Bat Speed -- Baseball Hitting Forum

Posted by: Andy (apaulus@fdu.edu) on Tue Oct 31 10:04:52 2006

> As some of you know I'm not a total devotee to the methods espoused at this site. I do have a lot of respect for Mr. Mankin and his willingness to offer a forum such as this. It is probably true that "rotational" mechanics produce the greatest bat speed. The question is whether bat speed is the most important aspect of hitting. My previous posts have emphasized timing, balance, the ability to go to the opposite field, and most important, the ability to control the bat in order to make solid contact. In my opinion (as well as many other respected teachers) solid contact is more important than 5 or 10 mph of bat speed and solid contact can best be accomplished, I believe, with an initial move of the hands to the ball prior to the rotation around the fixed front leg. Jack knows that I don't buy into videos since we don't know the location of the pitch; the type of pitch or the game situation. Anyway, does anyone know of a MLB manager who has spoken of the need to have rotational mechanics? Maybe Bochy...one other thing...I don't think we should be trying to develop hitters which emulate Kingman, Bautista, etc.

jima,

If you are under the beilef that "rotational" hitters are the all-or-nothing like Dave Kingman, then you either need to look further into the subject or adjust your definition of rotational...

True rotational techniques not only increase batspeed, but do the other things that you mention...increase bat control, timing, balance, etc. When I was introduced to rotational concepts, I also thought that it was a method for all-or-nothing hitters...Adam Dunn, Jeremy Burnitz, Phil Plantier, etc. In doing research on MLB hitters, I found that "rotational" techniques are prevalent in nearly every hitter, while the "linear" methods that I was taught...down to the ball, bring the hands straight to the ball, level shoulders...a fixed front leg..do not exist at that level.

My suggestion..throw aside the linear and rotational labels, start watching video tape of MLBers, over and over, and look for the common threads that all good hitters have. I have over 1000 clips on my computer, NONE of them show a move of the hands forward prior to rotation, and 95% show the front leg rotating AWAY from home plate.

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> > As some of you know I'm not a total devotee to the methods espoused at this site.  I do have a lot of respect for Mr. Mankin and his willingness to offer a forum such as this.  It is probably true that "rotational" mechanics produce the greatest bat speed.  The question is whether bat speed is the most important aspect of hitting.  My previous posts have emphasized timing, balance, the ability to go to the opposite field, and most important, the ability to control the bat in order to make solid contact. In my opinion (as well as many other respected teachers) solid contact is more important than 5 or 10 mph of bat speed and solid contact can best be accomplished, I believe, with an initial move of the hands to the ball prior to the rotation around the fixed front leg.  Jack knows that I don't buy into videos since we don't know the location of the pitch; the type of pitch or the game situation.  Anyway, does anyone know of a MLB manager who has spoken of the need to have rotational mechanics?  Maybe Bochy...one other thing...I don't think we should be trying to develop hitters which emulate Kingman, Bautista, etc.  
> 
> jima,
> 
> If you are under the beilef that "rotational" hitters are the all-or-nothing like Dave Kingman, then you either need to look further into the subject or adjust your definition of rotational...
> 
> True rotational techniques not only increase batspeed, but do the other things that you mention...increase bat control, timing, balance, etc.  When I was introduced to rotational concepts, I also thought that it was a method for all-or-nothing hitters...Adam Dunn, Jeremy Burnitz, Phil Plantier, etc.  In doing research on MLB hitters, I found that "rotational" techniques are prevalent in nearly every hitter, while the "linear" methods that I was taught...down to the ball, bring the hands straight to the ball, level shoulders...a fixed front leg..do not exist at that level.  
> 
> My suggestion..throw aside the linear and rotational labels, start watching video tape of MLBers, over and over, and look for the common threads that all good hitters have.   I have over 1000 clips on my computer, NONE of them show a move of the hands forward prior to rotation, and 95% show the front leg rotating AWAY from home plate.

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