Posted by: Jimmy () on Fri Feb 16 13:35:52 2007

> Rotational hitters DO NOT swing up.I don't understand why people have such a hard
time understanding this. They angle their body in relationship to the downward flight of
the ball. Look at Albert Pujols the best high ball hitter in baseball when he hits a high
pitch the pitch itself is not traveling as much in a downward flight so his swing is pretty
much level. TO MATCH THE PATH OF THE PITCH!!!
> If it is lovel he angle his body to adjust to the path of the pitch. tThis is what make
rotational mechanic superior. Adjustablity

Steve,

Nice try, do you really believe that good hitters try to adjust the angle of their body to the
trajectory of the pitch? If this is so, which trajectory should a hitter anticipate and then
adjust off of? The low pitch, the high pitch, the off-speed pitch?

Keeping the approach above the ball with the barrel is what gives the hitter the ability to
adjust. This is where you get confused. The term, "swing down", can be confusing to
inexperienced coaches and players. Doesn't every hitter swing down at some point in their
swing? And yes they also swing up at some point in their swing. The point that coaches
try to make is to not let the barrel drop below the plane of the pitch because this leads to
poor contact consistency and poor trajectory on the batted ball, no matter what the plane
is. So in order to do so the hitter should try to keep his barrel above the plane of the ball
until contact is made. This is because his barrel will most certainly want to drop down as
he is swinging due to gravity constantly working on it.

I love your example of Albert Pujols because I know for a fact that he actually tries to feel
like he is swinging STRAIGHT DOWN ON TOP OF THE BASEBALL with every swing. This is
why he can hit the high fastball because his swing plane has a good chance of staying in
the path of the pitch no matter how high or low the strike is.

Now I'm not telling anyone that they should swing straight down on top of the ball like
Albert because everyone has a different feel in their swing. The point is to be on plane
with the ball as a result of working from above the plane to on the plane. Not below the
plane to on the plane. This gives the best chance for the hitter to adjust his swing with his
hands and not his body angle or "lean". Any body angle is a byproduct, not a goal to
conciously try to achieve, especially as an adjustment mechanism.

Jimmy