUARANTEES HE WILL BE LATE, THUS SABOTAGING HIMSELF WITH TOO OPEN A STANCE OR POST PITCH RELEASE MOTION WITH HIS HANDS OR ARMS.. THERE IS WHERE THE PROBLEM LIES!!!! BASICALLY HE IS DEAD BEFORE HE FIRES!!

SOLUTION: he must either alter his stance in some way or eliminate some post-pitch release motion with his hands which has the effect of causing him to be late.. i am not familiar with this player so i can't offer some adjustment which might help him.. but i am willing to state he probably has a too wide or too open stance, or has the bat cocked past the perpendicular, or has some post-pitch release motion such as dropping the hands, circle hitch, or drawing the arms & hands back AFTER the pitch is underway.. WITHOUT A DOUBT, he is doing something very common among MLB hitter.. something along the lines of what PAUL KONERKO does.
analyze his motion & then according to what i have described, YOU tell ME what it is you might see that is causing him to be late...
what do you think?