How will you teach hitting?

Swing

About angular momentum from stationary position>

I subscribe to no less than 70 degree angle when refering to stationary bat position.

Anything less than that is too flat and to me and can be considered wrapping.

The key for my hitters is the follow-through and extension through the swing zone without wrapping or flattening bat to generate power.

Shep

BB

The position of the bat changes so much for MLB hitters before rotation. A stationary picture like the one of Brett could change several times before actual rotation begins.

Shep

Don't forget about Cobb. He had one peach of a hitch. That was then, this is now.

Shep

T.Speaker,J.Robinson,Stan Musial,...

The list could go on and on.

Shep

Lets get back to importance of strong legs.

Did anyone notice how big and strong BBs legs looked in BBscout's video clip?

If you post another old clip of Hank Aaron, you will notice big strong legs.

The greatest power-hitters have the big strong legs.

Shep
PS(linear-strong legs provide a little more than just a base-would you agree?)

quote:

extension through the swing zone .

Shep

This is my biggest area of concern

As far as strong legs......I support that idea ...but you will not get much clinical/ mechanical data on this board to place a high priority there. I tried ground up years ago and I struck out

swingbuster

If you initiated talks on extension in the follow-through without support on this board, you know more than they do.

References that support this hitting component at Major League level is a majority and where I come from its more than just cornbread and biscuits, its majority rules at the highest level.

Major League Scouting Bureau showed us hours and hours of video supporting this component at Scout Development School. The late great Carroll Sembera would not be pleased to know this about the gurus here on this board. Of course, the bureau's knowledge wasn't always public. MLSB videotape technician will probably be seeing the other Brett this spring

Shep Cares

quote:

Originally posted by bbscout:
...The batters with the hitch, starting with Ruth and going all the way to Bonds are the guys who hit with power.

Maybe most, but not all. Mark McGwire was almost as still as a statue.

quote:

Originally posted by Shepster:
swingbuster

"extension in the follow-through"

Please define your terminology.

Linear

Must say, glad your back. Mac is an excellent example of a hitter I like.

Shep

Extension in follow-through>

Self-Explanatory

Shep

I rarely see someone not extend in the follow through.

But, I see no significance in it.

He did pretty good when he was as thin as a bean pole his first year or two.

I guess the best way I can explain extension in the follow-through is the hitter putting emphasis, almost over accentuating, the swing after contact so the swing doesn't slow down too much or only become 75% completed.

Thats what professional hitting instructors are trying to accomplish when they drill hitters to have nice high finish in follow-through after contact. Almost like pretending to still be in contact with ball and not chopping and stopping-LOL

Shep

Hey, just evented new terminology. Better get patent quick on "chopping and stopping" in follow-through of hitter's swing-lol

Shep

shep...not disagreeing...

there is not much frame by frame going on there that one can quantify.

Ruth....if anyone has a clip...his flick away from his body of the bat tip is an interesting trigger to hip coil and get inside the ball.

We fail to see the physics in some MLB players swings idiosyncrasies and label them a "hitch".

We just right it off to style but these is more going on there

Even the pump of the hands can delay the true swing to allow more time to get the foot down. All timing mechanisms work toward synching the upper and lower body...most people thing they have to do with deciding when to swing

BB

Just downloaded quicktime software, hope it doesn't cost. Send you bill if it does since it was your baseball clip that required it-JK LOL

Shep

Swingbuster

Would rather to short flick than long hitch,

Wouldn't you agree?

Shep
PS(BB-fixen to look at clips now) Give me a couple of minutes-not as fast as Linear and swing-lol

BB

Looked at Kevin and Matt several times and almost disgusted they can get away with those massive hitches-LOL

Did notice extension in follow-through and not chop and stop though.

Also noticed huge strong legs, especially in KM.


Shep

Here's the beanpole...

Lean Mac

Your right linear.

Don't you just love to hear those words reluctantly oozing from the Shep's mouth-LOL

Sorry about the typing. Still hunting and pecking after all these years. Took me about 1000 hours to type graduate school research dissertation-no joke-LOL

Shep

quote:

Originally posted by Shepster:
Your right linear.

Don't you just love to hear those words reluctantly oozing from the Shep's mouth-LOL

My goal is to get Swingbuster and tom.guerry to say it.

Another thing about that teachersbilliards school of hard-knocks clip I just viewed was the amount of force at impact. So much in fact, he appears to rock back a little as if he is off-balance.

Shep

Yes linear, I was paying attention to your earlier post explaining where and how you attained your experience. Liked the reda$$ comment even though it made me blush again.

Shep

I think you like to blush.

Scout

Will he be elected to the HOF?

Alright now linear, thats not true.

I wonder if I could have hit more than 48 reg. season 5 post season homeruns with some of those S vitamins in two seasons in college-Naww,
that would take away from it.

Shep

Only be true to thyself.

I can at least say my power came from proper instruction, collards and chicken and not those type vitamins.

Shep
PS(proper bat angle for LHH is /)

I feel for all the guys who wouldn't do it and were passed over

Yep

Good point BB. Thousands if not tens of thousands.

Shep

Woops I meant linear.
Shep

Never forget that during year of strike. Can compare that to Mick's chances to break the record before the knee injury opening the door for the one being chastised RM who broke the previous record of sixty with sixty-one.

Shep

You guys are too old for me.

BB

That "long stride" was also incredible in the Babe's swing and this is why that was then and this is now.

Shep
PS(Thank You for sharing that)

Scout,

My young son who couldn't hit the ball off a T when he was in 9th grade is mashing the ball in the cages (off both Iron Mike machine and me throwing). He's a freshman at a DIII.

Going to be interesting to see how he develops. He's just now "feeling" like he can play.

That lunge is the ultimate pelvic load/unload.

We constantly fight the bigger bigger, better better, faster faster syndrome.

By that I mean, he'll get it going, start ripping line drives, one after another, then he tries harder and harder, swings faster and faster, trys to hit 500' HR's until he can't hit a thing.

Then we start all over again. Back off, find the rhythm and after 10 pitches or so he's fine.

Then, faster, faster, better, better, harder, harder.........and we start all over again.

He has to memorize that effort level that brings out the good swing......not the other one.

Okay, we can call it the hitters stride then.

Wow it must be 40 to 48inches or more.

Not taking away from my hero though. He is still my hero and I bet he didn't have s vitamins back then. Maybe a few hot dogs and such-lol

Shep

Posted January 14, 2006 10:56 PM
Extension

Mankin has interesting observation about the finish as far as cues. When he was working on followthrough( which he BTW put little emphasis on except from point of view that it is an indicator point of something else that is maybe not happening.

When working on front leg actio he simply said make sure your back shoulder bceocmes your front at the end. The lead leg functions better and the hips and shoulders flow through. It is a function and mirror image of teh quality of the load /coil.
IWOs it is hard to land the finsih without a good load. Cause and effect