Posted by: NOKONA BATMAN (Batman@nokona.com) on Mon Feb 4 16:05:55 2008

Sportsdoc07,
I couldn't agree more. I have been teaching my hitters to have little to no head movement as they rotate and hit while other coaches still teach head down, swing down. Here is some more proof to the argument of head movement:
There are 3 eye movements and two reflexes that should be used in hitting.

1. Saccadic Movement-during this movement the peak angular speed of the eye reaches up to 1000 degrees per second. This movement can last from 20 to 200 milliseconds

2. Pursuit Movement- this movement gives the eyes the ability to smoothly follow a moving object

3. Vergence- TYhis system helps a hitter track the baseball as it gets closer to him. As the ball moves closer so do the eyes and visa versa.

4. Vestibulo-Ocular Reflex- This eye movement stabilizes images on the retna during head movement by producing an eye movement in the direction opposite to head movement.

5. Optokinetic Reflex- this eye movement allows the eyes to track an object while the head remains stationary

With these natural eye movements and refexes there is no reason to excessivly move the head to the baseball. The neck muscles just cant keep up with a good fastball. When the baseball is travelong in excess of 70 MPH the baseball is invisible starting 15 feet in front of the hitter. Head movement will inhibit good hitting mechanics and the use of the natural eye movements.

Thank You,
John Priest
Nokona Batman