Posted by: Chuck (jcsherwood8458@sbcglobal.net) on Mon Jul 21 07:07:21 2008

> Does a circular hand path and rotational mechanics lead to the bat barrel taking a circular (or elliptical) path ACROSS the flight of the ball? If so, this would mean that it is more difficult for a rotational hitter to make solid contact than a linear hitter. It seems that a linear hand path would have the barrel taking a path ALONG the flight of the pitch.
>
> This could indicate a tradeoff between power (rotational) and amount of time that the barrel stays in the zone (linear).


Hi Jacek,
I believe there are some flaws in the logic of your argument. One is that you only appear to be concerned with two dimensions, but especially the inside/outside. (Yet at the same time, you seem to think that if you swing straigth ahead that the sweet spot is going to line up with the ball, regardless if the pitch is inside.)

Second is the assumption you make that one can swing in a linear fashion and stay on the plane of the pitch (which is downward, requiring a slight upswing or tilt) for any length of time. A flat or downward swing which is often produced by linear mechanics, requires that the bat must intersect the ball at exactly the right time, or in a very small zone of contact. The rotation swing when done correctly, gives you a larger zone to make contact.

Chuck