Posted by: dawgfan (jeff3@alltel.net) on Sat May 11 20:20:20 2002

It seems to me if you keep your hands in a circular path that they eventually pull off the ball and out of the contact zone. Don't the hands have to go linear (after rotation and before contact) to keep the bathead in the zone as long as possible. If they don't it seems that timing is next to impossible.

Mike,
to keep the bat in the zone the longest,as stated in The Science of Hitting by Ted Williams, the best swing is slightly up because the pitch is coming on a downward plane. The catch is when people try to swing slightly up they swing way up, which is worse. Since that happens that is why you hear people say swing down on the ball, which is the second best way. the more contact hitter you are, the more level you swing.