Posted by: Matt (ssmaterial12@hotmail.com) on Thu Jan 31 12:14:32 2008

Maybe I explained this all wrong. My terminology might not be understandable. By stating swinging down it means my hands go straight to the zone. I don't let them tilt backwards to cause the bat to drag. The path is almost a 45 degree line to zone give or take some degrees which has earned the straight down or straight to the zone name. To a batter who once used to drag his barrel through the zone, it will feel like he is dropping the bat straight down off his shoulder. I should be able to stand with my back elbow against a wall and my hands/bat should not touch the wall during my swing. This is almost the same example that the bat should not hit the catchers glove with the proper swing. When you watch young kids many times in games they will hit the catchers glove even though the catcher is set up at the right distance. This is because of drag. This is very predominant in young kids from what I've seen. I've watched many great hitters on video and looked at frame by frame pictures and had many professional hitting lessons by well known hitting instructors. They've all preached the same thing.