What is the Purpose of this Site- Regarding Hitting

Good Morning CoachB25,

That is an excellent post.

There are also many others though who know much more than I do....many

Couple of them are much newer than me too, I might add.

Point is well taken though Coach and will do my part to make acceptable contributions.

Good luck trying to figure out what's in my mind cause I don't even think I know...LOL

Shep Acknowledges

Shepster,

Certainly, you've added much to this site. You've obtained the rank of HSBBWeb Old Timer in record fashion. Almost all in the hitting forum. That speaks volumes for your passion of hitting. If I didn't say it before, Welcome to the site and thanks for the contributions.

CoachB25,

Thank you sir and glad to be here.

Shep

[QUOTE]Originally posted by CoachB25:

Linear, or his new name, (up to everyone to figure out.) will be back. he will bring ideas to this site. Some are very good ideas. (JMHO!)/QUOTE]

Agree... As a longtime lurker (7 years) my main reason for coming to this site is to get technical information, mostly hitting. Years ago "Teacherman" pointed me in a direction that at the time was completely foreign to me. I have since spent many hours/months/years working on hitting with my 4 sons and would now consider myself moderately educated on the subject. I am still learning. Although I find the bickering silly, I am happy to sort through it to get info from someone who has an "idea". He (Linear, Teacherman or whatever) does. Believe me when I say ( as a "moderately educated" person on hitting) that most who offer hitting advice on this site are not as knowledgable(some are). This does not mean I think he is always right. But I do know that there is an element here that can't wait for him to post so they can push his buttons, very rarely offering any usable info of their own. This invariable sends the discussion off on a line that bores me.

I'd like everyone here to stay respectful of others.. But I'll happily sort through the nonsense and get reasonable technical hitting discussion ( as occurs between Linear and Swingbuster, PG and others) rather than hear another nice "expert" tell me to have the kids "throw the knob to the ball" and "stay inside the ball" in the same paragraph. Or to look at a clip of Bonds and say it's not rotational, or "his isn't a swing I'd copy". I've read all of these in the last week. Someone needs to be here to challenge that kind of silliness. Linear was willing to do it. I agree he should be more cheerful when he does it.

I have no idea who Bluedog is and don't care. I don't care what pitchers he has faced etc. When he has an "idea" about hitting I am happy to listen. Then I'll decide if it's a good one. If he gets obnoxious...I'll go to the next post and look for the next "idea". I'll read his posts looking for info. That's more than I will do with some others here who have not shown me that they have an "idea".

Troy99, excellent observations and nice post.

CoachB25,

Excellent post and to answer your question; I thought the purpose of this forum as it relates to hitting......To present ideas, helpful hints for the beginner, discuss hitting in general, and for us guys that have been around and seen it all.......LEARN some more. Hitting may well be the hardest skill to learn and master for any athlete.

I really believe that no matter what level you are at in baseball, you can ALWAYS continue to learn. When you stop learning, it is time to leave the sport because you are not doing yourself or the athletes you come in contact with any good.

There are so many folks that can contribute, but will not because in this forum it usually turns into a pizzing contest, and is just not worth it. I am very passionate about what I do, and I have been very fortunate and had some success. I have been around the game forever, and have seen so much, but will NEVER know it all. I continue to keep an open mind and listen.

When some folks get how they get in this forum; they disrespect the game of baseball and anyone that has ever played the game. Maybe that will change; we all need to respect the game and each other regardless if we agree about their hitting techniques.

Thanks for your post.

O42

I stumbled onto this site in January and have been obsessed it with since (just ask my wife. She couldn't believe I wasn't looking at naked pictures of Charlize Theron). I have learned a lot I think. Of course tonight at practice I still had 30 guys to deal with... not one to be their 'hitting instructor'. But overall I'm pleased with the info I find on this site. It's kind of like talk radio. You find yourself saying, "Oh baloney," to some and, "Hey, you know the guy has something there..."
thanks fellas
(Anybody want to come to my yard tomorrow and throw 8-6-4-2 to my 15 guys???)

Trojan,

If I lived in Kansas I would

Might not be able to walk the following day though-LOL

Shep

The way I deal with these issues is simple. I ignore rude or abusive posters. Once I realize that a poster is basically rude, I don’t read their posts… I know I have mentioned cyber-muscles before.. and the question of why they exist. When people need to flex their cyber-muscles, I simply move on. I may lose out on a lot of content, but I also gain by not having to deal with people I chose not to deal with.

There are enough idiots I deal with on a day to day basis, why add to the mess in cybersapce?

Most people love the game and want to pick up something on this site. It would be nice if everyone could just get along and agree to disagree. But as in real life it ain't gonna happen im afraid. I do think there is alot of value to the discussions I enjoy sitting back and reading the Ideas.

The answer is to treat hitting like religion. Although we may not agree with anothers beliefs, we need not KNOCK the other in presenting our own views. A line has to be drawn between debate and ridicule.

To gain humility we all need to remember that we are all born knowing the same thing about baseball....nothing.

99 % of what is written here is a summary of what somebody learned from somebody else. Some have spent a longer time doing it than others.

Most true gurus have an area of particular focus where they think the " holy grail" exist. That quickly becomes their weakness as from that point on as they resist new ideas and points of view.

swingbuster,

You are absolutely right about learning. We all started somewhere and are where we are at now as far as knowledge because of what we "picked up" along the way.

