Posted by: Louy Louy () on Wed Jul 28 07:08:59 2004

i don't agree that leaving the bat on the shoulder causes a chopping swing...or a down ward swing....if the bat is on the shoulder the plane of the swing would be angled at the same angles as the shoulder....(if the back shoulder is slightly down the swing would be close to level or slightly upward etc.) I tried this style about a year ago...and i murdered the ball.....but i gave up on it because i was only getting negative feedback.....feel free to give any more advice or input......thanks

If you are talking about the bat resting on the shoulder and the swing moves the bat from that point on the shoulder to the ball then the swing must be a downward path. The only way it wouldn't be downward is if the ball is at shoulder level.

If you watch hitters on TV, the view from behind the pitcher shows that the bat sticking out behind the batter just before the bat starts to move forward. The bat is below the back shoulder.

I think the idea of holding the bat on the shoulder comes from the idea that hitting down on the ball will produce a backspin that will cause the ball to travel further. The science on this is tricky. It is true that "enough" backspin will cause the ball carry farther but, the bat must strike the ball on a path below the equator (about 1.3 cm) on a path through the center of the ball. You can't do this swinging from the shoulder. A path from the shoulder through the center of the ball will strike the ball on the upper half and drive the ball into the ground. A swing on this downward path (from the shoulder) that strikes the ball 1.3 cm below the equator is a 'glancing' blow and won't create enough power to leave the infield. The spin won’t make any difference.


L. L.