Posted by: Dave P () on Fri Nov 3 11:51:26 2006

> find a clip of rose hitting an outside pitch or changeup and see how circular his hands are....they won't be. too many one-trick pony's here.

Jima

Are you saying you have two swings. One for an outside pitch and one for an inside pitch. Or maybe 4 swings, one for a fastball, one for a curve ball, one for a changeup and one for a slider.

Why does a MLB player take 100,000 swings a year? Is it to perfect all the swings OR just one swing. Do they change their swing once they decide what pitch it is or where it is going??

Understanding how to hit, where to hit, why you hit and the mechanics and physics behind hitting illuminates the REASONS BEHIND THE RESULTS.

Outside pitchers are hit further back in your stance and since this is at the beginning of front shoulder rotation the hands appear not to be travelling in a circular motion however as you continue the smae swing this becomes more apparent as you hit the middle pitch more out in front of your front foot and even more as you hit the inside pitch. IT IS ONE SWING AND THE LOCATION OF THE PITCH DICTATES WHERE THE BALL IS HIT AND WHERE IT GOES.

In order to achieve extension of the arms though the swing on an outside pitch your shoulders must rotate and the hips must be facing the pitcher because your back arm can not go very far forward if you do not pull back your front shoulder and have fully rotated your hips. Try to reach forward with your back arm WITHOUT ROLLING OVER YOUR WRISTS and see how far you get. IF you roll over your wrists before contact you lose power and create a wave in your swing and cause ground balls ESPECIALLY on outside pitches and low pitches.

Most change ups are pitched outside and therefor all the above principals apply since the REASON you throw an change up is to get the batter to hit the outfront and since you can not reach as for forward on an outside pitch as an inside pitch it is more difficult to hit an outside changeup. There is less room for error in timing on outside pitches because of the above reason.

Since the pitcher does not tell you where the pitch is going to be located you must allow the pitch to travel at least 1/2 way to 3/4 of the way to the plate before you figure out where the pitch location is going to be THEREFORE your hands must stay back as long as possible in order to read the pitch correctly. Once your hands are on a straight path to the ball it is impossible to make them change direction and since you can not hit an inside pitch with your hands going straight to the ball your hands must be on a circular path at the beginning of the swing to hit all pitches effectively.

Rotational swings can hit the ball to all parts of the field based on where you hit the ball in your stance. There is one trick however you must have the same swing everytime in order to learn how to adjust your timing to hit every pitch. No ponys allowed in the batters box please.

Dave P