Maybe Fastpitch Doesn't Need a MLB swing?

[colin]

not many mlb pitchers can hit. excelling in a small niche can lead to more success i think than a lower level of excellence across more skill sets

 

[Eric F]

IMO, the single most important factor in hitting success - at any level - is the athletic ability to get the bat on the ball. Those who can do it with speed, suddenness, and adjustabilty will have great success.

 

[Greenmonsters]

Several factors worth considering IMO
1. Does anyone have (or care to put together) HR/year pre- versus post-2008, when ABI went into effect and officially ended the true "hot bat" era.
2. Are HRs the best or even a good way to define a good hitter? Is a hitter good just because they hit 1 or 2 HRs? Or what if they hit a lot of HRs but have a low BA (e.g., Dave Kingman lifetime 442 HRs 236 BA)
3. Who is the hitter hitting HRs (or hitting well) against as the quality of pitching is highly variable, even within the staff of the top 25 NCAA teams

 

[TMoney]

I'll take my chances teaching high level mechanics. IMO everything else is just being lazy.

 

[CoogansBluff]

IMO, the single most important factor in hitting success - at any level - is the athletic ability to get the bat on the ball. Those who can do it with speed, suddenness, and adjustabilty will have great success.

Softball is not unlike boxing, IMO. ... Boxing is a game of great skill. It's not called the sweet science for nothing. But there's no escaping one's natural ability to beat somebody's head in. Quickness, power and reflex are major weapons. And so it is with batting.

 

[guero_gordo]

If you think the softball world has idealized the high-level swing, be grateful for your coaches. I could cover the walls of my garage with quotes from coaches trying to "fix" DD's swing the last 2 years.

Problem is that with the current bat/ball/fence mix, any swing with zone coverage can be wielded violently with success. This encourages all sorts of interesting ideas.

 

[Eric F]

If you think the softball world has idealized the high-level swing, be grateful for your coaches. I could cover the walls of my garage with quotes from coaches trying to "fix" DD's swing the last 2 years.

Agreed. In my experience, the softball world in general is still trying to push the knob at the ball, swing level (or down), and massacre insects.

Discussion of anything to do with a "high-level" or "elite" swing is only prevalent with the freaks and geeks that infest the discussion forums of the magical intarwebz.

 

[SoCal_Dad]

Several factors worth considering IMO
1. Does anyone have (or care to put together) HR/year pre- versus post-2008, when ABI went into effect and officially ended the true "hot bat" era.

Lots of bats were grandfathered when ABI began. The "hot bat" era didn't end until 2011 when NCAA instituted BCT and their own approved bat list.

 

[DrPipes]

This thread is particularly amusing to me.

A great number of college coaches at D1, D2, D3, NAIA, and JUCO coud not identify a high level swing if their life depended on it.

Finding that like every other employment field there are a great number of fakers and coaches who get by with very athletic and freak players. Very little development occurs when these players hit the colleges.Let's not forget all the great coaches who have been crowned such, based on legendary pitchers.

Just my observations over the past 20+ years.

 

[Swingz]

Move the damn bases back at least 5 feet...take that slap and bunt garbage out of the game. At least some of it. You can't even play defense. No double plays. The bases are just way to close. I think moving the bases back will create a much better game.