Posted by: () on Thu Aug 29 19:25:18 2002

I am a junior at a D1 college. I have an extensive library of books and tapes and so does my coach. When I told him some of the things I have read on this site he laughed. He scoffed at the notion of getting hitting advice off the internet. I am open to new ideas, whatever the source, but my coach does have one valid point. That point is that in all of the tapes and books out there, the authors have experience in the game. We are talking about Baker, Ellis, Emanski, Lau, Hendrick as well as a multitude of ex-professional players. I guess my question is, in the interest of me being able to assess your credibility, could you please specify which owners or participants at this site have the necessary experience? Thank you, I would love to go back to my coach and throw some names in his face!
> >
> > Hello Sal.
> > Let me tell you what the internet & this site has done for me & my son who plays D2 ball. My son is a good hitter, but typically only hits 1 or 2 homers in a season since he started playing ball whether it be pratice or a game.
> > One day we received Jack's video & we both watched it that night. The next morning we went out for some batting pratice on a senior league field. He hit 8 out. One day he hit 34 out. In less than a 1 month period, he hit 104 homers. Granted, this is only his father pitching to him, but he never did anything like this before.
> > So this is what the internet & this site has done for us.....Thanks Jack!!!
> > So tell your coach that.
> > Mr. G
> >
> >I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend anyone and I will make this my last post and not bother you anymore. I am not any way putting down this site. As I said before, it seems to be a good place for sharing ideas. Perhaps my perspective and objectives are simply different from most. You see, with my speed, arm and power I expect to be drafted in 2004, so the more I improve my tools the higher I will go in the draft.For me it's not just recreational baseball, it's a serious thing that can't be left to anything less than professional advice. But for your purposes you do seem to have a good site and I wish you all the best of luck.

Sal,

My advice to you is the same thing I trumpet constantly. Check EVERYTHING ANYONE tells you against slo/stop motion video of the greatest hitters in the world. Otherwise, you may find yourself ill served by "professional" advice. Keep in mind one professional credentialed Hall of Fame expert says one thing and another similar expert says the opposite. UH OH, which professional are we going to trust? Bottom line is, you have to do your own research. Understand what Gwynn did and why. Understand what Bonds does, as best as is possible, and why. Compare all this repeatedly to the one guaranteed true measure. What are the hitting greats of yesterday and today REALLY doing when you study them on stop action video. Not what they SAY they are doing. But what are they REALLY doing.

Good luck with your career. You are right to be cautious whose advice you take. I think though, you are not half as cautious as you should be.

Mark H.