Posted by: Red Dog (gwils@brdwlaw.com) on Wed Oct 6 12:54:43 2010

"This is a very deceiving type of hitting. I have been a hitting coach/instructor for the past 15 years and have always taught knob to ball, hands in front of chin at contact, hips to hitting zone, etc. Watching the video here and battling for about 2 years over this I cannot accept this teaching."

I think your statements say it all. You have been teaching what you were taught and believe to be the best technique for hitting a baseball for 15 years. Hitting has not changed in the past 15 years; I can't believe you actually believe that is true. I am not sure that you understand the difference between linear and rotational even after two years of study. Rotational is not just for the home run swing. Rotational does work with all pitches. The vast majority, I would suggest 90%, of MLB players swing using rotational mechanics. Rotational mechanics will get you to the ball quicker than linear mechanics. Rotational mechanics get the bat on plane with the ball and transfers more energy to the ball. Rotational mechanics increase batspeed which is the goal of the hitter. Physics support the theory of roational mechanics. Hitting with the big muscles will always apply more power than just the arms and hands. The rotatinal batter loads and gets the bat on plane very early in the swing. The rotational hitter is very different from a linear hitter.

Both linear and rotational hitters rotate the hips. Both shift weight. Both have balance. Both try and keep the head steady and the eyes on the ball. Both keep their hands inside the ball. The difference is hand path to the ball. Another difference is the generation of bat speed with the rotational swing as opposed to the linear swing. A rotational hitter generates bat speed from the beginning of the swing through contact. The rotational hitter rotates around a fixed axis and hits with the big muscles of the body. The rotational batter gets the bat on plane with the ball which is coming in on a downward angle. The rotational hitter rotates through contact which maximizes bat speed and applies the greates degree of angular displacement on the bat.

Your point about rotational high school hitters not being the most productive hitters is just not true. With pitchers throwing the ball 85+ mph, linear hitters struggle to keep from hitting the ball into the ground of hitting weak pop-ups to the opposite side of the infield. At the college camps we attend, the coaches distinguish the rotational hitters from the linear hitters almost immediately.

I predict that with in the next 10 years almost everyone will be teaching rotational mechanics. I use to be an old school guy but I have seen the light. I suggest you really open your eyes and learn about this hitting technique and your career as a hitting coach will be extended. If you really are a hitting coach, you should be researching and conducting studies on all the theories of hitting so that you will not just be a coach teaching what you were taught but a coach teaching the most effective and current hitting techniqes.

Sorry for the direct comments but it gets frustrating when coaches dismiss rotational hitting because they have a closed mind and won't give anything but their way a second look.