Posted by: tom.guerry (tom.guerry@kp.org) on Sun Dec 16 09:05:57 2001

Alot of talk about the away pitch so I went and just hit away today off my tee.What I found at least in this 100 swings i that if I take the same approach away as inside meaning my lead heel pulls back and turns the lead toe forward driving the front hip back then I can hit the os corner pitch hard to center,I could even hit it between ss and 2nd base bag when ball was on os corner and in line with back tip of plate[that's way back there].I also found that for me it was tougher to go the other way unless I let my axis drift forward just a little til my rear foot started to lift up from weight coming off it then used mostly rear knee drive to turn the hips.This kept them at contact[hips] pointed at opp field.Top hand torque then extension as shoulder started turn.This gave me pretty good speed but know I was losing some from the different hip turn.I also had more trouble making perfect consistent contact away.When I went linear like hudgens preaches I did have more control of liners and hard grounders in the 6 hole but could tell the ball jumped better off the hip adjustment rotation style.Tom with your clips do you see any weight shift with lower body that helps get the upper body in a better position to hit away with rotation,or something that keeps the hips from opening too much, keying on the lead leg,I was a little lost but felt I could swing the same and take the os pitch to center and all others center to pull.Opp field seemed to be where I had to set up differently,otherwise it was to center field.
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> > > >>Tom,while hitting today I found that for a os pitch I could best hit it between the front corner and angled corner of plate.My lead toe is even with h.p. 16" away and contact is in line with lead knee.This contact point and angle is consistent with my swing for middle in pitches.I even was able to hit a ball between ss and 2nd base bag again with the ball 6" behind back tip of plate and across os corner.For me to hit the ball over ss to third hard which I could do with rotation mechanics but it was'nt ball placement that mattered since I kept it 6-8 inches behind plate,it was that I loaded my hips much more,in fact way to much[one of the things which can change from a pitched ball to a stationary one.See my lead hip was facing 3rd base dugout[lefty] but I could'nt see a pitcher except out of 1 eye.This is no good so I was back to square 1.If with tht I can hit a ball up middle that's 7" behind plate over os corner how or should I worry about hitting to opp. field if I cover os pitch.Do you see bonds going the other way,does he use different mech.for it.Do you see anything with nomar going the other way different in the hips setting up.I agree with you the head tills the lower body what it needs to do to get the upper body in a good place to hit,I can feel it.If I closed my stance the opp. field was much more fluid to go to but believe it will cut off my inside power.Do you feel that you can fluidly hit to all fields with rotation ,I don't feel the pinball idea yet since I go up the middle so ar behind the plate,its all in the set up for me.
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> > RQL-
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> > Lots of good info there.A few comments-
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> > Remember tee work is really different from full swing ,and the full practice swing is surprisingly very different from the live game swing,unless you are really good at psyching out your body in practice.
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> > You have to have a plan at the plate.If you are hitting for power,you probably want to look for something in a limited range of locations.If you are hitting for power and the situation demands a certain placement(opposite field/deep fly/grounder/liner to right)you need to know your swing well enough to look for the sort of pitch that you happen to get this type of result with-know thyself(and yourself is changing over time even within the course of a few days.) You have to know the pitcher too.
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> > If the premium is on placement and not power,then you may go so far as to consciously alter your mechanics,set up,etc.For example,Bonds looked like he could cover the strike zone fully with the same basic swing this year.A few dingers went to the opposite field,but I think the location spread of where the homers went was a result of whether he more or less got his pitch and how early or late his timing was.Now he did occasionally radically change his mechanics when teams put on a huge shift,and in a few cases would use the push swing to put it in play to the left side when there were no fielders over there.
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> > As far as your tee results,I'm not sure how you hit the hard grounder up the middle with the outside ball behind the plate.It might help to video from the opposite batters box angle.I suspect from this angle your swing (tracing of bat tip)has the Nike swoosh shape.I would think you are hitting this really deep ball before the bat has leveled out and started up and your hands are making a correction to swing the bathead out early enough to hit it hard and low up the middle.Balls further toward the pitcher should be contacted while the bat is on the climbing part of the trajectory,so you would expect the backspin fly ball if you are late and the topspin grounder if you are early.
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> > Obvious changes in set up or mechanics-stance changes or how much you turn back are probably not great ways to learn to adjust.Either you will tip off the alert catcher/pitcher,or there will be too much variation for the body to learn/master.If you can cover the whole plate with power,taking the os pitch at the front knee hard to center,that's a darn good swing.If the situation demands opposite field hitting,I would recommend the push hit.This is what we have sometimes meant by inside outing the pitch,keeping the bathead behind the hands by pushing the knob out early instead of keeping the tight circular hand path and firing the bathead with hand torque as you would do in the power swing.
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> > I was a low power high average hitter in the last days of wood bats for high school/college.I hit mostly to the opposite field and got lucky a lot hitting the inside pitch(if I had to)on the ground between short and third(righty).In retrospect,I was always prematurely extending the handpath and didn't appreciate the importance of maximizing extension,so I gave up on the swing(decelerated before bat reached extension).This gave low power generation and deceleration.With hard work,however,placement was pretty good and held up under pressure.This is not a good swing for high level ball,however,and my college coaches were pleased to see me stop playing competitively because I was a useful batting practice pitcher.
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> > When I read Jack's stuff,the idea of bht clicked and everything made sense.I could get around on the inside stuff with power and cover the plate well.I find the feel of the handtorque/push/pull very important.The inside location is like a turn happening really fast without remembering much about it.The middle out location has increasing feeeling of the torso coasting(rotation)forward some before swinging hard and torquing the bat to extension.
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> > Let me know if any of these thoughts are helpful.
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> Shall we put these things in plain English? Back to Physiology 101, o.k.?
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> On an inside pitch, it is easy enough for both the top and the bottom arms to "reach" the pitch since the shoulder to which both arms are connected to are is moving in that direction.
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> On an outside pitch, if the shoulder rotates 90 degrees it is still fairly easy for the hitter to "reach" the outside pitch.
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> However, for the same outside pitch, if the shoulder rotates 90 degrees, the bottom (front)arm, being connected to the shoulder will hace rotated AWAY from the outside pitch. Therefore it is the bottom arm that restricts shoulder (and hip) rotation, lest the bat be rotated AWAY from the outside pitch.
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> I might also add that even if you were to take a swing one-handed with the bottom arm only, it is physiogically very dificult to rotate the hips/shoulders much more than 45 degrees while trying to reach the outside pitch.In fact, the little rotation there is happens slightly AFTER the arms have started working. as opposed to anside pitch where the hips start turning BEFORE the arms start working.
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> Your problem is that you are trying to give invalid scientific explanations to explain something that can quite easily be explained in physiological terms.
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Thanks for persevering,Saat.

How do your ideas fit with the Lau idea of releasing the top hand after contact to prevent cutting the swing off and limiting extension?