Posted by: Teacherman () on Fri May 28 06:18:26 2004

First very few hitters drop their hand and then swing level of up at the ball.
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> Clips I have of ARod, Aaron, Rameriz show the bathead moving down, then slightly down, level or slightly up at contact then back up into finish. When the bat knob is pointing at the ball the bathead is usually higher than the hands. The bathead motion is still going down.
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> Picture an woodcutter wiedlding a heavy Axe. Which motion creates more power? Swinging the axe from above the shoulders down into the tree or swinging the AXE blade from your knees up into the tree??
> Does this make any sense??
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> Teacherman I like your plane board description. Similar to a golf plane board.
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One of the biggest misconceptions is hitting is that the barrel remains above the hands. It's been taught for years and is still taught.

Yet, you see it differently every time you watch a mlb game. The barrel comes from underneath to hit the ball on almost every pitch. High pitches are the exception.

Next time you watch a game pay attention to the slo mo replays from the centerfield camera angle. If you have TIVO stop the video at contact. You'll see the part of the bat from the sweet spot to the end under the ball.