Posted by: Coach Dean (pndnca@cox.net) on Thu May 4 14:15:47 2006

Hi. I'm new to the forum. I've studied the golf swing extensively for many many years and have coached little league for the last 6 years and have looked closely at video of the best major league hitters. It seems apparent to me that the golf swing and baseball swing are virtually identical at the bio-mechanical level. One thing that is undoubtedly true is that the most effective power swings start with a shift or "bump" of the hips toward the target, followed by a rotation of the hips when they meet resistance from the front leg. So many coaches teach a small stride, but if you look at the big hitters almost all take a very healthy stride. When that happens (viewed from the side), the right hip definitely moves laterally toward the pitcher. I know if you teach a big stride to little leaguers, they tend to have the head and upper body go with it, but a big stride combined with keeping the upper body back, followed by rotation around the axis (which does, in fact, move forward and tilt slightly) is what really generates power.