Posted by: Jude (wayout1@columbus.rr.com) on Thu May 14 00:33:51 2009

It's been years since I read Williams' book. As I recall he never advocated that anyone employ a vertical bat. Nor did he mention the fact that his main reason for being vertical was to get the ball in the air with more frequency. Would you agree that most players today at all levels do not hold their bats at a vertical position? Would you also agree that what angle a player holds his bat is not an absolute? Lau Sr. certainly made it seem that way when he stated that he had proved (he never cited that proof)that the most efficient and effective way was at a 45% angle or even at a flat position.

No one can know with any degree of certainty what Williams' frame of mind was when he just used two words: "Why not!" This is hardly a ringing endorsement for someone who was not an instructor of professionals. And why not put a question mark behind "Why not" instead of an exclamation point? Did it occur to you or anyone that this was Williams' way of getting Ferroli off of his back? I am guessing that he had a warm relationship with Ferroli and was showing his loyalty to their friendship by giving Ferroli's pet teaching theory a questionable endorsement. If Williams had great respect for Ferroli's hitting knowledge I am sure that there would have been more affirmation to their discussion than "Why not?" Keep in mind too, that Williams didn't know that he was going to be quoted in print and that Ferroli was trading on their friendship. You should ask yourself the question why was Ferroli not able to squeeze anything more out of Williams to support his pet teaching theory than, "Why not?"

If I remember correctly, both you and Epstein teach a flat hand hitting drill with the expectation that it will be helpful in more than one way, and with the expectation that your students will eventually find their own way to their optimum bat holding angle. The moment that any Ferroli student finds out that the flat hand bat technique is not the best angle it will be discarded as other things in hitting are that don't withstand the test of time and experimentation. If I know this I am certain that Williams also knew it.