Posted by: Jay () on Sun Aug 3 09:36:06 2003

I think that the good Dr. made some very valid points about the concepts behind becoming a great hitter. Without the film or statistical analysis that he has gathered I can not comment on his biomechanical assessment of hitting. However his comments about great athletes being able to compensate for poor mechanics can be seen in every sport. In baseball would any batting coach teach a hitter to have the same preswing routine as Sheffield or setup in the box like Tony Batista. These are not TEXT BOOK styles but they work for the athlete. Could they hit better in a more TEXT BOOK like swing style??
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> > I realize that this board is directed more at the physical technique of hitting but how much mental preperation goes into a pitch,an at bat, or the entire game?? I believe a great baseball player once said that "hitting is 90% mental". Then I ask the question why do we spend 97-100% of the time training the physical side of hitting??
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> > The mental side of the game is very important and very seldom used to its potential. The smart athletes combine ability and knowledge to achieve a goal but we still need to train them how to use the knowledge in the most effective way.
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> > DAve
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> You need to learn the difference between a hitters style and a hitters mechanics. Both of your examples are very fundamentally sound hitters. Yet they look different.

Difference in style and technique, sounds like an Epstein cliche'.One should be careful about parroting a cliche' too much as they might start to actually believe it. "Style" has more substance than some people think.