Posted by: ssarge (ssarginson@earthlink.net) on Sun Oct 31 12:44:44 2004

Hi Brett,
> I would say that repetition is the mother of skill.In my opinion you can develop better contact by hitting 300-500 balls a week.I would say this can help create better eye hand coordination and in return develop better contact.I know this is a lot of work but this will pay off .I'm sure there are a lot of other ways that other post will provide to accoplish your wants and needs but extra hitting is very important. ERIK LASEKE



Erik, I appreciate the validity and sincerity of your advice. However, I think that doing more of the same and expecting a different result is the classic definition of insanity.


CLEARLY, the baseball swing is more developable as a skill than almost any other athletic endeavor. It is NOT purely a byproduct of athletecism. That is why Michael Jordan couldn't hit.

The best hitters in the world are amazing athletes with exceptional hitting mechanics.

The next level of hitters, IMO, is about equally split between great athletes with sub-optimal mechanics, and less gifted athletes with very sound mechanics.

And I think this is true of male and female hitters.


In reality, hitting is a trial and error process, and I guess you could interpret that as an endorsement of the position to just go out and hit 250 balls a week. Except:

1) That is nowhere near enough swings to develop trial and error results without significant guidance. Plenty of hitters out there taking 250 swings a SESSION, several times a week.

2) Emulation of how the best hitters in the world actually hit is a shortcut. Still a trial and error process; it's just that this can shorten it. Guidance helps.


In this case, Brett's inability to make consistent contact could literally be any one of a couple dozen problems, or some combination of problems. Simply doing more of the same may not be the best answer.


I could list the potential problems, and others could add to the list. I just don't see the value in guessing. More likely to exasperate the problem then solve it.

Brett, do you have any digital video (home movie) clips of your swing? Or can you have someone filk such a clip? If so, there are folks who can analyze it and help. Jack Mankin offers a very reasonably priced service to do this. eMail him at this site, and I'm sure he will give you information. It will be the best money you ever spent, I think. Because you will have a specific understanding of any problems in you swing, and have a good recommendation / plan of what to do to fix those problems.

Regards,

Scott