There are lots of people on here who have strong opinions on the proper baseball swing. It seems like most of you hypothesize and very few actually have practical experience teaching it.

My question is this- How many of you actually put this knowledge to work. Who are you working with? How do you teach what you know to players who actually play.

It's easy to sit back and wax poetically about the perfect swing. Reciting is easy. Editing is easy. Who can get on the field, detect a flaw, and fix it. When it gets right down to it, if you can't do those things then all of the alleged knowledge you have is useless. This board is about learning and getting better. It's not about making all of you feel better about yourself because you can use multi-syllabic words in your posts.

That post is really funny. There is a tension at work with baseball hitting.

First, you must teach a system. I have an older boy and a very young one. I taught the older boy to hit like most major leaguers did 12 years ago. I will teach the 9 year old a certain set system, but it has changed over the years from what I taught the first one.

The second part of the tension is when you coach many kids you must adapt to them or force them into your system. No two players look alike, there is a "fingerprint" to the way their body does things. Also, some have more pop than others, some more footspeed, etc. I would work within the player's attributes, style and system when working with many and not force my particular system on them. Most coaches cannot do this.

Lastly, I cannot hit my way out of a wet paper bag. I'm really good at bowling, math and I'm decent at fighting. Does it really matter if someone can hit to teach hitting? Most who could or can hit teach the way THEY DO IT. That is sometimes a problem.

I must admit, I have learned on this website from most everyone who has posted. I love the point counterpoints & think they help. I love the passion the "gurus" have for the game and particularly hitting. I don't think anyone here has mistaken some of us for gurus, instead we are dads or coaches who love the game. It gets frustrating for some to see the posts, not understand what is even being argued and try to go back and make some sense of it.

I don't mind "multi-syllabic" words, even when I don't know what they mean. When I get through with this post I'm going to google "multi-syllabic" just to make sure it is a word.

quote:

t's not about making all of you feel better about yourself because you can use multi-syllabic words in your posts.

Take a pill you'll feel better in the morning.

quote:

Originally posted by BobbleheadDoll:

Take a pill you'll feel better in the morning.

I'm sorry, but if you are not a doctor you have no place giving such advice on this forum.

We have several hitting gurus on this site and each brings something to the table. Some like to hear themselves type ( ) and others have some very valuable info. I don't think any of us agree on who the preceeding sentence applies to since we disagree so much when it comes to hitting. Thus the beauty of this site. If one or two posters say something, I really take time to listen and think it out. Others I get a nice chuckle. They might get the same chuckle when I post something. I see no harm at all except when it comes to attacks on people etc. I don't think this site is for that. For example, there is a gentleman that has sold thousands of DVDs on hitting. I don't like some of his ideas. There is another gentleman that has sold hundreds. I like his ideas a lot and spend a lot of time reading his hitting site. Again, a part of the beauty of this site is to help you become aware of all that is out there and then you can pick and choose what direction you want to go. One particular poster on hitting and I have often disagreed. However, as long as he is civil, I don't have any problem with him and everyone has the option of going to his site and reading his material. I'll stay where I'm comfortable because that person's site MAKE ONE HECK OF A LOT OF SENSE TO ME.

Coachb25, very well said!!

i have always enjoyed your posts and our emails, on another website was an article about hitting and one guy i've shared some info with spoke of a "hybrid" hitter. never heard that term before. are you familiar with it??

this is what he wrote:


I know I said I don't like the web site i attached but there is a good film clip of David Ortiz. The reason I attached it is because I think Ortiz would be classified by most as a rotational hittier but he is precisely what I would call a hybrid guy. The only difference in the true definition of a hybrid is that a true hybrid guy usually loses contact with the back foot, i absolutely do not advocate that. Although, doubledroptine has it pegged, "if it ain't broke don't fix it". problem is that if you work hard enough at this you will find out that almost all of them are broke some way or another. My main objective to win games obviously but i hav e a personal agenda in that i'm not sure i don't get more gratification out of getting marginal kids signed to play at the next level. that being said, using the clip from the link above, this is exactly why HS kids should not be compared to pros. This ball is way in, he is way jammed, and he still hits the ball out of the yard. second, look at his back pocket in the side view and decide whether or not his hips srart the hack or his hands. i think that he does some things with his front foot that HS kids would never get away with and there is no way in he double hockey sticks that they would hit that pitch out of the yard with their hands in that position. thhe thing i like about it is that his lower half never changes and he makes the adjust ment for the barrell with his hands not his lower half like most young kids do.

