Posted by: george stanley (saint_george13@yahoo.com) on Tue Feb 26 18:24:40 2008

> > let's hear it!!
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> George,
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> Kind of a general question, don't you think? Alot, depends upon pitch location. Basically lets start with the bat angle. The bat, at contact has to be in a position that will allow a ball to be hit to RF. Obviously, I would prefer not to hit a ball on the inside part of the plate to RF, but if I am forced to in order to move a runner over I need to get my hands inside the ball and turn the bat in my hands until the angle of the bat will drive the ball to RF, hard to do. Now if the pitch is middle - away it is a little easier. I would start my swing like always and ride my back leg allowing the ball to get a little deeper. Keep my body behind the ball and my hands inside the ball while turning the barrel to the ball. "Inside seam Drill". The hips and shoulders will not rotate as much as they would on a ball you pull.
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> IMO if you know what you need to do in order to hit the ball where you want to, Know what angle and where the bat needs to be, if you truly know what your hands have to do to control the bat to the proper angle, they will and your body will do what it has to do in order to prepare itself for the task.
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> IMO the hands control the bat, they provide the quickness, they provide the "go". They also, control the angle and set the plane. The hips power the swing but the hands control it.
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> I know that some people on this site will disagree with me. They will say the hips and shoulders control the swing. If that is so, then I say take your hands out of the swing and try to hit with your hips and shoulders. The bat will just lay on the ground. The only thing in contact with the bat is the hands. The hands start everything.
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> Graylon

hello gray..

i know this is a stretch for you, but during game situations, it may be helpful to your team with less thatn 2 outs to move a runner over from 2B or get a run in from 3B... a manager or coach might say to his hitter "now's the time to show me what you got, buddy... let see you get him over"... experienced players past the age of say, 15, might know what the coach is talking about... yet i never heard a hitter say "Kind of a general question, don't you think? A lot depends upon pitch location." that is kind of basic hitting 101..at least where i come from.. you'e always looking for a pitch you can do something with.. if you don't you have no shot..so that should be assumed..

so many coaches & hitters fall victim to trying to remember to dissect so many of their actions as they go thru their swing.. i believe when you do that, you set yourself up to fail...like so many things in life... K I S S.. keep it simple stupid!
you & so many others are over thinking the task at hand.. i am looking at your instructions above...
1.turn the bat
2.stay back on your back leg longer
3.body behind the ball
4.hands inside the ball
5.turning the barrel to the ball
6.control the bat to the proper angle
WHEW!!!... looks like a woman's grocery shopping list...all in less than 0.41 seconds? that's a lot of thinking in a very short time span.... good luck with that!

in my world, i simply rotate my feet & thus my entire body, turning
back about 10 degrees towards the catcher... same stance.. only now i am lined up to simply put my usual best possible swing on a middle away pitch... bingo!! no complications, no 6 step list to think about. my way is going to get a good swing on that pitch i'm looking for a lot more often than all your altering your swing, turning the bat, etc..
so many time coaches fail their hitters by giving them too much information to dissect... too much thinking while in the middle of their swing...makes for brain cramp, resulting in failure..K I S S.

your mindset about just swinging with your hands... where do i start?
try standing in the box, swing with just your hands. might as well sit on a barstool in the box, if you're not going to get your legs involved.. get comfy!
your legs are at least 3 or 4 times stronger than your arms.. get your lower body torque in motion.. this will generate far greater batspeed to your upper body.. to do otherwise is to diminish your batspeed... this site is right on the button when they name the site BATSPEED.. you can say whatever you want, but the truth is ANYTHING THAT DIMINISHES YOUR BATSPEED IS AN ACTION YOU SHOULD ELIMINATE FROM YOUR STANCE & SWING.. that should be the basis for deciding what it is you chould or should not be implementing.. simple as that.
to try to alter your timing or alter your swing angle halfway thru the swing is not only going to diminish your batspeed, it is going to give the advantage to the pitcher... you set yourself up to fail.
not good. you might think your way is the best way.. not.