MLB hitting Coaches that teach rotational.

Why not just provide video clips of rotational MLB players? You aren't going to be able to help every player Rocket. The best you can do is present your case to both the player and the parent and hope they trust you as a teacher. If they don't accept what you present then you just leave them alone and focus on those that do accept it. Not that you forget about them, but you spend your individualized time with those that want it.

If these players are getting paid instruction only to have you contradict that instruction you could be asking for a lot of trouble.

Good Luck!

Jason

rocket,

Most of the debate in hitting is a matter of terms. Dave Hudgens at hitting.com is not too far off in theory from Epstein or the like.

Very true redbird5... I will add though that Hudgens does talk about "taking the hands to the ball" which isn't something that Epstein teaches.

Try to not see this as an either/or, right/wrong type of thing. Both swings are legitimate and the very best hitters use either depending on situation. A more linear swing is best when trying to hit "inside" the ball on curves and outside pitches, which tends to push the ball to the opposite field. Being able to hit like this can greatly increase batting averages with singles into the shallow outfield. Trying to "turn" on a curveball often only results in a foul ball if contact is made at all. If a fastball comes in down the middle or otherwise in the batter's wheelhouse and he sees it real well, he can go ahead with a more rotational swing and try to mash it. Watch a hitter like Ichiro sometime and you will see very definite examples of both types of swing depending on the pitches he gets.

FlippJ,
I think "taking the hands to the ball" is more of a cue than a reality. Hitting instructors use the cue when players swings get long and they start swinging around the ball.

The cue can get hitters in trouble if they take it too literally. A good hitting instructor has to be able to see which students the cue works for and which ones it gets in trouble.

Very true in general CADad... But I've seen Hudgens demonstrate it so in this case he really does mean what he's saying.

P.S. How is the off-season going for your son?

rocket

I have read Ted's book and Epstein's book. They are both very good, but for me the best "visual" explanation of rotational hitting came from Mankin's video "The Final Arc II". I tend to be a more visual learner, so it helped me to understand how to "teach" the swing to my 10 year old. Mankin works with MLB players.

I taught my 20 year old son linear mechanics when he was a boy and it worked fine until he got to college. Now he is re-learning how to swing a bat using rotational mechanics. He found that he could not hit as well at the higher level using linear mechanics. Linear mechanics are fine for LL and even HS, but why not teach them properly from the start? They will be much better hitters and they won't have to re-learn the swing later if they get that far. JMO

R.

I'm not a hitting guru, and I don't know the diff. between rotational and linear.

I do know that Early recognition of the pitch allowed me to respond to it in a more "forceful" way. Is this rotational? I don't know.,but I remember my coach telling me that "You really turned on that one!".

Seems to me that the sooner you recognize the pitch, the better.

Don't see it as early...quick hands. Is this linear?

Anybody...Anybody...

I may have used the wrong words in my original post. I certainly can't change everyone(Very good point FlippJ). However, I would at least like to be able to explain why I am teaching this to my own players(rotational is new to alot of people). I just thought some names of MLB or college coaches that teach rotational would help. I have never heard of any specific coaches that teach this style(except for Epstein).

Thanks!!

FlippJ,
Fine, other than taking his hands to the ball a bit too much. (Seriously!)
What off-season?

How's your son doing in the off-season? You certainly have one there.

Rocket,

Men do not like other men telling them what to do. I live in a small town where there is one guy with whom I can even talk hitting on a detailed level. I have tried it with HS coaches , Juco coaches, fellow coaches etc. and recently with college and pro coaches. I have done it to learn more only to find that I can learn more on HSWEBbaseball web site
I am respectfully submitting this statement...you are wasting your time trying to footnote and justify the methods.

You are either in position to help players or you are on the outside and they will not let you help players. I think you have a good grasp but many people like ( even love) baseball but could give a flip about hitting methods. The less they know the less willing they are to discuss it and they will turn what you say around or off.
I have a few guys that I have their e-mail address and I cut and copy good posts from you guys occassionally. THe drip method sometimes is better than a frontal assault.

