Posted by: Chuck (Chuck10112@gmail.com) on Sat Oct 18 16:35:24 2008

This is just a theory I have no solid proof.

I don't think it's even necessary to see the ball all the way to contact. In fact I think that trying to do so can be deterimental. Hitting the ball is a subconcious process, I know this because you can't conciously make judgements about the trajectory and speed of pitched ball (even at speeds as low as 60mph) based on its relative positions over time. I think that the brain subconciously takes information about the relative positions (both vertical and horizontal)of a pitch over a certain timeframe and then extrapolates that information to guide the swing to where the brain predicted the ball would be in a certain later time. I have no proof of this but I have read articles on the baseball exploratorium stating that in order to successfully hit a 95mph fastball a hitter has to start his swing when the ball is 20ft from the plate. From this point you could turn out the lights in the stadium and it wouldn't effect the outcome (of course if the ball deviates from it's path significantly a hitter could still hold up his swing, but he couldn't change the path of his swing).

In real life I have actually tried testing this proposition by closing my eyes after the ball has been in the air for some time and to my great surprise I was still able to hit line drives at a rate comparable to when my eyes are open.

Another interesting thing I noticed is that even when my eyes where closed my head still moved back slightly almost as if I were somehow still tracking that ball.

With this I think the eyes tracks the ball for a relatively short period of time, then the brain extrapolates this information. The movement of the eyes and the location and timing of the swing are based on the extrapolation.

That's just my theory I don't know for sure if its true. I do know that it doesn't agree with traditional hitting beliefs.