Posted by: SJD (nospam@nospam.org) on Wed Nov 2 16:04:04 2005

Kurt:

I think you've only read half the info on that particular site. The "A-C pathway" definition, as they call it, appears here:

http://www.hittingacademy.com/ohalibrary/library1.cfm

If you click on the "Click for illustration" link, you'll get your pic at

http://www.hittingacademy.com/ohalibrary/picpages/atocpathwaypic1.cfm

HOWEVER, this picture (I have to believe) does NOT infer that you must take a linear swing from A to C... ! As Andy noted, nobody'd make the majors with that swing. And even at the amateur or Little League level, I can't see how you'd ever hit a long fly ball; you'd tend to ground out most of the time. Not to mention that your swing plane would be across that of the ball's passage to the plate!

Follow the links to "Swing, Short" definition
http://www.hittingacademy.com/ohalibrary/library9.cfm#swingshort

and then - MOST IMPORTANTLY - click on the link "Click for illustrations" to get the full picture:

http://www.hittingacademy.com/ohalibrary/picpages/swingshortpics119and120and121.cfm

This is the Harvey-esque "Rest of the Story" pic to accompany the shot you'd originally referenced.

As you can see, there is NOTHING straight about the bat's path to the ball. What the pics don't show or explain is the dropping of the rear elbow into the slot to pull the bat head around in a curved path. That, IMO, is a pretty crucial omission. This curved path is IMPOSSIBLE to achieve if you just throw your hands linearly from A to C. The Batspeed forums will talk about using your top hand to spin the bat around the bottom hand to add velocity to this curved motion (top hand torque, or THT).

Andy noted the Pete Rose swing at www.youthbaseballcoaching.com; but check out any of the others on that site. None of the clips show a downward-angled swing as you may have inferred from the photo. You need a slightly upward-angled swing plane to match the pitched ball path. Even the oft-repeated Little League "swing level with the plate at the ball" path doesn't match the downward ball angle.

The linear "A to C" swing, as I think you've strictly interpreted it, is a dead end for your game. Yeah, you'd get your hands quickly from A to C... but so what? Your swing plane is cock-eyed (almost guaranteeing ceaseless grounders), and your bat head will lag your hands, giving you weak hits to the opposite field. Bat head lag just kills your chances of hitting for power; it's a habit you don't want to start.

At the end of the linear swing, your wrists have to translate the linear motion into rotational motion, and they do this inefficiently as the wrist muscles are very small. You get faster batspeed (hence power) AND better hit placement (less opposite field hits) with a rotational swing that starts your bat motion in a curved path, and uses the major muscles of the body (butt & trunk) to power the bat around.

If you read through the batspeed archives, you'll find great debates and info on the benefits of a rotational swing vs a linear swing, as well as the "how to's" of hitting in a rotational fashion. I'm not going to rehash all of that again, as it's all in the archives, and makes for some interesting reading if you're game. This just ISN'T the place to extol the virtues of a linear swing, haha.

Seriously, Kurt - go through the archives, and try to understand the principles. Ask questions, and folks will try to help. I was skeptical on the rotational methods until we'd bought the Final Arc II DVD this summer, and my 10-year old changed his swing from linear to rotational. The results and improvement were pretty wild.

Steve

sjd(at)cogeco(dot)ca