Posted by: Patrick (macknolyapain@yahoo.com) on Wed Apr 19 11:30:38 2006

Jack,
I know that seeing the ball all the way is one of, if not THE most important aspect in hitting a baseball. I know that I'm probably going to answer my own question as I see more and more live pitching, but when do you start your swing? Is it when the pitcher's ARM comes into the release window like Ted Williams says in his book TSoH or a little bit before that? I KNOW you can't start your swing as soon as you pick up the ball (unless you pick the foot up and immediately put it back down) because by then the ball is almost by you. I was starting my swing as soon as I picked it up and either all of my balls that I hit went to right field or I missed it completely. I'm trying to do like Ted Williams says and "wait as long as possible." Of the tee and in soft toss, my swing is incredible. The ball just jumps off of my bat. But in live throwing I've having a little bit of trouble with my timing and I know it's not because of my swing. Everyone that has seen me swing the bat lately has told me to start my swing earlier and I didn't want to do that- I think I got that confused with cheating on the pitch. But then again Ted Williams says that you stride BEFORE you know where or what the ball will be as it's coming towards the plate. What's your take on this situation?