Posted by: () on Thu Dec 6 13:36:07 2001

> > In fastpitch, where you are dealing with a smaller field and little punch hits tend to be probably more valuable than in bb, I am thinking that if a girl restricts herself to punching the ball the other way and doesn't try to hit for power, linear mechanics could result in a good BA. Now I wouldn't want 9 of them, but one or two could be a help. Especially if they were a base stealing threat so that my rotational hitters wouldn't be as likely to see any change ups when the speed bugs were on base. I also would want her to hit from the left side and have a very well developed short game. I have the recruiting video from such a hitter and she was VERY successful as a lead off hitter in Houston area gold ball during a period of time when Houston area pitching was as good or better than anywhere in the world. Whaddaya think?
> >
> > Mark H.
>
> You are a crazy ignorant fool. You should be horsewhipped, dragged by the heels behind a diseased camel and made to watch Charlie Lau Jr hitting tapes until your eyes bleed.

Well, if you think it would help. lol





> Sorry, I couldn't resist.
> Actually, Mark, my daughter plays fps and a reasonably fast left handed punch/slap hitter (linear) can be very effective. Ichiro showed that the same thing is effective in MLB if you are really really fast. Likewise Otis Nixon.

Agreed. By the way, what area of the country does she play?






> My experience tells me that:
> 1- you don't find MLB players with REALLY linear mechanics but some are more linear than others (Ichiro is surprisingly rotational in his mechanics, but in a weird way)

Isn't he though. I can't figure him out at all.







> 2- the 'linear' that theorists teach breaks down and those who use it end up drifting back toward adding rotation just to get the bat to move faster (probably unconsciously). The better ones anyway.

I would say yes and probably because they don't accept the limitations and strengths of the mechanic. Then when they start trying to hit the ball hard and or pull it, they naturally gravitate to rotational mechanics.






> 3- the softball swing works because the level of the game hasn't advanced as far as baseball has yet. The size factor (small field ,etc. also plays into this)

Agreed on both counts. Although in some ways fastpitch is way ahead of baseball. The short game, pitching instruction, and college exposure come to mind. But, there are some girls with horrible hitting on top level fp teams who just keep getting run out there since the offensive expectations are so low in fp.






> 3- it may be easier to create a decent contact/linear hitter and get that player to be successful than to create a rotational hitter. But the upper limit is more severely capped in the former. So maybe all the mediocre little league hitters should be taught to slap and punch since the fielders stink and there are as many errors as plays. Depends on what your goals are.

For a little leaguer who was obviously never going to excel in bb but was fast, I might consider it just to make it more fun for him. But in general, I'm thinking this technique has much more validity in fp. One thing I think it does, is create different problems for the pitcher. A rh fp curve ball pitcher will often struggle against a lefty linear puncher and slapper etc.

Sorry to break your post up and respond point by point, but there was a lot in there to respond to.
Mark H.