Posted by: Sandman () on Wed Dec 3 18:02:49 2003

Andy,

From this angle, I cannot tell if your hips/shoulders/head are still sliding after heel plant. It'd be nice if the angle were truly perpendicular to home plate. Also, I lose the bat in frame 18 (but it's visible again in 19).

I realize that not everyone will/should exhibit the same swing characteristics, as well as that there is much more to "hitting" than the "swing" itself. With the success you're enjoying, I'm not sure what your goal of posting clips is? Are you wanting to hit for more power? If so, then perhaps some improvements can be made. If you're pleased w/ your current production, then why change anything? I'm not trying to be sarcastic, I'm genuinely trying to learn your goals.

Seeing you like Gonzo better than Soriano for comparison purposes:

http://members.cox.net/dsanda/Andy/Andy%20vs.%20Gonzo%20-%20planes,%20axes,%20hands%20height.jpg

Though your pitch is lower than his, the way you go down and get it is quite different. You drop your hands to reach it because your axis is very upright for a thigh-high pitch. This makes your swing plane as you come into contact much flatter than what Gonzo's is on a slightly higher (belt-high) pitch. On this particular pitch, not only did you still manage to make contact, but you did so on the bottom part of the ball - hence the HR.

Do you consistently make good contact like this on low pitches though? If you do, then again I'd ask, "What are you trying to improve upon then?". But if not, then perhaps the mismatch of your swing plane to the pitch plane is contributing to that and I would think that a less upright axis, coupled with a lower rear shoulder, would help.

Sandman