Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Tue Mar 26 20:51:06 2002

>>> And the optimal contact point is?
In other words, using these rotational mechanics with tht, the middle out pitch will ideally be hit square and driven somewhere near the middle or no? <<<

Hi Mark

Yes, I encourage batters to practice timing their swings so as to meet the ball square for middle-out pitches. And, as you pointed out earlier, the meat of the bat reaches it’s maximum outside path as it becomes perpendicular to the ball’s flight. The sweet-shot moves inward and has less outside coverage as the bat sweeps past or lags behind the point of hitting the ball straight-away.

But, I would also point out that on outside pitches, I would not teach linear hitters to pull or even hit the ball straight-away. Linear mechanics poses real problems for batters attempting to bring the bat perpendicular on outside pitches.

Jack Mankin