Posted by: Mac (Doug5@cwnet.com) on Sat Dec 21 11:26:09 2002

> > > My mantra: Compare ANYTHING ANYONE tells you about hitting to slow motion video clips of the world's great hitters.
> > >
> > > Mark H.
> >
> > >>>Mikeyd, I have about 25 minutes of Ted Williams film. Hitting in games, taking BP and hitting off of a tee. He did hold the bat vertical in his setup, but then hitched it down to his left hip and then back up and cocked his front hip. If you want films of Williams and wish to view his swing, go to Google and type in the name Doak Ewing----he has many old films for sale and you can watch it yourself in slow mo, stop action or regular speed. Williams not only cocked the bat, he hitched it much like Barry Bonds does today. Saying that he had a static bat is wrong, and all I have to do to prove it is turn on my VCR.
>
> I would repeat what Mark and Teacherman say:
>
> This is the internet.Nothing is what it seems.Reader beware.Look at video.Some of this requires 60 frames per second run back and forth at varying speeds,including one frame at a time.It helps to have side by side clip synching of same batter different speed/location or different batters.Even then you are just seeing 2D flat pictures of what the hitters feel and what the internal workings are producing.How does it feel? How must it feel to look like that? How does it feel to do the necessary things-get bat moving,get bat in plane,set circular handpath,rotate around stationary axis,etc.
>
> Just as in pitching,the player starts with unflexing and flexing the body/spine.The pitcher to begin the windup will take the hands away from the center as the back arches(maybe he brings the hands up over the head for example).Then he brings them into the center as the body flexes,usually bringing the front leg up.Often this part in hitting is called dropping the hands or a hitch.I would not consider it a hitch unless it breaks the tempo of the motion.
>
> The good hitter will often start in a balanced athletic stance with some type of rhythmic pre-swing activity.At some poorly defined point,the swing starts as the hitter "dances" with the pitcher.The body has to flex,then the hip has to load.Hands come into center with body flex(bend at waist),then limbs internally rotate with hip cock.

>>>Tom, Why would you consider a hitch breaking the tempo of the motion? The word hitch is something that has been used for many years, and now people use "cocking action" or other terms, but it is in reference to starting the bat, getting the hands in the launching position and relieving tension before your front foot lands.>>>