Bat Speed -- Baseball Hitting Forum

Posted by: John D (John@Dresslar.com) on Tue Nov 22 19:43:15 2005

Hey Tyler!

Since no one else has jumped in, I'll take a shot. I think those two shots are aberrations for them. Class hitters like Bonds and Giambi will have their weight centered over their spine as they swing, so -- while they might roll their lead foot over as they follow through -- their weight will be too far forward to rotate on their heel because the ball of their foot will be on the ground as they finish. If you look at Bonds' swing two clips over to the left from the one you mentioned, you'll see exactly what I mean. I think the heel rotation on the Bonds clip is because the pitch was low and outside and Bonds was trying to keep his weight back to hit it late -- i.e., where it was pitched. Because he didn't rotate on his heel until after he hit the ball, it's irrelevant anyway.

Giambi's swing was a little wierd, although I can't say I'm an expert on his 'normal' swing. It looks like he was a little early on an inside pitch so his rotation took him a little far.

In any event, I don't think the heel rotation itself is anything to focus on. The real debate is whether batters should be opening their front foot at all or, if so, how much. Jack and John on the Final Arc video recommend opening it a little, as the front knee turn helps launch the swing. Other rotational "gurus" feel the foot should remain perpendicular (pointing straight to the dugout) until contact both to keep the batter's head in and to assist the firm front leg to stop hip slide (lunging) and keep the rotation ... uh... rotational. Try both ways and see what works ... (but try Jack's way first... ;-)
* * * * *
> Hi I noticed on youthbaseballcoaching.com on swing clips there is a Bonds clip which is on the 2nd row all the way to the right where he rotates on his heal. There is a Giambi clip right below th Bonds clip I was talking about. He dosen't really look like he is rotating on his heal. I also noticed that in the video while John was hitting his heal was like Giambi's. Can someone explain why they are different? Thanks

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> Hey Tyler!
> 
> Since no one else has jumped in, I'll take a shot. I think those two shots are aberrations for them. Class hitters like Bonds and Giambi will have their weight centered over their spine as they swing, so -- while they might roll their lead foot over as they follow through -- their weight will be too far forward to rotate on their heel because the ball of their foot will be on the ground as they finish. If you look at Bonds' swing two clips over to the left from the one you mentioned, you'll see exactly what I mean. I think the heel rotation on the Bonds clip is because the pitch was low and outside and Bonds was trying to keep his weight back to hit it late -- i.e., where it was pitched. Because he didn't rotate on his heel until after he hit the ball, it's irrelevant anyway. 
> 
> Giambi's swing was a little wierd, although I can't say I'm an expert on his 'normal' swing. It looks like he was a little early on an inside pitch so his rotation took him a little far.
> 
> In any event, I don't think the heel rotation itself is anything to focus on. The real debate is whether batters should be opening their front foot at all or, if so, how much. Jack and John on the Final Arc video recommend opening it a little, as the front knee turn helps launch the swing. Other rotational "gurus" feel the foot should remain perpendicular (pointing straight to the dugout) until contact both to keep the batter's head in and to assist the firm front leg to stop hip slide (lunging) and keep the rotation ... uh... rotational. Try both ways and see what works ... (but try Jack's way first... ;-)
> * * * * *
> > Hi I noticed on youthbaseballcoaching.com on swing clips there is a Bonds clip which is on the 2nd row all the way to the right where he rotates on his heal. There is a Giambi clip right below th Bonds clip I was talking about. He dosen't really look like he is rotating on his heal. I also noticed that in the video while John was hitting his heal was like Giambi's. Can someone explain why they are different? Thanks

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