Posted by: The Hitman (ahsnumber3@aol.com) on Fri May 31 14:26:39 2002

"By initiating the bat properly with torque and rotational energy, the average tension free swing of the hitter carries plenty of bat speed to clear the fence in most any direction. His main concern is timing and getting the plane of his swing in line with the ball. If he is a little high on the ball, it will be a sizzling grounder. Hit it square and you have a frozen-rope to the gaps"
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> > > > > My question is this: should I be "swinging for the fence" every at-bat or not?
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> > > > > In the batter's box, should I be thinking "I'm swinging for the fence here!"? Or should I be thinking, "I'm going to get the plane of my swing in line with the ball and hit it as hard as I can- I don't care if I end up hitting a hard grounder, a frozen rope, or a bomb!"?
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> > > > > I'm just trying to get the mental part of my game straight.
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> > > > > Gracias!
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> > > > Hey Carlos,
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> > > > I'm somewhat of a newcomer to Jack's specific line of thought, but quite honestly regardless as to LM or RM your at bats should consist of very little thinking. The actual at bats boil down to how well you've prepared + see the ball = hit the ball. I look forward to Jack's comments on your question but you will find the thinking you are asking about should happen at home and at the cage and pregame. I expect Jack's reply to be during those times your thinking is about getting your mechanics and approach right take that to your at bats and you'll simply find the fences by design as opposed to intention.
> > > > However, I do look forward to Jack's comments on this.
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> > > > MM
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> > > Carlos-
> > > the idea is to hit the ball hard with a full but effortlessly smooth swing.
> > > When you think 'swing for the fences' hitters have tendency to overswing - try too hard - and uppercut which results in Ks, flyballs and popups.
> > > Hit hard line drives and coaches will drool over you, players will respect you, pitchers will fear you.
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> > Carlos-
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> > There is not much room for timing error.
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> > If your level of intensity varies,you will have huge timing variability.Not good.
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> > You need to go full out on every swing,or your body will get confused.
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> > How this feels to different people is different.
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> > This is the beauty of batspeed meter feedback.
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> > You have to have good,balanced mechanics and maximum effort to get max batspeed.Learn the feel by doing this over and over.
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> > The classic description of feel from Ted Williams and others is "body at 85 %, hands at 100 %".That is similar to the feel I (too rarely) get,except the hands are getting their 100 % more passively than actively with the "effortless" drive of the bigger parts.I like a smooth tempo,and the "explosive" word doesn't work for me,but many like it-I think they are just feeling the 100 % at the end.Trying to make the body go at 100 % almost never works.
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> > I would try for solid contact and perfect timing and let the chips fall where they may.
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> When you use your body correctly, the swing feels effortless. As Epstein says, there is a difference between effortless power and powerless effort.
> With my young son, I call it 'hitting the ball hard the easy way'.
> A solid rotational turn with good upper body mechanics hits the ball harder than a gorilla swing with all the muscles tensed and great effort with poor result.
Hey Carlos
My philosophy is swinging hard and whereever the ball goes, thats where it goes. Where you hit the ball (top, bottom, bottom half)depends on as much as mechanics than eyesight. Thinking about home runs has messed me up, don't get too pull concious. Hitters like Sosa who can hit homeruns out of any area of the ball park don't have to worry about pulling the ball to hit homers. So don't be stubborn, and hit the ball to right field.
The Hitman