Hitting the outside pitch without trying to pull the ball

[Westwind]

Great topic.

I watched the coach lisle vids but it didn't look to me like they really hit it all that far out front. Wasn't convinced.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

 

[Westwind]

FFS- When I look at the coach lisle vid specifically I see a couple things when I watch carefully. First I don't agree that they are clearly outside pitches. A couple look like outside half but prob not outside and off the plate. One in particular is taken about noon, sun is directly above and shadows are straight down. You can get a pretty good reference where the ball and bat are.

Another one, the catcher was reaching up like a fp catcher grabbing a rise ball... Wouldn't that high pitch be hit slightly more out front?

In the vids you posted, ball is hit inside the front foot. I appreciate the effort of the tee there but I can't tell where the ball in reference the plate. Is it off the plate? I can't tell. In the top one the swing is pretty awkward, is that awkwardness because that dude can't hit an os pitch or was he fooled by the off speed? I can't tell.

I just don't feel like if we are arguing this issue the coach lisle video is convincing. I'm not there yet.

 

[ian]

Will Clark gives batting lessons | sfgiants.com

Another advocate for hitting the ouside pitch out front.

 

[RichK]

Wherever the ball is pitched you need to hit it square. Tough to get the center of the bat on an outside pitch hitting it *too* far out in front. If you want to take outside pitches early against my pitchers, I'll say thank you for the outs and my second base, pitcher and shortstop will say thank you for the fielding practice.

That said, on a tee, it's good to work the typical inside pitch out front/middle pitch front of plate/outside pitch deeper because it helps hitters figure out how to get the barrel squared at those locations. Drills often exaggerate to train skills that they can applied at full speed without thought or effort.

I LOVE the Ryan Braun oppo drills because you can see him working/drilling hands-only, then engaging the body, then seeing it in his game swing. All three are different -- they are a progression to acquire skill and ultimately apply it in a game situation. Too often coaches don't make a distinction between training a swing and using a swing to hit in a game.

When pitched full speed, how long does it take a pitch to go six inches, from out front (relative to the plate) to deep (again relative to the plate)? Milliseconds? You can't be that fine on a pitched ball (ie, I'm going to hit the outside pitch HERE deep versus HERE out front).

All you can do is have trained your body and hands to try to get the barrel to the right spot, and then work to do it against a live pitch, and then a moving live pitch from a pitcher trying to get you out.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

Will Clark gives batting lessons | sfgiants.com

Another advocate for hitting the ouside pitch out front.

This palm-up to extension nonsense, shown here (below), is pretty much the opposite of what Doc Yeager teaches.

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

Notice that he keeps his head down and then lifts it up late in his demonstration.

If the intent is to maximize damage, then go ahead and promote both “palm up to extension” and “keep your head down”.

Does it look foolish? It looks foolish to me.

 

[ian]

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GFqShArRJnk

Hes talking about throwing the barrel. Like this^^^

You do a good job of what saying not to do but you have few answers. Lets focus on what should be done.