Posted by: Rich (Holland608@cs.com) on Sat Oct 4 21:15:44 2003

Great bit by Pujols tonight on ESPN, talking about how to handle fast pitching. Keep the lower body quiet and be quick with the hands......let the pitcher do the work. He added that when he doesn't feel quick with his hands, he'll start jumping at the ball with his body. Joe Morgan agreed with Pujols. Pujols also added that when he's quick with his hands the body does what it's supposed to. Different strokes for different folks, but he is the National League Batting Champion.
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> The trick in being quick with hands is to not muscle the ball, but have loose quick hands. Driving past the ball is usally a result of a lower body that is doing too much work, creating bat drag and pull, plus poor balance. Taking controlled swings (10%, 20%, 30% and up)teaches one how to program the lower half correctly and feel the way the hands should work, in my opinion.
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> Coach C
>Coach,
What exactly do you mean by quick hands? i thought the hands just hold the bat and help get the bat on the same plane as the ball. where do they have to be quick to? rich