Posted by: Mark H. () on Sat Oct 6 10:35:06 2001

RQL-
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> > > > Mike Candrea is the most successful current college coach.He was at UCLA then went to Arizona where he has won the most national championships.He is a"thought leader" in coaching hitting and mechanics,but as with most,his available videos and articles are mechanically deeply confusing.The national association/ASA believes there is a single method of instruction that should be taught to youth,but have been unable to articulate what this is in spite of a "consensus" hitting conference including Candrea and other luminaries that was supposed to produce a monograph that has never appeared.I suspect he is re-thinking his approach to mechanics because he has not published much recently and is said(WCWS interview)to be studying a lot of video/3D reconstructions of hitters.Maybe he is starting to see more "reality".
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> > > > He is successful because he can recruit the best,almost to a John Wooden like degree,and he does know enough to let good hitters' mechanics alone.The kids still benefit greatly from training and drills.He has a truly great understanding of all other facets of the game and is a great motivator.
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> > > > Stay away from his mechanics instructions would be my advice.He teaches "no stride","no separation","swing down","linear mechanics" in his old stuff.Take a look at his best hitters.They don't do this in reality,always a red flag.
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> > > > The great problem/opportunity in college ball now is hitting the inside pitch.The pitchers increase their domination here with the screwball.Only rotational mechanics will allow good plate coverage and the ability to hit the middle in pitch without excessive adjustments(guessing,getting way off the palte,etc.)Coaches are trying to figure out how to do this.How to do it is all explained here.Rotational mechanics are also best for separation/keeping the hands back/dealing with the offspeed stuff which is the second big bat killer out there.Your understanding is way ahead of Candreas.Still, lots of his players are intermittently executing rotational mechanics,the players and coaches are just not aware of it.Video review of actual players confirms this,if you know what to look for.
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> > > The problem with fastpitch hitting at all levels is that the "experts" such as Mike Candrea are accpted as knowledgable. Look at his tape "Hitting Mechanics" and you will know that he dosen't know much.
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> > > The fact that the college game is dominated by pitching is proof. Mike Candrea dosn't have a hitting team. If they score 2 or 3 runs in a game they win 99 % of the time.
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> > > The dominance of pitchers in college is greater than in high school. Why is that? Because the pitchers get older, stronger and gain more experience but the hitting skilles remain the same because they don't know how to teach hitting.
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> > > I have personnally talked to 13 college coaches about hitting. Guess what, they buy tapes and ask the same questions about hitting as HS coaches do.
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> > > Joe A.
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> > Joe, that was a very interesting comment you made. I anxiously await the positive feedback you will receive from that response.
> >>>I ask here because I do not study softball yet know the pitchers release point creates different trajectory out of hand .I assume this is why Tom says a more upright stance is called for is this right.Also since I never played fp softball I can't argue the reaction time and getting around on it first hand.I can only think that if Jack has counted less frames in a rotation hitter than a linear hitter to contact, that seems like cold facts rotation is quicker.The argument they have with rotation is the barrel must make the shortest path to the ball.Could it be these girls start moving their hands forward with the stride a little getting a head start on the ball.Last ques.how far is college fences could there be a correlation between short fences and pitch speed that allows for enough power for doubles and h.r. with a linear swing.I'm just grabbing at straws how their ideas could be conceivable but believe that the better ones are doing rotation to some degree for results that are overlooked.Where can I find some footage on internet like we had at setpro in slo mo but of great softball hitters.

RQL,

Shortest bathead path doesn't necessarily mean quickest bathead path. As far as the small size of the field affecting the need for power, that is an interesting area for discussion, but hard hit ground balls still find more holes than routine ground balls and hard hit line drives get to the gap quicker. As far as number of frames to contact, there is an interesting thread working over on eteamz fastpitch board concerning this and other aspects of the linear vs hybrid vs rotational.

Mark H.