Thread: Rotational Hitting

Originally Posted by KAT

ok maybe I am all wet here. But when I look at alex it seems as if he actually transfers some of his weight forward, his back foot gets very light. Like he pivots on his front hip area with some weight transfering there while he lifts or almost lifts his back foot.. ok you can bash me now I need to learn this

Bingo. You rang the bell and win the kewpie doll. Very good observations IMO.

MarkH that clip you posted is not throwing the hands thats pushing very weak! Throwing the hands is what A-Rod does in the overhead view of his motion analysis.You can tell he has excellent connection of legs,core and arms.

Originally Posted by Hit Dr.24

MarkH that clip you posted is not throwing the hands thats pushing very weak! Throwing the hands is what A-Rod does in the overhead view of his motion analysis.You can tell he has excellent connection of legs,core and arms.

Great! I would add that many DO mean what you see in this video clip when they talk about throwing the hands so we should be careful with that term I think.

See we can make hitting easier if we think natural.When I take a kid and even a D1 player its easier to teach them proper rotation by just throwing sidearm with both hands.They really seem to pick up connection faster that way.

Originally Posted by 3'sDad

I've been following this a have a question of why the counter-rotation at the beginning of the swing is perceived to perhaps be at fault. I tried it (before letting DD experiment) and it felt to me like the rubber band was being wound to release the bat at impact, similar to an old-fashioned forward press in a golf swing was used to get the "golf motor" running to hit a shot. Slightly closing the lead shoulder (left - for a RHB) with the navel still pointed at home plate felt like a very strong powerful hitting position to me.

Can the group let me know where the fatal flaw is in this model. Happy to learn so DD doesn't need to be retaught improper mechanics.
Thanks

What age is your DD? Other than "counter-rotation" making it more difficult for the batter to keep both eyes on the pitcher/ball, when they get up to facing pitching 55-60+ mph, you will be surprised at how "counter-rotation" cuts into their reaction time, since it makes their swing naturally longer/slower.

In other words, they have to decide whether to swing or not quicker than they would if they weren't counter-rotated, if that makes sense. When you are talking about a matter of tenths of a second (or less), the swing needs to be as quick as possible once the hitter decides to "go".

At least that's my opinion

Jofus: DD is 10, played 12U LL ball during the regular , now 10U LL All-Stars.

I can understand reaction time being slower and the difficulty picking up the ball with a slight inward turn of the shoulders. Bat speed is critical as she grows older and hits against faster pitching.

So then power in the swing is generated in a similar manner as with a proper golf swing, where the chest and belt buckle are turned to the target and the batter up on her right toe at follow thru?

That is a good thought and starting point. Keep asking your getting much warmer. IMO If I had more time right now I would respond in detail.

Sorry.

Elliott

OK, bear in mind that I am far less qualified than most others posting here, I grew up in the 70-80's and what instruction I had was in the "linear" camp. So, I'm trying to educate myself now for my kids sakes

To answer your question to the best of my ability, Yes to the belt buckle/chest turning towards the pitcher, but if you look closely at "elite" hitters, they have little or no weight on their back foot at contact. To me, they start with a slight linear "shift" towards the pitcher, but they use their lead leg to convert that linear energy into a rotational movement as they turn their body. At this point, their hands/arms aren't doing much yet, they are generating power with their body. As their body gets pointing towards the pitcher (as you mentioned), then their arms/hands/bat "release" towards the ball.

It's almost like they "jump" onto their lead leg and use that momentum to rotate like heck.

Obviously there are other variables that you have to worry about, like bat-drag, "casting" (straightening the lead arm way too early, resulting in an outside-in swing), etc.


One thing that I have noticed on a girl on my DD's LL all-star team that counter rotates, is that her follow through is very short, and now that I think about it, it may be partially a result of her twisting which causes her swing to be a little long prior to contact, if that makes sense.

In other words, a guy that has worked with my DD a little told her to think of the swing as "short in, long out", which means hands go directly from setup into the path of the ball in as short a path as possible, but then after contact, to extend the bat head towards the pitcher (or some say 2nd baseman or so, for a right handed hitter), and maybe if your swing is too long on the way "in", that may promote a shorter path "out".

Well, that's probably a lot of rambling BS that doesn't make much sense, but like I said, I'm still trying to learn this stuff myself

Good luck to you and your DD, btw

Thanks to you all....I played ball at the same time as Jofus and we really learned to hit by feel, not really instruction so I assume what I learned was linear type hitting.

If I can get DD to feel what proper is supposed to feel like, she will get it much faster.....she does play golf so she will be able to feel the shoulder turn and knows how the turn to the target after hitting the golf ball.....I like the suggestion of throwing sidearm with the hands....I tried it and can feel how this generates power in the shoulders.