Information Overload

[GOINGDEEP]

Wellphyt makes a good point. You take a collective of good knowledge and apply it according to the student. You can not apply one method for the masses, it will not work.

The OP asked who was the the "go to guy" "most trusted" "expert". I'm my opinion it's the guy who has a vast amount of knowledge, but can adjust for each personal style of the students. There are a lot of smart coaches, very few can apply that knowledge as a mental and educational instructor. The best don't sell a product, they sell the idea, and the ideas evolve into every students individual qualities.

Pretty good material here: Mark McGwire

"My theory is the majority of the time when hitters are struggling it is usually about pitches that they are trying to hit," he says. "They are trying to hit pitches they can’t handle. The whole thing is they have to stay in their zone. They have to understand their strike zone. If you are going to go out of your strike zone and think that you can cover the whole 17 inches of the plate, it is pretty hard to do that up here in the big leagues. ... I don’t know of anybody that makes a big living hitting pitches that are off the plate."

Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Even Carlos Beltran jokes about it, "He has a very deep philosophy, see the ball, hit the ball."

But it is working. When the Cardinals swung the bat they made more contact with pitches inside the strike zone (89.6 percent) than any other team in the majors.

Matt Holliday says McGwire’s principles as far as having a direct, short swing have helped him. His game plan against pitchers has helped as well, but more than anything, it is the mental aspect of the game where McGwire’s coaching stands out.

"At this level I think mechanics is a small part," Holliday said. "When you get to this level there are tweaks and sometimes some bad habits that can creep in. ... But he’s great at encouraging. He walks in the door with a ton of respect just based on his playing career. ... He had experienced a lot of highs and lows in his career so he speaks from a place of experience, which I think automatically adds creditability to what he is saying."

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

Lee Traveno, a former top golfer, was once asked … "how do you win all those Opens?"

Lee responded with … “feel baby, feel”.

“Son, you don’t have to be dumb to play good golf, but it sure does help”.

Don’t over think this game. Feel it. Have fun. Let your body do what it wants to do.

Honestly ... at a high enough level ... you have to learn the mechanics that will help you thrive. But once you learn the essentials, then there is a lot to be said for taking Lee's advice.

 

[SBFAMILY]

I agree with NoonTime. Bobby Tewksbary I read. I do know he has visited with Howard Carrier and shared ideas. Bobby has played the game and knows what he is talking about. Others haven't.

 

[Mr T]

I agree with NoonTime. Bobby Tewksbary I read. I do know he has visited with Howard Carrier and shared ideas. Bobby has played the game and knows what he is talking about. Others haven't.

Just playing the game doesn't get you there. I think it was Hemingway who said writers need a built in BS detector, and having played gives you that. But then you need to be a person on a mission to dissect and test every bit of the swing and all sorts of different teachings. And Tewks seems like a man on a mission. I am not up to date on all his stuff, but he and people like him, if not great already, are going to end up furthering the game.

 

[drc9805]

I started with Charlie Lau as a baseball coach. I then got Hudgen's video and used some stuff from it. From there Epstein. Then, I got the DVDs from Englishbey. I also am a member of his private site where I consider the "real information" is found. IOW, his dvds pale in comparison to what is there. I used a combination of all of these various gurus as I coached my child. I still put video of my child on Englishbey's private site and enjoy the conversations there. However, there are a lot of guys here who have also been there and done that. I hope that they weight in on their opinions. People like SSarge, Mark Hanson and Boardmember have put students at very high levels in softball.

I bought one of Englishbey's videos then went to the site to try to join and nothing would ever happen. I tried emailing and everything else and never had any luck so I finally gave up. This was probably 5 years ago.

 

[wannahit]

I bought both of Englishbey's video's , and had the same problem with site, never got straightened out and gave up

 

[Ken Krause]

If Ken would allow it I wish our experts could have a thread of their own. Keep it as concise as possible and easy to understand. Pictures and video are good.

That's what blogs are for.

 

[Ken Krause]

By the way, this is one of the best threads we've had in the Technical Hitting Forum in a long time. Very thoughtful answers.

 

[JAD]

Do any of you dads or coaches out there suffer from information overload when it comes to hitting mechanics? I know I sure do. I read a lot on this site and recently , I have joined several of the other sites that are referenced from time to time. There is so much info out there and debate ( or , I might say "Mine is bigger than yours.....") that my brain almost explodes trying to figure out what I actually see and believe. I try to pick out certain things and focus on that aspect. In general , which expert/camp do most of you agree with most and why? (Please , no peeing matches if you choose to answer. Can even PM me if you would rather).

My $0.02.....you need to guard against sending your players to the plate with 10,000 things on their mind. Work on their swing mechanics in practice, repetition builds muscle memory, and then just tell her, "do what you do" when she steps into the batters box. I have seen too many girls who "overthink" when they are at bat, and it never ends well.

 

[drc9805]

I totally agree with JAD's statement above! I can tell when my daughter is thinking...she will have the slowest swing possible!!