Posted by: Sam R. () on Wed Feb 14 17:23:08 2007

Well Jimmy,

We may not agree on what to call or even if to call a swing one thing or the other, but TRUTH is-you are dead on with your steps!

Could you please elaborate more on why your #6 is so important? (and it is!!!)

6) HEAD DOWN and EYES IN the hitting zone during and after contact has been made.






> The truth is that the debate between linear and rotational hitting doesn't exist in the Big Leagues today. This doesn't mean that it is not discussed but the discussion is usually laughed at.
>
> There is no debate because there is not one way to practice or teach hitting. There are certain fundamentals that are to be mastered, but not one way to master them. The most important fundamentals in hitting are as follows:
>
> 1) SEEING the baseball from the release point all the way in to the hitting zone.
>
> 2) BALANCE throuout the stance, load, swing, and finish.
>
> 3) Controlable RYTHM in the load
>
> 4) The first three fundamentals will help to contribute to the fourth which is SWINGING AT
> GOOD PITCHES TO HIT HARD ONLY
>
> 5) EFFICIENT swing path to and through the baseball
>
> 6) HEAD DOWN and EYES IN the hitting zone during and after contact has been made
>
> ......Now all of the details of the lower half, the feet, the hands, the shoulders, the hips, the knees, the elbows, the bat angle, the forces applied, the timing, the stride, the firmness and the timing of the firmness of the front leg, etc., etc., etc., are areas that are important, but these details should not precede the core fundamentals.
>
> Hitters practice what they know will help them produce. Some try to do off the wall drills while some just hit off the tee. It is up to the individual hitter more so than it is up to the hitting coach to figure out what is the best routine for him. The hitter is the only individual who can feel what is going on with his body when he swings a bat. He is also the only individual who sees the delivery and the pitch through his eyes.
>
> Teaching hitting should not be a debate, it should be a collective effort to help an individual hitter hit. And each individual is a seperate case. If one guy like the term "X" and he produces for the team, than great. If his teammate doesn't like term "X" but likes
> term "Y" and he also produces for the team, than thats great as well. In the end it is the hitter who decides and it is the hitter who deserves the credit for the execution of a good swing, not a hitting style, and certainly not a hitting coach.
>
> Jimmy