It drives me nuts too.

In "The Mike Schmidt Study" hitting technique is presented as moving along a continuum which starts at weight shift hitting on the left to pure rotation (Williams) on the right with everything else (such as Lau) in between, and Mike goes on to assert that a great hitter benefits from knowing and being able to use/combine elements of technique from the whole continuum.

It has been a while since I've read the book, but if I recall correctly, he equates the rotational style with home runs, and the linear style with base hits and high batting average, a la Charlie Lau.

I may be off base, because I don't know your situation or your team, but I would focus on improving rotational mechanics in my biggest, strongest guys (if they can learn it) and for the rest work on line drive base hit contact mechanics that work for them to get base runners on and give you the opportunity to play small ball.

My $.02

"seven days without bar-b-que makes one weak"

CADad,

Sorry for the delayed response. Yes we definitely have an off-season up here in Minnesota. Our unfinished basement has been getting used quite regularly over the past couple of months. I've got a JUGS net set up down there for him to throw and hit into. He also uses it to catch his football during halftime of Sunday NFL games.

I believe our son's are the same age. My son just turned 12 a few weeks ago. This will be his last year in Little League. He's hoping for a big year. I'm hoping for a little more consistency.

Either way it should be a fun LL finale. Feel free to PM me if you'd like to talk privately.

Good luck!

Jason

Swingbuster, how right you are.......There are simply very few people who are even the slightest bit willing to discuss hitting...I'm talking every level of baseball......It is, in fact, because they simply don't know what to say.......You are so right!

This site is full of them. And, not only do they not want to talk hitting, they don't want you to either.

Can someone show a swing that is not rotational? All swings are rotational to some degree. Maybe thats why pro coaches seldom teach it. Depending on how linear is discribed every swing has some of that too. These are just words and they dont really mean anything. A good swing is a good swing.

DocBall

quote:

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These are just words and they dont really mean anything.

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Allrightythen...

Got to a minor league game early this year and sat and watched a coach work with BJ Upton, one of the top prospects in the minor leagues. Talked mainly about being short to the ball, hands to the ball. BJ did not get the ball out of the infield that night and I did not think his swing looked that good. However, he had a solid year in Class A and in the Arizona Fall League he was hitting balls 450 feet. Nick

you may not believe this but i swear its true
i live in s cal supposed hot bed of baseball
i have spoken with college coaches
several batting instructors and players as well
in all my conversations i have met one actually my son met him who even is aware of rotational hitting
none had even a clue what is is except
at usc

Maybe there is a difference between what the highest level players are being taught, and what they actually do as a natural reaction to a 95+mph fastball.

Watch Sammy Sosa while he is on-deck! I have noticed that he often swings down(as if he were using linear mechanics), but he is true rotational during ABs.

Any thought????

rocket,
Given his power, Sosa needs to uppercut to maximize his productivity. Because a lot of the fly balls he hits go over the fence they aren't caught for outs and his average remains reasonably high despite many strikeouts resulting from the uppercut. However, if the uppercut gets out of hand he won't make decent contact at all. Swinging down on deck just reminds him not to overdo the uppercut. Thinking about swinging down and getting on top of the ball for a player with an uppercut will only moderate the uppercut a bit. It won't result in a downswing which is the last thing Sosa would want to do in almost any situation. JMO

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From my experience I have found that the few people who take the time and effort to learn about rotational mechanics are reluctant to fully embrace this method of hitting because of one reason.They feel that linear mechanics are better suited for hitting the outside pitch.Until we can resolve this problem to the satisfaction of these skeptics, the linear vs rotational battle will rage on.

From my experience I have found that the few people who take the time and effort to learn about rotational mechanics are reluctant to fully embrace this method of hitting because of one reason. They feel that linear mechanics are better suited for hitting the outside pitch.Until we can resolve this problem to the satisfaction of these skeptics, the linear vs rotational battle will rage on.