Posted by: Joe A () on Tue Jul 10 07:02:39 2001

During the HR derby tonight, ESPN showed a clip of Gonzalez describing his swing. "I open up a lot more with my back foot in the batter's box; it's turned more toward the pitcher so my hips are freed up a little bit more..".
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> Could opening up the back foot (pointing the toes more toward the pitcher) in the box help contribute to better shoulder rotation???
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> Thanks.

Carlos,

First of all, you have to decide if hitting homeruns is the ultimate in hitting. Or, do you think that learning to hit the ball hard as often as possible is the best thing. There is a difference. Some of the best hitters, according to average, in baseball history hit very few homeruns. (That guy from Minnesota who won a ton of batting titles and whos name I can't think of now is a great example. What about Pete Rose, Huh?)

No matter what you decide, I don't think that the swing you see in the home run derby is of any use for learning. They bring their own pitcher who throws balls where they want them for only one purpose, hitting the ball out of the park.

The basics of the swing may be there, but they are adding someting as far as total commitment to the swing, bat speed, tempo and even stance that they can't use everyday. Remember they know where the ball is going to be. The guy pitching is "their guy." During the season they are facing pitchers who are trying to keeping the ball out of their power slot by moving the ball around, changing speeds, throwing breaking balls and generally just trying to mess them up.
BIG difference.

Joe A.