Posted by: Major Dan (markj89@charter.net) on Thu Apr 19 06:30:14 2001

>>>Ted Williamz sayz, if U swing a little early, U hit tha top uv tha ball <<<
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> Hi Maximum
>
> Maximum, I really doubt (or hope) that Ted Williams would make a statement like that. That would mean all “pulled” balls would be grounders. It would also bring into question the swing plane his mechanics would generate.
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> Jack Mankin
>

What Ted Williams said was that a slight uppercut matches the slight downward plane of the ball. If you are on time you will drive the ball in the air. By matching the swing plane with the pitch plane, you will have a longer area (and time) in which you can hit the ball flush, a foot or two of swing range matching the ball's flight. If your swing plane does not match the pitch plane (swinging down at the dropping ball, or swinging up severely through the flight of the ball) you will have one intersection point matching the ball's flight - a much smaller range of success.
What Williams also said was that with the slight uppercut, if you are a bit early you will hit the top of the ball and hit a hard topspin grounder that is difficult to field and moves hard through the infield. If you are a bit late, you will hit a backspin line drive that will carry very well. So matching the swing plane to the pitch plane (the slight uppercut) gives greater margin for error to the bater in every way.