Posted by: Tom Waz (sluggoking@msn.com) on Fri May 14 04:20:19 2004

Chris, I feel the same way. I've been working on my swing all
> > winter, getting the hip turn and the hand torque and everything as
> > good as I can, and then in my first two at-bats this year I've felt
> > fairly overmatched and rushed.
> >
> > I think it's in our heads. You have to feel confident at the plate,
> > that you're going to hit the ball every time. You can't go up there
> > feeling defensive or hurried.
> >
> > Plus, Teacherman's right- we need to start our swings earlier.
> >
> > My only suggestion- see more live pitching, or at least batting
> > cages, than soft toss & tees. As the "novelty" of live pitching
> > wears off, I think it will help us (I know I've always been a 'slow
> > starter' in my leagues, and it's not because I don't like cold
> > weather). It's tougher to 'time' pitches in the cages, though; I
> > don't see much benefit from timing the motion of that
> > ball-thrower rocker arm thing.
>
> The only thing important in timing a pitch is being able to determine WHEN the ball will arrive in relation to your swing. Using a spot in a pitchers delivery as a bench mark for when a hitter should start is very inconsistent. And, telling a hitter to have his front foot down by the time the ball is 1/2 way there is, IMO, a poor cue. Pitchers have different tempos, arm speeds, and throw varying speed pitches. You have to get away from using the windup or delivery as reference points. You have to think more in terms of your swing length (time) and get it to match the ball's arrival. This requires practice to determine how much time you need to execute your FULL swing (pre-swing and swing). And then you have to learn to carve out this much time from the delivery. Allowing any less time will cause rushing and the good swing will be interrupted by a rushed explosion which usually pulls a hitter out of the hitting zone. In order to time effectively you have to start early. But, what do you start?.....You start the lower body in a slow rhthymic movement which builds to an explosion at contact. I prefer a coiling of the rear hip that starts with a slight weight shift backward to do so. But, you can't stop while you're back. You have to be continuous in your movement. Therefore the hips "turn the corner" before the upper body is ready to swing. If this movement is a slow gradual build up, you'll find it easy to control and you'll find you're still able to explode at the end. The length and duration of this slow, gradually increasing crescendo can be varied as you get better and better at it. But, you start it, build it up to a good speed and then you simply release the bat at the correct time.
>
> Your stance and degree of relaxation are critical in this. Many stances show an athletic explosion type position which simply doesn't work. You have to be relaxed. You have to load with a slow gradual build up to an explosion leading with your center.
>
> Mlb hitters that demonstrate this are numerous. Of course, you can't see it in every hitter. Many, do the same thing mentally and get similar results. But, off the top of my head, Chipper Jones from the left side is a good example.
>
> And, a great drill for learning this is to stand in the box (or near it) with or without a bat, while a pitcher is throwing a bull pen. Learn to time your rear hip to the arrival of the ball. Many many hitters do this in the ondeck circle but don't take it to the plate with them. Why? They lose their relaxed state. Remember, relaxation is a key. In the ondeck circle everyone is relaxed. In the box many are not.

Teacherman,

Great post. - Tom Waz