quote:

Originally posted by Catch43:
judge, what would you say to Ted Williams who promotes and upward swing?

quote:

Originally posted by Judge:
JVOS

First of all make sure that the advice you take from people is of a credible source. Not saying these guys arent credible but posting a question like that in such a general forum will result in every armchair quarterback chiming in and you wont know who's advice is of value and who to ignore.

The advice of pulling an outside pitch or "rolling over" is a valid one IF in fact you have hit 15 ground balls that were away which I doubt that they were ALL outside pitches. The posters here have assumed you are pulling outside pitches but you have not stated this so we dont know for sure. Staying inside the ball on middle-away pitches is good sound advice however its really about how you get there that matters. Even on middle-in pitches.

Let me explain, What is the path of your bat to the contact point? Is is a top down motion or is it a sweeping upward swing? Many say. "I dont have an upswing" but I move that many many amatuer players have an upward initiation of the swing. The main culprit is usually the "chicken wing" effect of raising your front elbow (which in turns drops the bathead trajectory). If you are in effect chicken winging it you will be hitting the ball on the top backside of the ball and because of the bat path initiated by the chicken wing you are swinging over ball path meaning either a ground out or a pop up if you get it a little lower. My guess is that you might miss a few altogether. My son hit 11 ground balls in a weekend once and was very upset but as we reviewed the tape it was obvious. Slight but obvious. If this is your problem fix it by getting on a tee and practice hitting 25 balls straight down into the dirt on front of homeplate. Then move to flips and practice the downward move to the ball. Tuck that front elbow down and use that top hand trying to in effect cut the ball in half. The result will be more line drives and many of them with the gap power and backspin you've been trying to make happen by lifting your front elbow. Remember you go up- the ball goes down. You go down-the ball goes up.

Best of luck

quote:

Originally posted by Catch43:
judge, what would you say to Ted Williams who promotes and upward swing?

quote:

Originally posted by TRhit:
Without seeing the young man in action how can ANYONE tell him what he is doing wrong or right----sometimes I am amazed

quote:

Originally posted by Judge:
Thats funny, make sure you are listening to a credible source then he tells you to beat the ball into the ground. Lets do some research and look at the elite swing mechanics. They are not made of downward swing paths beating the ball into the ground infront of home plate. Downward move is to be avoided normally.

This trainer is what you DONT want to do.

http://www.esportsonline.com/?sitemid=MSGRIFTE&websrc=NE_MSGRIFTE

I suggest you look into it. Maybe start with Epstein.[/QUOTE

There is no need to cut each other down because we share different philosphies on hitting. I think you are wrong but I wont degrade you for it. The "exercise" of beating balls into the ground is merely that. An exercise to re-train or counteract his pulling up and dropping his back shoulder. Nobody expects him to hit like that in a game or even BP. The reality is that he DOES want to go down to it-level thru it. I have coached hitting for many years and have several kids that went on to play in college and pro ball. I do know what I am talking about but again we dont need to rip apart a guy because you didnt understand the pont he was trying to make on a message board. I wish you the best.