Posted by: jalal leach (jdleachy@bmp18.com) on Wed Sep 28 22:23:24 2005

> >>> I'm not trying to belittle what you are saying and asking, but in all of my years (15) of Pro Ball we never talked about hitting in such technical terms. I played several year with the best hitter of All-time and I never heard him talk in this form. Now I know you may say he is/was gifted.
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> Rule number one in hitting, don't make it more complicated than it is. I met Pete Rose and he told me to "See the Ball and hit the ball." That's it! His a question for you, when you first started teaching your son how to hit did you teach him this rotational and linear stuff? Probably not. Keep it simple, by having him develop a good balanced stance and taking a level swing, focusing on keeping his hands inside the ball.
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> I could be wrong but all this rotational and linear hitting stuff is just making it way to complicated. I played with Vlade Guerrero, Derek Jeter and I never heard them talk like this. I can name drop all day, but it's not necessary.
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> I can tell you this we use a tool in our school that helps all facets of hitting. Come check it out at our site at www.bmp18.com.
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> Keep it Fun!! <<<
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> Hi Jalal
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> Welcome to the site. I agree that we should try to explain swing mechanics in as simple terms as possible. I would also agree that this site gets in far more technical territory than one usually finds in the baseball world. However, many at this site feel that over simplifying the swing is not helpful to coaches and players either.
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> You state, “Keep it simple, by having him develop a good balanced stance and taking a level swing, focusing on keeping his hands inside the ball.” – The bat-head starts above the head and can make contact below the knees. So “level” where? What mechanics get it “level” where we want it level. – Players are constantly posting these types of questions and we find we must get in more technical territory to discuss the answers.
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> We all believe the hands should stay “inside the ball.” But what path should the hands take “inside the ball?” Should the batter’s mechanics take the hands inside the ball in a straight (A to B) line? Or, should the hands take a circular path inside the ball? This leads us into a “Linear vs Rotational” discussion.
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> So yes, during my study of swing mechanics, I developed terms for batting principles that are far more technical than “see the ball, hit the ball”. Jalal, we all hope you will continue to post here. Your experience at the plate can help all to appreciate what it takes to become a better hitter.
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> Jack Mankin

Jack-

I like your site and I'm very interested in some of your tools the Swing Mate and the heavy bag.

I've got a little funny story, which now makes sense. When I was playing pro-ball, and when I was waiting to take my turn in the batting cage, I always use to hit the cages' tires. Now I know why! I was creating resistance which was giving me batspeed because the force of my hands hitting the tires was actually strengthing them. I beat-up plenty of tires all over the world and it just now hit me, why I was doing that.

I've got a question for you, on my site I have an intro-video of my 1st at bat in the Big Leagues. Take a look at it and tell me what you think, and then I will tell you what really happened.

Jalal Leach

WWW.bmp18.com