Posted by: George () on Sat Apr 28 22:02:54 2007

> I know this is going to be a lot of writing, but please take the time to read this and answer some questions I have. Ok now I am starting to change my views and beliefs on this stuff a little more ....I know at first I hated it because when I started at my school, I bought into tnhe linear swing....Let me give you a breif description of what has happened over the last couple of years that has brought me to this state of questioning the linear swing....OK so out of high school I was a doubles hitter. I led our team in doubles and almost broke the school record. These balls were hit very well, but our field was extremely deep, and the wind always blew in; so they never went out. Most of my doubles however did go to the wall on one or two hops and felt extremely good off the bat. I was also 165 pounds with minimal weight trainging and muscle developement. That summer I worked construction and got on a good weight training program. I was also playing summer ball. Well these doubles started turning into homeruns. I never knew how I was doing it, but squaring the ball up, and it going a far way just happened pretty frequently. Then I went out and took batting practice a week before i got to school and fall tryouts....We were hitting from the backstop, so the fence in left was 335; and the fence in left center was 365. Out of 15 pitches, i hit 8 out. And most were way gone. The first day of tryouts, we hit off a jugs pitching machine pitching pearls, going about 85-87 mph....now i went 5-6 in this intersquad game, with 2 homeruns, 2 doubles and a single up the middle.....one of the doubles was in the right center gap, and my single was lined straight through the middle. One of my homeruns was also like 410 feet in air to left center. So our coach kept saying, how does this 165 pound skinny kid hit these bombs? SWING LINE!!! he stays on line for about 4 feet! " stuff like that.....so i just went with it....but more and more he started just pounding the outside part of the plate vs all of us in batting practice with mixed speeds, and if we did not let it get deep, it would probably be a roll over to third base. So now he says we all have short swings and cant hit the outside ball well....so all year we practice this linear swinging...and yeah i bought into it because sometimes you can feel yourself sitting back and just rotating on the outside ball and obviously not being able to hit it.....because if your body is pulling to left field, your hands can't drive through a pitch on the outside corner...so i bought into it....but let me tell you what has had me questioning this a little bit. there was a big strong kid on our team who had tons of power as well. He hit 7 homeruns last season with his rotational swing because he was the type to not really listen to our coach because he always had his own success. But he finally started tolisten this sumer before the upcoming season. Well he has only 1 homerun this entire year. we both stay after practice and hit on the field...he just started to'use his hands more aggressively" in his words, and he has been just tanking balls out of the park left and right. I however, can not! Now my balls are barely going to the wall on a bounce or a roll. He cant stop telling me how I lost all my pop. I have to believe its either the swing I have learned, or I have not properly learned it....Now the questions I have: So as i watch the swing you guys promote on the 2 minute video clip you have for the final arc 2 video, it looks like all the balls you show are hit with power to left field on a middle to inside pitch....what about the outside ball...how well can that be hit as everything is rotating to left field....please explain this one very well...i know you are probnably going to say that the barrel does cover the outside from and overhead view; but we all know that your hand eye coordination better be like barry bonds' to be able to time every outside pitch that perfectly to be able to hit it in that 12 inch zone that your bat is actually covering the outside of the plate, right? also, I feel like epstein is correct when he syas that we all have pretty natural swings until someone comes and messes them up. I was always good at doing stuff with power even though i was so skinny. my friends always said i had " retard strength" (not to offend anyone) but I believe I just knew how to get the most power I could out of my body by making it all work well together. Now when I try to think what each piece should do, it just doesn't flow right....so my question is; what do you tell the lower body to do that can be very natural but also powerful. i know it is not a rotation as in squish the bug, because we all know that is a terrible rotation of the for hitting lol....help me understand this "rotation on a stationary axis thing" and how it differs from squishing the bug ....please break this down as if i was a 6 year old trying to teach my body how to do this.....another piece of this question....how does the lower body weight tranfer/rotation and finish differ from a middle- inside pitch, and an outside pitch? THANKS, Hope you gurus can touch on this a little....
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> Another thing i forgot to ask....why can the professionals hit balls 500 feet, and HS and college greats cant?!!! What is it in the mechanics that make this possible? this is the biggest question obviously.....But it lies within the mechanics....it cant be strength...look at alfonso soriano lol....i mean obviously its not strength...what is it! ? even if you swing the way this site says....you're not gonna hit 465 ft homeruns! is it the x factor that we cant find! ? lol sorry just had to get that questioin off my chest because it sucks to not have it like the pros!


Sean. For starters you cannot just look at Alfonso Soriano and think he is not strong. He used a 35 ounce bat at one time and whipped it through the zone. But he does have great timing and hits the ball on the EXACT SWEET SPOT more than most hitters. Thus he maximizes the bat he uses. But it is obvious that Soriano has great technique and tremendous lead arm extension (LAUNCH ANGLE).

Mechanics do play a large part. Look at Albert Pujols. He swings almost straight across and seems to have as close to a linear follow through as anyone. He rotates, but across. So it must be his ability to HIT THROUGH the ball and making it carry. His swing never collapses through the zone which has to be CRITICAL to his success. He seems to never get jammed at the plate.

Regarding the middle in and down the middle pitch, the bat has a greater distance to travel when square contact is made. Thus a greater rotation is necessary. This is why that in homerun derby at the allstar game, the longest hits are pulled hits. In a game condition it is harder for the player to maximize distance because it is harder to precisely time a pitch under the pressure invironment and the speed variations.