Posted by: S.Winton (stwinton@netzero.net) on Fri Apr 14 12:10:47 2006

"If a pitcher is taught to throw the ball down and produce ground ball outs why are the hitters taught to swing down and hit ground balls? Isnt the idea to beat the pitcher? Why would we do what the pitcher wants? Where did this idea of hitting come from? "

MLB averages on all balls put in play...
all fly balls = .176
all ground ball = .375
all line drives = .776

hitting backspin line drives and ground balls is the key to good hitting. Like golf, the only way to get the ball in the air is to strike with a descending blow. The only way to square up the bat head is to attempt to keep the bat head above the hands as long as possible, it will undeniable plane out and get on the plane of the pitched ball...attempting to manually lift the baseball or swing with an uppercut will equate to the chuncked golf shot, their will be a deceleration and an overall lack of pop, that combined with most likely toped, hooked ground ball to the pull side of the field.