Posted by: Jeff Tisdale (contactspec@aol.com) on Sat Jul 26 13:58:16 2003

I made this mistake of posting this yesterday,
> > on the last day of the month.
> >
> > So I was originally going to post here that I've
> > been having all sorts of problems with my
> > swing in my adult league on the weekends,
> > getting around late and/or just not hitting. So I
> > had my wife videotape my swing so I could
> > digitize and post it- and on the first pitch, I
> > knock a bad-hop single over the third
> > baseman.
> >
> > So I'd still like anbody who wants to to look at
> > my swing and critique it. How are my arms?
> > How's my stride? What sorts of things am I
> > doing wrong? Are my hands too high? Any
> > training suggestions? I've just started to try to
> > emulate the rotational mechanics Jack talks
> > about, comparing me at particular frames to
> > the animation on this site (and it hasn't been
> > easy). Any comments are welcome, just go
> > easy about the hair and the gut.
> >
> > Matt
> >
>
> NO PROBLEM WITH HAIR AND GUTT. the only thing is you should use the enormous amount of power of your powerfull gutt-no offence intended- into long fly balls and long wired line drives, not ground balls and short line drives. you should be a triple hitter or home run. unfortunately for you, your mechanics wont allow for that... no offense. let me explain. i think i am new to rotational but i can explain from my experience because i was linear and suffer the consequences...the bench. As you move up to more competitive leagues, linear mechanics will take you to only one place, the hardcore, nerve wrecking bench...i talk from experience. All those rollers will not become base hits anymore but sure outs as infielders have stronger arms and better skills.. i am playing against semi pro guys and such..the faster you convert to rotational the better. ...on the other hand i am guessing here you are not the fastest player in the world- no offense intended again- so why then swing down and out in front....doesn´t make much sense unless you have the speed of ichiro zuzuki.......he can afford to be linear...
>
> You swing down because your weight comes on the front foot, you are a back to front hitter....thus linear...it is bad news because for many reasons...your legs, the biggest muscle group are NOT being used or under used, you are all hands.....you will hit lots of grounders or short infield lines that are outs as you move up to more competitive game. Number two is that you being a large player will not benefit from grounders if you dont get to first base very fast..also your power will be dissipated ...on the ground...you will intimidate nobody...pitchers will give you a steady diet of balls low or in and you either will be jammed or be forced to ground out; the reason they will do this is because due to your mechanics you can only hit the ball far if it is up in the zone...if it is low you are doomed to be infield batting practice guy.....sorry to say it, happened to me too so dont feel alone...just answer this question : howmany homeruns and triples have you batted in your last season? If the figure is less than ten, you are doing things wrong taking into account your body builtup...
>
> The good things i see in your swing is that you cleared your hips fully and stay closed upper body, this is good news...also the stride length is good...so no problem to convert to rotational...and your hand path is short to the ball ... another big plus...you only have to learn to finish the swing up...
>
> I am not going to say what you should do because i will confuse you and you need to buy tapes about rotational swing and learn it and believe me a few dollars well spent will take you a long way...dont wait too much.. you are missing out all the fun.. this game is supposed to be fun...i never seen a guy that hit 150 having fun...i hope you become the power hitter that you have in you..
>
> Good luck
>
> Toti.
>
>
>
>

Toti hit the nail on the head. The corkscrew path as detailed in earlier post, "screws" you out of driving the ball past the infield.

Suggestions:

1) Put your feet together closer, and bend your knees more.

2) Rotate your hips, torso, and shoulders into the swing

3) Put your stance closer to the pitcher-- you won't have to wait longer to read the pitch, now that you can generate speed quicker (you can step with your left foot and start squishing the bug at the same time). In the video, your right foot looks like it's out of the box. Now that you've modified your swing to include your strength, you can keep hitting over the plate.

4) Don't change your hairstyle-- it's a good throwback to the eighties.

Regards