Posted by: THE HITTING GURU () on Wed Aug 6 14:06:50 2003

Did Anybody catch Barry Bonds Sunday conversation with Joe Morgan. He told Joe he has a secert to power hitting that he wont say ontill he retires. Any thoughts on this secert?
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> > I have no knowledge of what he's going to say, but if I had to guess it would be this: No extension in the swing. The fact that he chokes up, rarely extends his arms in any swing, hits any pitch inside and smothers the plate lead me to this guess. There was an interesting article he commented in years ago that referred to his conversations with David Eckstein of the Angels. The essence of the article preached the closer the hands were to the body the better. Lance Berkman has also made this point in some of his articles. If one thinks about it there is a lot of sense in it. The tighter the hands to the body, the better balance and the the deeper the ball can get. Bonds hits the ball deep in his kitchen if you know what I mean. I think he sees the ball longer than any hitter alive, because of short arms is my guess. What are your thoughts?
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> Hi Coach C
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> My Guess is the hips, He talk about how he free his hips more.





In addition to the the above, I believe he will touch on the mental side of hitting, as far as what to look for in certain counts and according to what is the pitchers best pitch in certain situations in regard to his strengths and weaknesses (which are few). In the interview he also mentioned the fact that any of the 700 so players who have made it to the major leagues are already great. With that in mind, as he sees it, the hitter should just go out and perform to the hitters fullest while not allowing self defeating thoughts of what might or could take place in the future that could keep the hitter from not doing what he is capable of today. By having the confidence that he has nothing to prove and is already great he is able to perform at a level that for him is routine. Also his overall conditioning and commitment to self improvement allows him to take advantage of his knowledge gained through incite and experience. Most players' bodies have worn down to a degree by the time they have the most knowledge. Thus they are unable to take advantage of league (todays competition) having already competed against the greatest competition in their earier years when they competed against players who were much older and experienced. (Nolan Ryan, Steve Carlton, Tom Seaver, J R Richard etc. in his case) For him it is only a matter of continuing what he has already done in order to take down most of the significant hitting marks. He, unlike Griffey, who was once considered to be a better player was able to improve with age do to his commitment, knowledge and history of the game, conditioning, and ability to pace himself with regard to his body.