Originally Posted by
tom.guerry I have learned over the years the most from comparing and contrasting similar skills and find the overhand throw, golf swing, and hitting swing really benefit from being studied and performed together.
Boardmember is an excellent fastpitch pitching coach, and there is some good carryover there as well.
Overall, I think the golf approach to learning the swing is the best, best described by Hardy in his books PLANE TRUTH FOR GOLFERS, and PLANE TRUTH - MASTER'S CLASS.
In baseball/fastpitch, I think it is important to learn overhand throw and hitting swing together early.
The basic thrust of Hardy's golf apporach is that there are 2 "pure" swing patterns, and the purer your swing sequence is, the more timing error leeway you have so the more effective and consistent your swing is.
The more "in position" you are, the better you do over time. The more you add difficult to control aspects, the more "out of position" you are and the less easy it becomes to compensate and still time good contact.
In hitting as best described by Williams, you need to use the 2 plane type pattern where the swing plane is lined up as well as possible with the trajectory of the pitch. This means a good pitch is about the adjustment you make that puts you "in position" as well as possible to execute a well timed/squared contact.
In hitting, the primary requirement is adequately timed swing so the adjustment needs to have a combination of well lined up swing plane AND quick acceleration that starts well behind the batter in the swing plane (see Mankin "plt" and "tht" above). Mankin also describes this nicely as "early batspeed". The MLB swing keeps the hands back as long as possible to maximize read time while the body coils and adjustment starts. Then there is a quick last stretch of the torso and firing of the bat as well timed and lined up as possible.
Williams describes the swing in terms of the contact zone as always a "slight upswing", level to the ball (lined up plane) with top hand wrist still cocked,just starting to uncock through contact (sign of good connection to unloading torso with no deceleration before contact, max batspeed at contact makes for minimal timing error).
Williams and Epstein describe the other key requirments as get a good pitch to hit, start on time, hips lead hands, adjust plane to pitch, hands stay in.
The adjustment approach preferred by Epstein is to based on a short range of swing radiuses (radii) which makes for a quick swing that permits bellying up to the plate.
For hitting heat with power, the plan is to look in or out and adjust up down on fly.
Up down adjustment is primarily related to how hips/weight shift react with shoulder tilt action, hips working within limits set by foot/leg action and foot/leg action slaved to arm/hand/bat/barrell action. This is a 2 plane pattern with upper and lower body actions controlled/coordinated by upper body to then merge/blend to adjust/completeload/unload.
Bat starts turning/uncocking as you open the front leg/hips into toe touch (you can keep the front foot/hip nmore closed/longer/even past toe touch by using a longer radius off the plate swing), this is "opening"/loading/coiling, not the active firing of hips which in this thread we are referring to as "rotation").
When GO decision is made based on what is anticipated and read, the shoulders tilt slaved to the hands turning the barrell to set the axis more upright for high ball or staying more leaned back for low ball.
This way, the depth of contact/timing is about the same for high vs low.
The high ball involves a quicker/shorter swing radius but takes more time to get the axis forward/upright vs the longer low ball swing that starts earlier as axis does not need to get more upright.
Timing for out vs in location is too diferent to cover the whole plate by power swing with a good pitcher, so better to look in or out or shorten up if the situation demands.
If you get offspeed, you can continue/prolong the "rubberbandwinding" into toe touch (uncoking bat/"opening front leg/hips), sit on back leg and keep axis leaned back as long as possible, but eventually you will get stuck out on front foot and just have to make an emergency swing or take.
This type of swing becomes longer/more loopy and uppercutting, BUT that is fine because that plane/trajectory matches offspeed stuff.
Note in addition to describing the plane matching spatially as level to the pitch, Williams also explains that the JOYSPOT is best exposed when contact is 15 degrees before or 30 degrees after perpendicular which is a good expression of the timing element involved here since the bat is accelerating/picking up speed during this slice of the swing plane which then puts contact in the middle of the timing window even though it is not in the middle of the spatial window.
Also, better late than early in Williams opinion, and if you miss, you usually miss low (if you are in the high level pattern/envelope) so raise your sites if you are having trouble catching up.
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