Good baseball people take bits and pieces from others and put it together to use at the level they are teaching/coaching at. You keep what works and toss aside what doesn't for whatever level you are at. The most important thing and you hit on it......don't resist new ideas especially if they can help the player elevate their game; keep an open mind.

I have some good stuff that I have come up with on my own, but to be honest most of what I have learned and teach is bits and pieces from someone else.

O42

I think this is what this site is all about. There are a bunch of guys here, both coaches and just dads, that I would love to sit around with, eating a pizza and just talking ball. Because of distances, I can actually talk to guys 2000 miles away about the game we love. I think its great. These are the guys I will respond to, and those that are just baiting or looking to force their opinions on us, I'll keep ignoring.

It really has nothing to do with whether you agree with the posters theory or not--it comes down to the posters presentations and some simple believe they are the only ones who have the right answers when in truth there is no one answer to hitting or pitching in the great game of baseball

Let me give you an example of what I mean---when I had my construction business we had an engineer who was a genius and worth his weight in gold in the field for us--but he had no idea how to present himself or speak with others--we had to keep him locked in the project trailer and kept him doing his engineering thing and not riling the troops in the field with his "I am right" attitude.

Some people have it and others do not when it comes to talking and discussing with others--it is as simple as that

What is the Purpose of this Site - Regarding Hitting?

To provide young high school hitters and college hitters with help in their quest to become better hitters? What happens when discussions get personal? What happens when a dissident viewpoint is attacked by a pack of groupees supporting one side or the other either because they truly believe or they blindly follow? What happens when explanations and breakdowns of "the finer points of hitting" become so complex in their attempt to prove how much more i know than you do that no sane person can follow them? What happens when people are banned from the site for "personal attacks" and others are not banned for the same type of attacks.

You know what happens?????? The kids leave. And rightly so. And then if one kid should stumble onto the site in the middle of this "learned discourse" and ask a simple question or try to make a simple point; what happens to him? He is preceived as taking sides and is attacked. And he leaves. Probably never to return.

But then again I could be wrong. Maybe this site is to put up videos of ML baseball players hitting a baseball in slow motion and endlessly and pointlessly argue whether his hands are leading his body through the zone or whether his body is going through the zone with the hands attached.

Instead we might say, "Hey, young hitters. Come back to the site. Look at these hitters on video. Watch how they do it. Watch yourself in the mirror. Are you doing similar things? Learn by doing. We older adults here all have opinions, make that very strong opinions, but when it is all said and done none of us can really agree about what is the best way for you to improve your hitting skills. So, please, click on our High School Baseball Website Hitting thread. Read, observe and experiment. Ultimately you must find what is best for you."

But I could be wrong. I have been wrong before.

TW


With all due respect I believe the hitting/ pitching discussions are more for teaching assistance for coaches-- I do not believe kids learn hitting by watching videos of others--coaches learn the nuances of hitting by watching videos and then using that additional knowledge to assist their players

We find video to be very effective in breaking down mechanics as everything is happening too fast in real-time. There are times i'd point things out to my son that he didn't realize he was doing or not doing until seeing it later on video. We also find video to be a great learning tool in studying the hitting mechanics of major leaguers. Might as well learn from the pro's as they are the best at what they do.

Then what is this site doing for the young player whose parents cannot afford to hire a hitting coach? And the young man that has a hitting coach and reads posts on this site that opine that a certain approach [the approach to hitting that his coach happens to take] is wrong, screws you up permanently and is worse than not being coached at all.

And if this site is not supposed to be helping the above or at least not hindering them, why not put up a new site called hitting for young people where videos are posted without comment and see if kids get on it and talk amongst themselves.

TW,

quote:

Then what is this site doing for the young player whose parents cannot afford to hire a hitting coach?

IMO that is where this site becomes even more valuable to players/parents.

quote:

With all due respect I believe the hitting/ pitching discussions are more for teaching assistance for coaches-- I do not believe kids learn hitting by watching videos of others--coaches learn the nuances of hitting by watching videos and then using that additional knowledge to assist their players

Folks, this is wrong......Watching video is for players and parents.....You can't count on coaches for the most part..........

quote:

You know what happens?????? The kids leave.

Do you mean...hmmmm...a longtime contributer leaves???

Where is BB ???

Just got in from HS game to find this disturbing action from one of our all-time leaders teachers friends instructor and posters along with all the rare instructional clips gone...gone...gone...

Was this really necessary ???

Shep Cares BB

quote:

Then what is this site doing for the young player whose parents cannot afford to hire a hitting coach?

Would be curious to know how many here have received videoanalysis without monetary gain ever a consideration.

Would bet house and farm that BBscout has done this for a number that exceeds comprehension.

IMHO,

Shep

I agree with BlueDog completely. This should not be a discussion thread for hitting coaches. The kids should not be run off and neither should contributors.

IMHO on this site too much acumen is bestowed on hitting coaches and not enough gravitas is conceded to the parents and the kids. They could pick a lot of it up if they were welcomed and not shunned or attacked. Certainly they could at least look at videos that everyone agrees show good hitting and compare that of their son. Why find fault with that?

IMHO
We all can learn small things from each other and discard the other stuff w/o the bashing. Linear vs rotational people can all get along if you just understand that there are differnet ways to skin a cat. You can teach an old dog new tricks.