Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Tue Jan 4 16:32:51 2005

>>> Jack, we must go back to one of your first principles: if there is an observed mechanic common to the most successful hitters, it is an integral component of a successful swing.

If we see practically all successful major league hitters adopting some stride, then it must be an optimal swing component. If not, then we would see about 50% of successful hitters with no stride at all. <<<

Hi Mike

All good points. Did however, all successful major league hitters adopt some stride, or were they taught longer strides with more forward movement, but “adopted” a short soft toe touch with little to no forward movement of the body? If we look at Bonds and Bagwell ( http://www.youthbaseballcoaching.com/swings.html ) from the belt up, the batter moves his body more up and down the axis – than forward or back. We would find it hard to tell if the batter placed his foot forward (Bonds), back toward the catcher (Bagwell) or left the toe touching and used the cocking and un-cocking of the lead-knee for timing.

No stride has just been taught in recent years. In the future we may, or may not, see more of them in the major leagues. Time will tell. I have not taken a position on which is best. I encourage my students to use whatever they feel most comfortable with.

Jack Mankin