Swing down?

[lapanm]

The whole idea is to drive the bat head down off the shoulders so at contact..out front...you generate a backspin on the ball. more back spin, more carry.

 

[mann]

The whole idea is to drive the bat head down off the shoulders so at contact..out front...you generate a backspin on the ball. more back spin, more carry.

Ok, so cross the plane of the pitch? if it is alow pitch, how can you create backspin, if your bat is at an angle? that would be a slice?

 

[1fingeredknuckler]

If the infielders are going to continue to be as good as the OK are, doesn't make much difference how hard you git them on the ground

 

[obbay]

...you generate a backspin on the ball. more back spin, more carry.

I am strongly against the whole concept of trying to hit with backspin for many reasons. first and foremost, just like swinging down on the ball, a U18 fastpitch player is most likely going to hit a pop up when attempting this. keeping the bat on plane with the ball is going to result in the best hit. with the technologically advanced bats we have today and good mechanics, you don't need to make it more complicated. In golf where the ball is stationary, tennis where you're contacting the ball with a much larger surface, Billiards and slow pitch I think you can successfully employ backspin at contact to your advantage.

A round ball coming at the batter at close to 60 mph (and this is assuming no movement in the pitch), she is swinging a round (in section) bat at 60 mph or better, the bat will remain in contact with the ball for 1/2000 of a second over a distance of 3/4" . you are expecting her to make contact with the two spheres just below the center of the ball, to impart enough backspin to make the ball travel farther than if she made solid contact center-to-center?

maybe ....

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

More often than not, if you swing down to and through the ball (which is different than swinging down through the ball), then you will impart backspin on the ball ... which need not be the hitter's objective, albeit it is the result.

 

[TDS]

How Minnesota Twins' Byron Buxton got his swing back

In order to cut down on strikeouts and keep the good vibes flowing, Buxton has gone back to a visual he has used in the past. He tries to imagine hitting a one-hop smash toward the second baseman; not just with two strikes, but from the very first pitch.

“It just allows me to get the barrel to the ball,” he said, “to make sure I stay through the ball, and it keeps my bat on plane. It allows me not to pop up out of my swing. I’ve got to stay down through the ball.”

 

[Work=wins]

Isn't the swing down cue a way to stay short in the vertical( excuse my non expert terms)plane. The backspin thing is just a result of having a proper vert plane to the ball? Barry bonds said it " fastest point to the ball is straight down". I believe the OU coach gives the cue "swing down for ground balls" knowing that when connected right it will be a rising line drive . But giving a ground ball cue will keep the players from over swinging and coming out of there legs.. Seems to me she is using the mlb swing philosphy.Goes to show you hitting is not that complicated. Stay short on the vertical plane, stay short on the horizontal plane . Sit fastball in your zone until 2 strikes . Good luck ! Sorry if I took this somewhere else. On vacation and have a lot of time on my hands love this place by the way!

 

[FiveFrameSwing]

How Minnesota Twins' Byron Buxton got his swing back

Worked with a kid tonight that was struggling with their hand-path ... type of kid that lowers the barrel to intentionally swing up. Had them attempt to one-hop my pitches to the back of the cage. Kid made notable progress. Appreciate the post and link.

 

[flipper14]

Color commentator stated that the Oklahoma head coach (PG) refers to the swings as angle down.

When I hear "angle down" I think of something completely different. To me angle down is runners on second and third and runners reading any ground ball and running automatically on contact regardless of where they are hit if the ball is "angled down." Many coaches run angle down because even if a runner is thrown out at home they have 1st and 3rd or more likely the runner advances to second on the out at home and you still have runners on second and third.

 

[mann]

How Minnesota Twins' Byron Buxton got his swing back

i also use the que " stay down through the ball" but is to keep their tilt, not pull off the ball.

and yes, straight to the ball is fine, straight down to, will turn into a shorter path, rather than a very long loopy swing.