Bat Speed -- Baseball Hitting Forum

Posted by: Doug () on Tue Jul 8 13:45:28 2003

we have talked about the pros and cons of linear/rotationaland how one is longer than the other bat traveling further,and shortening up with 2 strikes.As I have plowed through hitting the last few years it seems to me that what is long in the rotational swing seems to be the load and the follow thru,since follow thru is irrelevant [after contact]that leaves load,and part of the load is while ball is in flight.If we do not time this properly when you are fully loading you can be late unable to catch up and blamed on rotational swing itself but IMOthe cause is in preswing loading and timing.I am working on a 2 strike adjustment to shorten the load process to help prevent getting caught loading when should be swinging and allow more time to focus on not being beat by off speed,all the while keeping the same basic mechanic of the swing which in itself can be quicker and shorter.I am looking for other views to help in my search.

rql, I am assuming that by load, you mean a little hand hitch or a cocking of the front knee. If a hitter is late most of the time on a fastball, it is usually due to lack of talent IMO. The load can be tuned up or down a little to help a hitter zero in on the fastball if he is a little late or a little early. I would never take away a hitters load unless it was poor and not helpful to him. It is part of his style and timing and in the end, if a hitter does not have timing, he will fail. I would approach amateur pitching this way; sit on the fastball and don't swing at anything else until you have two strikes. At two strikes, just think about hitting the ball up the middle no matter what pitch they throw. Most big league pitchers can't throw three breaking balls for called strikes, and I know that amateur pitchers sure can't. If you get 4 AB's in a game, your job is to get 4-6 fastballs in the strike zone that you can handle. Hit two of them hard and you will be a successful hitter. For a pitcher to be successful, he needs to be able to throw his fastball for strikes and a hitter needs to be able to hit the fastball. If you start looking for breaking balls too much, you will 1. hit some weak balls and 2. the fastball will be thrown right by you.

Doug

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> we have talked about the pros and cons of linear/rotationaland how one is longer than the other bat traveling further,and shortening up with 2 strikes.As I have plowed through hitting the last few years it seems to me that what is long in the rotational swing seems to be the load and the follow thru,since follow thru is irrelevant [after contact]that leaves load,and part of the load is while ball is in flight.If we do not time this properly when you are fully loading you can be late unable to catch up and blamed on rotational swing itself but IMOthe cause is in preswing loading and timing.I am working on a 2 strike adjustment to shorten the load process to help prevent getting caught loading when should be swinging and allow more time to focus on not being beat by off speed,all the while keeping the same basic mechanic of the swing which in itself can be quicker and shorter.I am looking for other views to help in my search.
> 
> rql, I am assuming that by load, you mean a little hand hitch or a cocking of the front knee. If a hitter is late most of the time on a fastball, it is usually due to lack of talent IMO. The load can be tuned up or down a little to help a hitter zero in on the fastball if he is a little late or a little early. I would never take away a hitters load unless it was poor and not helpful to him. It is part of his style and timing and in the end, if a hitter does not have timing, he will fail. I would approach amateur pitching this way; sit on the fastball and don't swing at anything else until you have two strikes. At two strikes, just think about hitting the ball up the middle no matter what pitch they throw. Most big league pitchers can't throw three breaking balls for called strikes, and I know that amateur pitchers sure can't. If you get 4 AB's in a game, your job is to get 4-6 fastballs in the strike zone that you can handle. Hit two of them hard and you will be a successful hitter. For a pitcher to be successful, he needs to be able to throw his fastball for strikes and a hitter needs to be able to hit the fastball. If you start looking for breaking balls too much, you will 1. hit some weak balls and 2. the fastball will be thrown right by you.
> 
>                             Doug

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