Posted by: Scott B (baseball@integritycorp.com) on Tue Jul 9 19:21:24 2002

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Hi Craig,

I'm sure Jack will speak for himself, and I won't pretend to represent his viewpoint. However, I have coached youth baseball for about seven years, and considered myself an "expert" on what Jack and others cause the "linear mechanics" (LM) style of hitting. The "rotational mechanics" (RM) that Jack, Mike Epstein, Ted Williams, and others recommend is so radically different, that I passed over this site without giving Jack's site serious consideration. This year, it took about six weeks of re-reading, reviewing Jack's and Mike E.'s tapes, other research, and practical application before I "bought" the theory. In fact, I mostly sat on the sidelines this year and quit coaching hitters altogether, while I did my research. After all, if the "coach" is confused, how can he help anyone else?

I'm saying this because, from reading your post, I can see you're about where I was a year and a half ago. I mean, after all, how can Tony Gwynn, Dusty Baker, and a dozen books be all wrong on hitting?! Read ALL the material on this site, Mike Epstein's site, some of the documentation on SETPRO's site, and closely review the differences between RM and LM. The RM theory does NOT mean, "swing for the fences". (If an RM hitter is swinging at too sharp an angle in relation to the path of the ball, it's almost always because of what's occurring with his rear leg, i.e. collapsing, and not because of RM techniques, "dropping his shoulder", or any of the other anecdotal tales we're familiar with.)

My posts are always too long (how else do you paint a picture with words), but let's look at a few things:

"Lead arm extension and pulling the knob are still rotational, the difference is that the radius of the swing arc is greatly reduced."

I agree with you to some extent. I wrote to Jack that although we teach kids to "drive the knob of the bat to the ball" in a linear fashion, no one actually does that. It's a cue we use to get them to accelerate the bat head towards the ball, to get the "whip" effect, to gain the maximum amount of bat speed with the smallest arc. The bat head in LM still arcs, and yes, it is a smaller arc.

However, the counterpoint is that (a) a LM hitter commits far earlier than a RM, because the first thing that happens (after the "inward turn" is that the bat moves towards the ball. The LAST thing that happens is the hips open up, and "drive" the ball. A RM hitter moves his stride foot first, opens his hips, counter-rotates his upper body back, and then rotates his lower body forward. His hands remain back longer, which has all sorts of positive implications.

B) As Jack stresses, with RM hitting, the larger muscles are in play first, and generate most of the force. The smaller muscles of the arms and hands, which are the prime movers in the LM hitter, can't accelerate the bat with the same amount of mechanical advantage and force (i.e. torque) that the RM hitter's lower body can. By the time a LM hitter opens his hips, the bat is almost through the zone. Jack's comments about the uselessness of driving the hips AFTER the bat has hit the ball are highly relevant. Any momentum realized after the ball is hit is useless effort, and that's exactly where a LM hitter's hips are employed, at, or just before impact. A LM hitter does use his hips, and can to great effect, but the timing required to "pop" the hips at just the right time is tough for all most all players, except maybe guys like Tony Gwynn. As we "linear" coaches all know, if a LM hitter opens too early, because his bat is accelerating early, he realizes no torque, will be way out in front of the ball, and will probably pull the ball foul. If he opens late, again, he'll get no torque, and have a slow, late, and weak swing. I have 100 different drills, and some very effective drills, to teach LM hitters how to use their hips properly. With RM, I can dump all those drills, because the RM hitter opens his hips first. (The biggest problem is getting them to freeze their forward momentum, regain balance, and THEN swing.). Most LM kids have a real problem keeping their hands back at swing initiation, but that's a whole lot easier to teach than "popping the hips" at the exact mille-second.

Event timing is the key difference between RM and LM hitting. Everything is different, because torque is developed differently. I am convinced by both the research I've conducted, and practical experience in teaching both LM and RM hitters, that RM hitting techniques (a) generate more torque, and more torque before the ball is hit, (b) enlarge the potential "ball-strike" zone, or sweet spot, because the RM hitter can swing in a path that more nearly matches the descending path of the ball, and (c) enable players to swing a properly sized bat with increased bat speed, than LM techniques.

I've spend some time here addressing a few issues, because I came from the same perspective you did about three months ago. There's lots better information on the WEB. Do some more research, before you reject RM out of hand.

By the way, as I've said in many other posts, my kids all hit well with LM, in fact VERY well, until they hit LL Juniors and Pony League (they play both: Daughter 13yo, and Son 14yo). However, just as Jack, Mike E., and other have said, when they hit faster pitching, better off speed stuff, and longer base paths, they had problems. In fact, of all the 13yo's I saw, 3/4 failed to hit out of the in field more than a couple of times the entire year. By the time they reach 14yo, they're a little bigger, stronger, and either have made the adjustment, or have quit baseball. My experience validates what some say, i.e. most kids using LM hitting techniques aren't successful past 12 yo, and about 75% to 80% drop out of baseball by the time their 14 yo, because of the lack of success they experience.

My baseball playing, 72 lb, 13yo daughter was on the "drop out" track, despite being one of the most dedicated "gamers" you've ever seen. (How many 13 yo girls will tolerate the abuse of playing with Junior High school boys?!) She's still working on making the transition, but a two weeks after she started using RM, she went from hitless for the season, to a 2 run double, single, and some long-ball fouls (hey, we measure success a little at a time). She's 100% sold.

RM is the best way to hit a baseball. It's better for the young kids, older kids, and adult "kids" too.

Regards,

Scott