Posted by: Scott B (baseball@integritycorp.com) on Thu Oct 24 21:54:00 2002

My daughter switched to rotational mechanics approximately one year ago. She went from being a good hitter to a great hitter, from good power to great power. Now this year (since we joined this team) we have a hitting coach telling her that swing can't work this is much better. Guess what, the change he is asking her to make is not working and we're gong back to rotational mechanics. Believe me, you can physically see the reduction in batspeed using linear mechanics.
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Ignorance is no sin. WILLFUL ignorance, is intolerable. There is no excuse for a baseball coach not to be better informed. Rotational hitting is no secret, and every coach worth his salt ought to know how to teach BOTH rotational and linear hitting styles. (How can you explain the advantages of one method, if you don't know both?!)

I've been teaching a few kids on my Pony team rotational mechanics. It's helped some a little, and it's made a night and day difference in one boy's bat.

However, one coaching assistant insists on teaching every kid to hit one way, i.e. linear mechanics. I won't get into arguments about it. I let him do his thing. I'll teach any kid who'll apply himself (i.e. practice 5-6 times a week), but working with the rest is a waste of time. I'll teach linear mechanics to those who want to hit that way, too. If it gets them a hit, heck, I'll let them hit with the bat upside down.

Mike Epstein made this point, i.e. that (a) some kids will just never hit, so (b) work with the ones who already do. They'll go from good hitters to star hitters, and the motivated non-hitters will come looking for help to be just like them.

I thought Mike was being cruel and short sighted, since most kids I coach, even at the 14-15 yo level, have horrible mechanics (swing, fielding, pitching, etc.). How do you know who can hit and who can't if some have never had a competent coach to train them?

After a while I saw his point. Most non-performing kids lack skills because they just don't have the motivation and work ethic to overcome their circumstances. The "gamers" find a way to improve, and aren't afraid of hard, repetative work. They'll seek out the help they need until they find it. I have kids who've played for me several years ago coming back, asking for help, and I'll give it to them.

The other kids?? They'd rather play video games.