Bat Speed -- Baseball Hitting Forum

Posted by: Deano (dharisis@firstam.com) on Thu Dec 12 08:22:17 2002

I would love to hear commentary from the "rotational mechanics" experts here and disect Ted Williams' swing. I've read "The Science of Hitting" a dozen times and am a strong believer in the "hips lead the hands" mantra that Ted revealed. This is what I teach a lot of the youth that I coach.
> >
> > But where I draw the line is hand position. Ted had his hands very close to his body and the bat near verticle. Most of the hitting instructors that I've talked to do not follow this doctrine, and for several good reasons.
> >
> > Is proper hand position irrelevant prior to the stride (cock)?
> >
> > Thanks for the inputs....I consider myself very knowledgeable on the game but am not an expert.
> >
> > -Deano
>
> When swinging for bat speed, low hands are a must for rotational hitting. IMO, forming an "L" with your front arm lets you stayed connected to your rotation. Energy can be transferred in a more efficient rate than chopping down.
>
> I was cringing during the World Series watching Sinjo of the Giants swing. His hands are so high and bat so flat to the ground, the ONLY pitch he will ever hit is the high one. But he's released now...

I agree with forming the "L" with your front arm. I also try to maintain similar 90 degree symmetry with the right arm, as well as with the right wrist and bat angle.

What I meant by proper hand position was that, at least to me, it doesn't matter whether your hands are low or high when you take your stance. The key is to have them in the proper position when you preload (cock). Someone with a low hand stance will have to raise and cock the "L" symmetries, while a "Craig Counsell" sort of hitter would have to lower those "L" symmetries to achieve the same preload position. That way, the circular hand arch can be consistent across the chest and down toward the impact zone.

My only beef is that I wished my coaches had taught me this stuff 30 years ago!! My 10 year old is already capable of hitting 200 ft bombs using these techniques.

-Deano

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> I would love to hear commentary from the "rotational mechanics" experts here and disect Ted Williams' swing.  I've read "The Science of Hitting" a dozen times and am a strong believer in the "hips lead the hands" mantra that Ted revealed.  This is what I teach a lot of the youth that I coach.  
> > > 
> > > But where I draw the line is hand position.  Ted had his hands very close to his body and the bat near verticle.  Most of the hitting instructors that I've talked to do not follow this doctrine, and for several good reasons.
> > > 
> > > Is proper hand position irrelevant prior to the stride (cock)?
> > > 
> > > Thanks for the inputs....I consider myself very knowledgeable on the game but am not an expert.
> > > 
> > > -Deano
> > 
> > When swinging for bat speed, low hands are a must for rotational hitting.  IMO, forming an "L" with your front arm lets you stayed connected to your rotation.  Energy can be transferred in a more efficient rate than chopping down.
> > 
> > I was cringing during the World Series watching Sinjo of the Giants swing.  His hands are so high and bat so flat to the ground, the ONLY pitch he will ever hit is the high one.  But he's released now...
> 
> I agree with forming the "L" with your front arm. I also try to maintain similar 90 degree symmetry with the right arm, as well as with the right wrist and bat angle.
> 
> What I meant by proper hand position was that, at least to me, it doesn't matter whether your hands are low or high when you take your stance.  The key is to have them in the proper position when you preload (cock).  Someone with a low hand stance will have to raise and cock the "L" symmetries, while a "Craig Counsell" sort of hitter would have to lower those "L" symmetries to achieve the same preload position.  That way, the circular hand arch can be consistent across the chest and down toward the impact zone.
> 
> My only beef is that I wished my coaches had taught me this stuff 30 years ago!!  My 10 year old is already capable of hitting 200 ft bombs using these techniques.
> 
> -Deano

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