Posted by: Nick (nickkio@aol.com) on Sat Nov 22 08:32:54 2003

Hi Jack,

Classifying Coach C as one who teaches linear mechanics if wrong in my opinion. I have sat face to face with him and have looked at the clips of his son and I just don’t see a linear hitting coach. The quandry I think is this: A full extension swing will hit the ball a long way. Guys in slow pitch softball hit the ball a mile using a full extension swing. It is the essence of a golf swing. The full extension swing feels very natural, so when you ask kids to swing for the fences or to challenge themselves with a bat speed meter, they will gravitate toward a full extension swing. Unfortunately, this is not the best swing to be successful hitting a baseball coming at you at a high rate of speed. After much time going down many paths I have come to the conclusion it is better to build a good swing first, with mechanics that will hold up as the player gets older. Once the mechanics are in place they can then add bat speed.

I don’t know if you have noticed it, but the commentary on this sight and the things being discussed in the past two months are at the highest level I have seen anywhere in a very long time. This is due to the contributions of yourself as well as a number of frequent contributors who know a heck of a lot about hitting, Coach C being one of them.

Regards,

Nick