Posted by: jima (andyii@cox.net) on Thu Mar 23 05:20:14 2006

I don't believe you can be an effective hitter without some aspects of both. You can't cover the plate or adjust to changeups or curveballs with a pure spinning rotational swing. You can't hit with power with a pure slap, linear approach. I believe the whole debate is engaged to encourage baseball geeks like us to spend too much time on the computer. My son (12) had 3 yrs of instruction from a certified Epstein teacher that totally ruined the natural swing and instincts that he brought to the game. This past winter, he attended numerous sessions held by Gregg Ritchie, minor league hitting instructor for the Pirates. The videos of the before and after are amazing...now there is a real connection to his swing...he's not trying to clear his hips first; drop his right should to the plane of the ball; and, spin through. Now the clearing of the hips is a result of an on balance, connected swing that comes as a consequence of initially moving his hands at the ball and then turning. At any rate, a good balanced swing that makes contact is all we're looking for right?