Posted by: Paul () on Mon Feb 28 12:33:12 2011

> > > > > > > > I think Williams knew about the circular hand path. I'm not totally
> > > > > > > > sure he knew about THT and I would not be surprised if he didn't
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> > > > > > > I think a lot of good/great hitters don't realize everything they are doing and that is why their is so much study on this topic and why their is no single, universally recognized authoritative reference.
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> I haven't been on this site for awhile so I'll rehash my Ted Williams story. In 1977 I was a college baseball player and got to attend a hitting clinic where Ted Williams spoke in the afternoon. He was the best speaker ever and it remains one of my best sports memories. Anyway Ted said throughout the day: "Hitting is a turning motion, not a lunging motion". Somebody asked him when he shifted his weight "from back to front" and he said "I don't shift my weight at all. My weight is balanced between my legs at all times". Ted's coaching point was rotating the hips, not the shoulders, but he was talking "rotational". I don't recall him talking about anything that could be called THT.
> > > > > > > I think that the Science of Hitting is about as close as authoritative as it gets. Art of Hitting .300? Burn it. Mike Schmidt Study? Read it, ignore the "press swing, level swing, disadvantages of the Rotation System (as he calls it), hands start the swing". Mike Epstein talks too much about weight on the back leg and tilting backwards. Steve Ferolli is pretty good.
> > > > > what about tony gwynn"s the art of hitting?
> > > >
> > > > Gwynn talks about what Lau talks about. If you want to hit singles, do what he advocates. If you want to hit hard line drives, do what Williams says. Gwynn hit singles 8/10 times he hit the ball. I would not bother with Gwynn.
> > > I don"t know...qwynn's got the highest avg. since williams retired (.338) and 3000+ hits. he was doing something right.
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> > What Gwynn believes in and teaches is completely different from what he actually did. Williams generally taught what he did. He recognized that he swung slightly up to contact. Gwynn believes in swinging down.

Every good hitter utilizes a limited weight shift. It's hard to feel, but Williams probably knew about it. I think he wanted to emphasize the importance of good hip rotation rather than talk about shifting weight violently. Lau set hitting back 50 years. Ask 10 separate coaches. 9 of them will tell you "a to b path, swing level, squash the bug, violent weight shift". Maybe the 10th will say "hips lead the way, swing level to the ball, hit against your front leg"