Go44dad posted:ironhorse posted:2020dad posted:ironhorse posted:2020dad posted:
There are some absolutes trouble is too many people don't want to accept it! And Ted Williams talked to anyone who would listen about these same things 50+ years ago! And still some want to rip the 'hitting gurus'!
What do you feel are the absolutes? I agree there are a few. And which absolutes don't people want to accept?
Well let's start with the obvious. There are still those that teach - and mean it not as a cue - the level swing. There are still those who do the silly demonstrations with their hands while teaching "swing down to make the ball go up". There is no shortage of those who honestly believe you should hit the inside top half of the ball and somehow magically the ball will still be able to find the LC gap! It is an absolute that MLB players are the best in the world and copying them is probably a pretty good idea. It is an absolute that 'just meet the ball' is a bad idea. You need good exit velocity just to get it out of the infield unless you have somehow perfected the Texas leaguer swing. How is that for just a start?
Not a very good start honestly. If I was a player not sure I'd grasp all those absolutes due to the negative examples. Not that I disagree with some of where you're going.
To me, absolute: a swing that keeps the barrel on plane in the zone for the longest time possible gives the best chance for consistent contact. To me, that can't be argued. Might have different ideas of on plane, but once really delved into the plane of the pitch is the plane of the pitch, no matter opinions.
So what hitting absolutes do you have?
And I would disagree that studying "major leaguers is always the best idea. Dependent on the kid and the MLB player.
(this may be stated in following posts, I just started reading the thread)
Since a pitched ball is dropping, the plane to stay on is an uppercut.
Agreed. I don't think there is anyone on this thread that proposes the plane to be less than the slightly upward one that matches the pitch plane. I think the basic recent debate in this thread is whether one should intentionally try to hit the ball at a high launch angle (which, in effect, has the plane more upward than most pitch angles and means the barrel will be on plane for a shorter period of time than if one were trying to hit on plane). So it's "line drive" vs "lift" intent. I believe age and player specific skill set factors in. I also believe that, while there are certainly MLB players who hit with lift intent, there are also many MLB players who take a line drive approach and still hit for power. And as Coach May points out, ideally, it is just the player's natural swing.