Posted by: Jeff (crjedwards@aol.com) on Fri Nov 26 10:14:34 2004

Williams? Ted, is that who you are referring to? And McGuire could hit them out to all fields!!! Most pitchers threw in to him because he liked to extend his arms for contact!...Also, did McGuire EVER hit for any avg. And do you really consider him a GREAT one? just because he hit over 500 HR's.....Williams had tremendous passion for hitting and also liked to extend his arms....Now Willams was a GREAT Hitter!!! but he also Had GREAT Timming and more so than anything else with Williams. He had Savvy, Moxey, and he knew pitchers he was a thinking mans hitter. He hit with his ability both mentally and physically!!!!!
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> Hi Jeff
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> You stated, “Williams had tremendous passion for hitting and also liked to extend his arms.” Is that something he said or something you verified from studying his swing frame-by-frame. --- For other than outside pitches, when do think the arms should be extended, before or after making contact?
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> Jack Mankin

Jack....Williams liked to go out and get the ball. He liked to pull the ball. He was aggressive and above all else he knew his zone, he knew the pitchers and what they could do. He was a true student and collector of data on hitting and how pitchers tried to get hitters out. He has said it and I have also studied it. Williams belief was that all balls were hit out in front of the plate, even balls on the outter half. Well, as far as the arms go....I believe that some guys based on aptitude can extend their bottom hand arm earlier before contact.But, not the top hand arm. That top hand elbow must be driven to the backside hip, making it impossible to extend it...now let me add....some guys, especially at the major league level have a hitch or as most would say a Timing hitch or it's a timing mechanism....but most all still get back to a great position of seperating the hands from the stride foot and doing so with the torso. Again, and I said it already....those big league hitters have GREAT timing and RYHTMN....they can hold the bat and have very closed or very open stances, they can have narrow stances and high front foor kicks to stride and any number of other things. BUT, they all get to the right spot when they are suppose to and ABOVE ALL ELSE, they know when to get there....I believe in and see that the top hand elbow is in a bent or slotted position at contact and that the top hand then is extended by the extension of the top hand wrist and that by doing this hitters create whip.....so ONLY AFTER CONTACT DO BOTH ARMS GO TO EXTENSION AND THAT EXTENSION SHOULD BE IN THE GENERAL LOCATION THAT THE BALL WAS HIT IN AND THAT IT IS DIRECTED BY THE BELLYBUTTON.... The bellybutton should point in the direction that the ball is hit at contact and then into palm up extension, then after this the hands finish the swing high and that the hips and bellybutton continue through their rotation. Jeff
> Explain why balls don't come off the bat in a straight line when hitters hit the ball to the opposite field or for that matter I have even watched hitters slice balls to the pullside.....
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