Posted by: Coach C () on Sat Oct 4 22:01:05 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.
> >
> > 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.
> >
> > Coach C
> Coach c often times what hitters feel and reality are 2 different things,I myself when I first came to the site talked about as a hitter [not sand lot ball either]that I turned my hips and threw myhands,recently bonds has used those same cues.However what was happening is that as I threw my hands the shoulder turn was able to stay ahead of the hands in sequence and not only fueled the hands but kept them turning in the circular hand path.
> What Pujols is saying I can relate to either he is disconnecting the hands from the shoulders because he just did'nt fire them properly on time and they are dragging which also may make him feel like he is jumping or the hands are tired,weak,and out of sinc for keeping up with the body.If his body is transferring weight to far before rotating [and he could have this as a personal problem because of how he weight shifts into toe touch]then it would feel like jumping at the ball.When everything is in sinc the swing is fluid and the energy transferring thru the hips to the uper body and hands is hardly noticeable,but the swings I have of Pujols really hitting the ball hard he has a violent hip turn.No question he is a great hitter mentally and mechanically,My thought is that most hitters have a great swing and make adjustments that they feel to bring the swing back into adjustment to their groove.If we asked him about tht or bht or what slot is elbow gets into on the away pitch vs. the inside pitch he may look at me crazy but he knows what feels out of wack in his swing and straightens it out with quieter hips [not weight shifting so hard which brings hips back in rotation at right time.]

RQL,

Much respect to you, I enjoy your takes.

I think we're discounting these great hitters when we say they don't understand what they are doing, they are just great hitters. I think we both would agree that when Pujols was growing up he was not asked to use BHT or THT, but yet he has grooved one of the better swings in baseball........How?

What Pujols is suggesting is that less Batspeed is the goal against harder pitching. Less batspeed and more accuracy with the hands/bathead. RQL, maximizing power don't mean a hill of beans without accuracy of the bathead. Somewhere in the translation of Batspeed.com mechanics I'm missing something.........accuracy of the bathead. It is the wrong approach to be teaching kids batspeed, because it usually translates to the body, which should always be in control. Control comes first, then batspeed within that approach..........I know we don't agree, but Pujols might agree with me. I don't believe McGwire ever used THT in his later years and yet hit it the ball farther than anyone, he also had a very quiet lower body as well. He had fast hands, would you agree with that?

Sincerely,

Coach C