Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Tue Feb 26 23:58:28 2002

>>> Jack,
Thank you for answering my question about timing, that is much clearer to me. In my eyes, a hitter should hit the ball where it is pitched, Inside-leftfield, middle-center, and outside-right. We've all heard "The inside pitch pulls itself", but if a batter hits the outside of a ball it will create side or top spin (hooking), am I correct in saying that? What I was asking, is a rotational swing more likely to pull middle-away pitches because of the hand path (if the hitter's timing is early)? Would they be more susceptible to hitting the outside of the ball? As opposed to the linear ("insideout") approach? <<<

Hi Vaqattack

Yes, you are correct. Any ball that is not hit square (up the middle) will have side-spin that will cause it to either "hook" or "slice" depending on the bat angle at contact. Top-spin is induced from hitting the ball above its center, not from the ball being struck on the inside or outside.

Good rotational mechanics generates bat speed earlier in the swing. This means the batter develops greater bat speed before the bat becomes perpendicular than a batter with linear mechanics. So yes, the rotational hitter is more likely to "pull" or hit the outside pitch straight-away than a linear hitter. -- Much of the bat speed from linear mechanics is developed later in the swing - still extending their hands after passing the optimum contact point. Therefore, linear hitters are more likely to "hook" long fly balls foul when swinging for the fences.

Jack Mankin