Posted by: dougdinger () on Sun Nov 30 01:48:43 2003

I've noticed on this site that everything we talk about is about visualization.
What frame THT starts in, what are back leg looks like at contact, how many degrees the shoulders are at in frame 3 or 4.


The thing is when you go up to bat, you can't take a mirror up with you to see what you look like. You can't just learn how to swing by watching a video or practicing in front of a mirror. I remember a basketball coach telling me that the jump-shot isn't about what it looks like, you have to memorize what it feels like when you go on the court. You can't take a mirror out there with you to see yourself while you shoot, or during a baseball swing.
I've read few of the 'visualization' on this site. I've only read that "all slack be taken out of the arms.....shoulder rotation causes an increase in batspeed,", and any tension during the swing is from batspeed that should have occured but didn't.

So what should we feel when we step up to the plate? It's not visually that we learn how to swing and hit a ball, it's what we program into our muscle memory, and muscle memory is what we feel. When we swing the bat, all the hitter is looking at is the ball, not the bat, not what angle his front elbow and back knee are at during this frame and that frame. When a hitter steps up to bat, he shouldn't be thinking about his mechanics, (as Ted Williams says). His mechanics should automaticaly be programmed (in his muscle memory). All the hitter should think about is the ball, the ball's spin, where it will go in the strike zone, it's movement, and it's velocity.

So yes it's important to do the bagdrill to see what our swing look like at contact, but what about the rest of the swing?


What should e the should swing feel, look, smell, taste, sound like?