Posted by: The Hitting Guru () on Wed Jan 3 17:19:31 2007

For anyone who cannot understand or apply top hand and bottom hand torque or who refuses to believe in the aforementioned, they may wish to apply what I call the rotational chop swing. This swing is like taking an axe to cut a tree. This approach is similar to swinging a bat. This is really a shorter stroke to the ball in that it involves less thinking (if the hitter thinks too much at the plate). This swing is illustrated by Albert Belle under MLB.com. under the biography section for the Hall of Fame candidates. As many may know Belle is up for Hall of Fame consideration. Belle was a great hitter and was one of the most feared hitters of his time. He was an upperbody hitter. As such the upper body hitter who has a lot of bulk may find it diffucult to execute the typical swing due a lack of flexibility. As such, Belle took his hands straight back and up. He then took a violent chop/upwing to the ball. This may not the quickest swing, but it worked for Belle and allowed him to hit over 50 homeruns (assumed without steroids). His keys were clearing his front side quickly and taking a healthy axe swing to the ball. In doing so he created a lot of line drive backspin.