Posted by: The Hitting Guru () on Sun Jul 16 18:52:48 2006

> Just curious how important it was to have a level swing. I have a uppercut because I am obsessed with HR's since I was a kid and now I still do the same thing and I am trying to kick the habit. Is it really true that if you have a level swing (even in slowpitch softball) that you will get backspin on the ball resulting in farther hit balls??

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Dave. Regarding the swing plane for power, you can do the following.

1. Have an uppercut rotational swing (Jim Thome)

2. Have a level swing, but hit the bottom half of the ball (Mike Schmidt)

3. Have a level swing but take the nob to the ball (or get jammed slightly on purpose while taking a full swing) This causes a slight uppercut but is relatively a level swing) (Paul Molitor)