Posted by: Jack Mankin (Mrbatspeed@aol.com) on Mon Jun 16 01:10:51 2003

>>> i recently played home run derby, for fun, with a group of guys who play semi pro ball, one of which is in AA. We were playing on a field with the demensions of center being 400, 370 to the gaps and 330 down the lines. I was the strongest player there but was having trouble hitting the ball out to anywhere but down the lines while little guys were blasting the ball to dead center. They said the trick was to swing level and get a lot of backspin on the ball, that it would make the ball carry 40-50 feet farther. Sure enough, i leveled our my swing and started launching balls to dead center and beyond quite easily. The ball was shooting up like a golf ball of the tee and i was hitting it farther then ever. On the truisms and fallacies it says that swinging with a slight uppercut(10-15degrees) is the best way to hit the ball, but this will not allow you to get as much backspin on the ball as if you swing level and hit the bottom half of the ball, therefor not allowing you to hit the ball as far. Also, a level swing makes it so you wont be prone to as many pop ups and will hit for a better average...More power and a better average...Thoughts??
thejuice <<<

Hi thejuice

I have taped many of the Major League Home Run Derbies and none of the participants swung level with the ground. Their swing planes were level with the path of the incoming ball which was on a 15 to 20 degree down slope. An 85 to 90 mph pitch is angling down at 10 to 12 degrees but in the derby they throw much slower.

It is an accepted fact that backspin allows the ball to carry farther. However, backspin is induced anytime the ball is struck below the centerline. Therefore, an uppercut swing that strikes a ball below the centerline (swing plane below the ball path) will cause backspin just as a level to the ground swing would. --- Regardless of the angle of the swing plane, to generate lift plus backspin, the bat must strike the bottom half of the ball. An uppercut swing that strikes the center of the ball will generate lift but no backspin. Hitting the center of the ball with a level swing will generate neither lift nor backspin

Jack Mankin.