Deaconspoint, Dr Bobblehead or Bobblehead MD sounds kind of cool. Maybe he should take a blue pill and a pink one.

Personally I enjoy the varied opinions on hitting although I am not a hitting guy. The last I heard no one got hurt by bad advice on hitting but I suppose anything is plausible.

quote:

How do you teach what you know to players who actually play.

I teach using random training with delayed feedback.....Everybody else I know of teaches block training with instant feedback.....

An example of what I do is, I don't wany my student participating in hitting stations at practice....No soft toss and no tee hitting......Depending on the age of the student, either myself or the player talks this over with the coach....

Batting practice hitting is O.K....Any speed!!

If I may???.....

I think a qualification to be tagged as a hitting guru requires that one have their own hitting website....

I say to be a guru you must sell a hitting DVD.

Or BlueDog's posts could look like this... (current post count of 1408 divided by 3 equals 469 pearls of wisdom)

quote:

How do you teach what you know to players who actually play.

I teach using random training with delayed feedback.....Everybody else I know of teaches block training with instant feedback.....

An example of what I do is, I don't wany my student participating in hitting stations at practice....No soft toss and no tee hitting......Depending on the age of the student, either myself or the player talks this over with the coach....

Batting practice hitting is O.K....Any speed!!

If I may???.....

I think a qualification to be tagged as a hitting guru requires that one have their own hitting website....

Want to be a GURU?

Read the following thread below>

http://hsbaseballweb.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/8291034941/m/6271011151

If any of you guru's are thinking of going international. Here is how you will want to present yourself.

Chinese: 宗師, 宗师
French: gourou m
Greek: γκουρού
Hindi: गुरू
Japanese: 教祖
Korean: 지도자
Kannada: ಗುರು
Punjabi: ਗੁਰੂ
Sanskrit: गुरु
Telugu: గురువు, ఓ రంగంలో :విశారదుడు, కోవిదుడు
Urdu: گرو

If PGStaff, BlueDog and Shepster declares me to be a hitting guru I am regardless of tapes or websites.

One time I had one of my players wax my car all day. When he was finished he was very frustrated but I showed him how "wax on, wax off" was a great way to hit and take the pitcher out of his rhythm. Was a really strange looking swing. Pitcher laughed so hard we walked to victory.

Same player painted my fence. I showed him how that motion "paint up, paint down" could produce a downward plane in his swing. He got two catcher interfernces in one game and we won by a run.

So, since I have such advanced techniques -- would someone please bless me as a guru?

By the way, and no kidding aside, if Shep, Bluedog, CoachB25 or PGStaff say something about hitting, pay attention.

Blue Dog- Why no soft toss or tee hitting?

Soft toss and tee hitting is block training with instant feedback....

Not the way I teach.....

When a player hits off a tee or with soft toss, the player's emphasis will be on hitting the ball.....

I want the emphasis to be on how they load and unload....And, I want to get them in that frame of mind as quickly as possible....Then, and only then, can we make progress and move forward with the learning process, IMO....

I will add......

Loading, unloading and timing the pitch is the motor control process....Teaching one without the other is counter-productive, IMO, because they function together, not independently of each other.....This is what random training with delayed feedback is about....

Soft toss from the front is O.K. as long as the pitcher is some distance away from the batter....Soft toss from the side is what I stay away from....And, hitting into a net I, also, stay away from....

I use a "Hands Back Hitter" in every session.....Everything I want to teach is built into that product....It's a form of soft toss, but, with some really big differences....It makes the batter shift his weight, helps teach how momentum works and helps instill loading while striding.......And, the ball is moving, so, the motor control functions are all in play.....

BlueDog- You're giving us some useful stuff. Can you explain your "Hands Back Hitter" a little more.