Posted by: Tre' Brown (tbrown@stedmund.com) on Thu Oct 11 06:45:08 2007

Jack, it is very hard to write about hitting and get a point clearly accross. my personal philosophy on linear vs. rotational is that the swing contains both linear and rotational aspects. When i was at Doyle they taught all rotational, i have heard many coaches preach nothing but linear. Scot Fletcher, co-owner of RightView, and i talked and studied analysis and came up with the combination of linear and rotational parts of the swing.

A) When i was at LSU, Arron Hill was a Junior and we talked about the back elbow inparticular. what he explained to me was that no matter who swings a bat a beginner or an expert, the back elbow is going to find the slot above the back hip. this allows the hitter to pull the bat through the zone, and also links the hands to the hips. so, if you start with your elbows relaxed and downwarn, not like moises alou, but not hiked up, your back elbow will get their faster. The next elbow point that i make is tough to explain, so bear with me. I believe that if you keep your front elbow tight to the body, it helps to stay inside the ball.

B) I teach a linear trigger of the hands because it keeps the hitters hands free of their bodies. i do this to keep them from getting their hands wrapped behind the back shoulder. so many hitters think their power is from their arms and shoulders, that they think that if they trigger bigger with their arms, they hit harder.

C) because the front foot is closed this causes the front leg to be an axis of rotation and because the front foot is closed it stops the back hip which allows the upper body to finish the swing. at this point, the hands and the bat lose their proximity to the back shoulder and begin a linear path towards the ball. now, i am not saying that it is a straight line, but i feel that if i started teaching a circular path that i would start having hitters spin off the ball and that would be detrimental to my hitters.

PS: this is an amazing thing to help people that have a passion for hitting really sit down and think about what they are teaching.

thank you

> Hi Tre' Brown
>
> Welcome to the site. – Batspeed.com promotes rotational transfer mechanics. This means the batter’s hands are rotated in a circular rather than a straight (A to B, or linear) path to the contact zone. I note you use the RightView program, which promotes a linear hand-path. Also, a few of your statements indicate you may teach this approach.
>
> Discussing batting mechanics with the written word is difficult because the writer’s words can be misinterpreted. I will place below a few of your statements for clarification.
>
> (A) You state, “Hands should be back arround the back nipple and 6-10 inches away from the body. Elbows should be relaxed and pointed downward.” – I realize this is your “stance” position. Would you want the elbows to be relaxed and pointed downward in the launch position as the swing is being initiated.
>
> (B) You state, “The hands should also begin to move rearward slowly towards the umpire not arround the shoulder.” -- This indicates to me that you want the hands to follow the same linear return path (from the umpire to the pitcher). Have I misinterpreted your words?
>
> (C) You state, “Contact - Front foot closed, back foot pivoted, belly button towards the pitcher, hands extended towards the pitcher, eyes on contact, and drive through not to the ball. – “Get the arms extended at contact” and “drive through the ball” are both linear concepts.
>
> I would be happy to discuss these issues with you.
>
> Jack Mankin