Bat Speed -- Baseball Hitting Forum

Posted by: THE HITTING GURU () on Tue Jul 22 09:10:15 2003

Lornzo, I had no problem understanding your question . I have watched Sheffield closely for a while. HE has great numbers but not such a great swing. He steps in the bucket every pitch and he land his front foot hard and on the heel or flat . His hands ,although wiggling, ususally end up centered behind his head as he slaps that front foot down toward third. He does create great torque with his hips so open and his shoulders still closed. He does have some ability to still hit it up the middle and adjust to different location . I would characterize him as a great physical specimen, a family baseball history,a fierce competitor, with a very flawed swing. His performance or lack thereof in the last Homerun Derby was predictatble given his mechanics. Some people can compensate their bad swing with many other traits that make them a winner. Think how good he would be if someone taught him how to hit.
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> Thank You Kindly. You hit it on the nail for me..."a family baseball history,a fierce competitor, with a very flawed swing" and "Some people can compensate their bad swing with many other traits that make them a winner" I know Sheffield is the man and I just feel like he could be doing better. Im sure he goes by "Dont fix whats not broken"
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> I want to get this down perfect before I start teaching it 100% and I feel so lucky to have this discussion board because I know the coaches I go against have the same old theory of diving into the ball, follow through etc.
>
> Thanks everyone especially Jack. Fan for life. Nice website design too!
>
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> SHEFFIELD'S SWING IS NOT NECESSARILY FLAWED. THERE ARE DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO BE SUCCESSFUL. HE HAS AN AGGRESSIVE STYLE. ACTUALLY HE SWING IS A BIT SIMILAR TO HENRY AARON. SHEFFIELD'S COCKING MOTION IS JUST A LITTLE LESS SMOOTH. TO FURTHER THIS POINT, THE BABE AND TY COBB'S STYLE WERE COMPLETE OPPOSITES BUT BOTH WERE SUCCESSFUL. YET WHEN COBB WAS CHALLENGED ONCE ABOUT HITTING HOMERUNS HE HIT THREE IN THE NEXT GAME JUST TO PROVE A POINT. HE MERELY PREFERRED HIS STYLE. YOUR POINT IS WELL TAKEN BECAUSE ONLY CERTAIN PLAYERS CAN HIT USING UNIQUE STYLES. (AT ONE TIME MANY PLAYERS TRIED TO HIT LIKE GEORGE BRETT (CHARLIE LAU STYLE) BUT NO ONE CAME CLOSE TO HITTING .390 AS HE DID, THOUGH MOST OF THOSE PLAYERS DID IMPROVE!)

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Re: Re: Re: Re: Linear in the pros Major Dan [ Thu Jul 31 11:48:43 2003 ]

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> Lornzo, I had no problem understanding your question . I have watched Sheffield closely for a while. HE has great numbers but not such a great swing. He steps in the bucket every pitch and he land his front foot hard and on the heel or flat . His hands ,although wiggling, ususally end up centered behind his head as he slaps that front foot down toward third. He does create great torque with his hips so open and his shoulders still closed. He does have some ability to still hit it up the middle and adjust to different location . I would characterize him as a great physical specimen,  a family baseball history,a fierce competitor, with a very flawed swing. His performance or lack thereof in the last Homerun Derby was predictatble given his mechanics. Some people can compensate their bad swing with many other traits that make them a winner. Think how good he would be if someone taught him how to hit.  
> > 
> > Thank You Kindly. You hit it on the nail for me..."a family baseball history,a fierce competitor, with a very flawed swing" and  "Some people can compensate their bad swing with many other traits that make them a winner" I know Sheffield is the man and I just feel like he could be doing better. Im sure he goes by "Dont fix whats not broken" 
> > 
> > I want to get this down perfect before I start teaching it 100% and I feel so lucky to have this discussion board because I know the coaches I go against have the same old theory of diving into the ball, follow through etc. 
> > 
> > Thanks everyone especially Jack. Fan for life. Nice website design too! 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > SHEFFIELD'S SWING IS NOT NECESSARILY FLAWED.  THERE ARE DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO BE SUCCESSFUL.  HE HAS AN AGGRESSIVE STYLE.  ACTUALLY HE SWING IS A BIT SIMILAR TO HENRY AARON.  SHEFFIELD'S COCKING MOTION IS JUST A LITTLE LESS SMOOTH.  TO FURTHER THIS POINT, THE BABE AND TY COBB'S STYLE WERE COMPLETE OPPOSITES BUT BOTH WERE SUCCESSFUL.  YET WHEN COBB WAS CHALLENGED ONCE ABOUT HITTING HOMERUNS HE HIT THREE IN THE NEXT GAME JUST TO PROVE A POINT.  HE MERELY PREFERRED HIS STYLE.  YOUR POINT IS WELL TAKEN BECAUSE ONLY CERTAIN PLAYERS CAN HIT USING UNIQUE STYLES.  (AT ONE TIME MANY PLAYERS TRIED TO HIT LIKE GEORGE BRETT (CHARLIE LAU STYLE) BUT NO ONE CAME CLOSE TO HITTING .390 AS HE DID, THOUGH MOST OF THOSE PLAYERS DID IMPROVE!)

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This slugger ended his MLB career with 714 homeruns?
   Tony Gwynn
   Babe Ruth
   Sammy Sosa
   Roger Clemens