Posted by: Ronnie (rwynn@comsouth.net) on Sun Jan 24 15:24:21 2010

Hi rql, The linear hitting did not hit any thing well - what I saw that when we did hit, most of the hits were rotational by accident. My son hits with authority to all fields. I think it is because when he was 8 I had him hit with a tucked low rear elbow. Although incorrect, he instinctively started not lowering his elbows, but started launch after hip turn - which I believe once hip rotation is first then we have the positive hitters tilt. If the hands start with the hips then a negative tilt can occur. Since Jack told us to keep that rear elbow up and pointed to the fence or catcher, things have really come together the last 2 years. He is hiding the hands without being told. What I figured out was that my son was doing it correct a lot but at times lowering the rear elbow causing him to be linear. The Thumb Drill keeps his elbows up and rotational. When he makes solid contact and drives the high pitch there is very little tilt. When the pitch is low to rib cage high he has the hitters tilt. I don't know if I could teach this but right now he can make the adjustment - high pitch more upright, lower pitch tilt. When I get some footage and my control is good I plan to send some video to Jack and ask him to look at his swing on the different pitches, maybe Jack will have some advice to make him better. He has made the high pitch adjustment on pitches into the mid 80's - it will be interesting to see if he can still hit the letter to shoulder high pitch as velocities increase. He hits the curve with power, also. I have yet to find a spot in the zone that he can't hit with authority. I am not quite sure how he got that, I could never do it. Maybe because I was 41 when he was born I was past thinking I had all the answers, allowing me to learn from him by just letting him hit, tweaking hand and elbow position. I always showed him how to chop the tree down and try to cut the ball in half. Most of all we hit on fields spending very little time in cages - I think this allowed him to grow as a hitter. I am losing a lot of baseballs but I think it is worth the cost. If we were in the cage last week he would not have seen those balls flying into the trees 425 feet away. These are special moments Dad's can't get in a cage. Take care my friend. If you ever get to Georgia, please look us up.