Posted by: toti (ttt) on Fri Dec 12 02:15:15 2003

.> > >
> > > I realize i am a small guy. All the talk here is about denting the fences. I realice that´s never my case. Unless i hit the ball down the line i am not going to double because i dont have that kind of power.
> > >
> > > Why should i go rotational when i am doomed to line drives and rollers? I hope you have the answer. I have already invested a lot of time and money on learning rotational.
> > >
> > > toti
> > >
> >
> > >>>toti, A short story may help you make up your mind. I have a very close friend who is a fine high school coach. He is 5'7" and weighs about 140 lbs. He was a LHH 2nd baseman in college, and he wanted his smaller players to swing down on the ball instead of into the path of the ball. I asked him if he would rather hit ground balls at the 1st & 2nd basemaen or would he rather hit a line drive to rt center or over the 1st basemans head for a double in the corner.
> >
> > Doug
>
>
> This site is not just about denting the fences, I'll reiterate myself from another post and say there are small guys who can hit the ball far. Tejada is probably around 5'8" - 5'9" range and he can hit balls 450-500 ft. Of course he is 205 lbs but Marcus Giles is 5'8" 180 and is capable of hitting 30+ HR's a year. It's not natural ability, its swinging correctly and strengh. The only reason its called natural ability is because these players weren't taught rotational, they developed on their own and became rotational because that was the swing that hit the ball the hardest and farthest.
I am 1,75, 70 kg.

When i see Giles hitting the ball that far, the theory of the natural born hitter is in trouble. I think people justify their ignorance about the swing with stuff like “natural swing”, “athletic ability”, “talent”, etc. It is all bull for all i care. Show me a guy that can hit consistantly and it is usually the guy that works the most.

I am absolutely convince that Marcus Giles is a “learned” power hitter, not to mention the amount of doubles he can produce and he is no big guy. It is not what you have, it is how you use what you have, “technique”.

I have worked my butt off with the wiffle machine and have developed a swing that looks rotational with a certain amount of disconnection, of course. If i were connected all the time, i would be rolling in the though.
The way i see it , i have two more years of practice ahead of me to really call myself rotational.

I have “discovered” that by striding close and rotating on the heel I can get some amazing and violent hip rotation with tremendous amount of power. The mlb hitters stride close and open up later therefore conservating hip power until explosion. I found this to be helpful. It was what was missing in my swing. If you look at Jeter he does it all the time. This guy can inside out anything with this violent hip rotation and buys time on the off speed.

Thanks for your concern

Toti.