Posted by: Thorpe facer (tfacer@yahoo.com) on Sat Nov 22 06:10:22 2003

>>> I, too, agree that there is a difference between bat quickness and bat speed. Bat quickness is how quickly you get the bat to the hitting zone while bat speed is how quickly the bat gets through the zone. <<<
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> > > Hi
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> > > I do not intend this to be confrontational, but I fail to see how a batter can get the bat-head from launch to contact quicker without increasing bat-head speed.
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> > >>>This is an amusing thread......bat speed and bat quickness. Years ago, Toronto measured the bat speed of their players. Derek Bell was fastest in the mid 90's and John Olerud was the slowest at 79 mph. Olerud always hit the sweet spot and Bell, although he was a good player, did not approach Olerud in hitting and was below him in power too. Timing is what all good hitters have and when Olerud turns on a 95mph fast ball and hits a rocket, it is his timing that got the bat head to the right spot on time, not bat quickness or bat speed.
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> > Doug
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> > > I would agree with you Doug, quickness may be the wrong word. Call it....Flowing parts that keep the body in sync and head still and make the ball look slower. You're take on Olerud is exactly my point, just not sure the right word to use......I do know it's not Batspeed. Quickness is probably another bad word that implies over extending oneself.
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> Take care,
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> Coach C

Perhaps the distinction is the one made by Ted Williams long ago. He wanted his hips and shoulders at 80-85% of effort but wanted his arms, hands and wrists at 100%.

Whether you call it bat speed or bat quickness or timing, all you are doing is substituting one word for another. As others have pointed out, when you play pepper you have great timing but the ball doesn't go far. Obviously, accuracy/timing isn't the whole answer. You can also swing from your heels with incredible bat speed, and miss nearly every time. Bat speed alone isn't the answer. That is what I believe Ted Williams was driving at when he wrote the above. There has to be a marriage, if you will, between the two. Some may call that marriage bat quickness but I don't insist upon it.

Barry Bonds has done it better than anyone in the recent past. Great bat speed and accuracy/timing. Ted Williams certainly did it. What is exciting in hitting today is that more and more players are successfully blending power and accuracy/timing. It used to be you were either Harmon Killebrew or Rod Carew. Now we are learning how to be both and that realization is leading the surge of great hitting that we see today. How to best teach a player to blend power and accuracy/timing remains disputed hence the varying ideas on this board and in the lectures, books and videos on hitting.