Posted by: donny buster (donnybstr@aol.com) on Thu Aug 28 04:42:28 2003

Is there any benifits to batting with an open stance, or should i stick with a closed stance?
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> > Seeing the ball with both eyes is easier. Striding back to the center line makes it easier to "hide the hands at toe touch". I would rather have a player do this than start closed. Williams was slightly closed but his feet were lined up to the release point of right handers most of the time. Personally,I believe the young kids hitting closed are poorly coached or not at all. For kids, there is an illusion of power starting closed and stepping out pulling the bat. They are usually not using any torque from good rotational mechanics.
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> You're lined up to a point??? You mean the line of the pitch?

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Teacherman. I guess I am saying that you are lined up to a point. The line of the pitch might not be determined at toe touch for someone throwing 97. The guy throwing 76 in the LLWS showed why waiting too long to get the stride foot down can be disaster. I guess against breaking balls you should adjust to the line of the pitch. Kids that wait until pitch recognition before getting their front foot down are invariably late against good pitchers. It is a bad habit to adopt early on. THe ability to predict /guess the speed of the next pitch is an advanced skill and at best a gamble. Watching the previous batters from the dugout might up your chances at being correct. I think good hitters have the foot down early and adjust the rest of the body to the pitch with( spine angle, bent knees, lead elbow etc.)