Posted by: THE HITTING GURU () on Sat Jul 5 19:14:19 2003

Question for Jack or anyone else out knowledgeable
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> > > > Does this style of swing (rotational theory) benefit those that play slowpitch softball or does conventional "transfer of weight and extension" swing work better for slowpitch.
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> > > The type of style that will benefit you most depends on what type of hitter you are. If you have a lot of power and can reach the fence on a regular basis the rotational theory will probably benefit you the most. This is so because some of your mishits will be homeruns. On the other hand if you do not have a lot of power the transfer of the weight method will probably benefit you more. In this case, some of your mishits can produce hard ground balls that can advance runners, and or make the defense have to react more. With ground balls the defender has to pick the ball up cleanly, make a good throw, and the first baseman has to catch the ball. Whereas, a flyball that does not leave the park is an almost certain out.
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> > So a rotational hitter can not hit ground balls?
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> Exactly. Rotational results in hard hit balls. Tilt the axis back toward catcher a little more and the swing plane is up a little more for fly balls. Swing with a more upright axis relative to the catcher and pitcher and the swing plane results in more line drives and ground balls on average. If you are going to hit the ball on the ground or anywhere else, hit it hard. Or the other option is to use a Gwynn type swing and just try to punch it the other way in to the short grass and let someone else drive you in. This is a common strategy in fastpitch and very successful from the left side in terms of obp. I would think it would be even more successful in slowpitch assuming you can be very accurate with the bathead. But then the other guys will razz you and the girls won't ooh and aah. Better just learn to hit it hard. : )



THE ROTATIONAL HITTER CAN HIT GROUND BALLS, BUT AT A VERY SMALL PERCENTAGE. HIS STYLE IS MORE OF A HIT OR MISS STYLE THAT REQUIRES PRECISE TIMING. MORE OFTEN THAN NOT, THE ROTATIONAL HITTER PRODUCES FLYBALLS COUPLED WITH MANY MORE MISHITS THAN OTHER TYPES OF HITTING STYLES. THEREFORE, IT IS MUCH MORE IMPORTANT FOR THIS TYPE OF HITTER TO BE VERY STRONG AND HAVE GOOD COMMAND OF THE STRIKEZONE TO MAKE MAXIMUM USE OF THIS SYSTEM.