Posted by: Dave (cdpaetkau@telus.net) on Wed Feb 2 22:22:02 2005

In my experience the phrase "staying on top" is mistinterpreted by nearly everyone that uses it. Most teach to keep the barrel and hands above the ball, which, if done correctly everytime, would produce only groundballs. Jack teaches the bat facing at a downward angle, which, if you look at clips of any professional hitter, occurs in all their swings. After reading a book by Tom Robson, the former hitting coach of the Mets, his view on staying on top (and one most rotational hitting advocates would agree with) is that the hands stay on top of the ball, while the barrel is below the hands and on a downward plane, thus providing the lift necessary to drive the ball in the air. So even the title of your post shows a misunderstanding.

You have this partially right. The hands are above the barrel and the barrel is going down but the barrel is in an upward motion (matching the ball plane) before contact is made. Please check out most hitting clips the barrel of the bat is moving upward NOT downward at contact with the ball. Staying on top means to keep your hands above the ball not swinging down at the ball.

Dave