Rotational Hitting vs. Linear Hitting
What's The Key Difference?
On the discussion boards I frequent, people often ask what is
the key difference between Rotational Hitting and Linear
Hitting. In this article I discuss some of the things that
people think represents the key difference between the two
approaches and give my opinion of those
candidates.
Linear Hitting is Not Just a Straw Man
Before I get into the differences between Rotational Hitting
and Linear Hitting, let me first quickly discuss a common
objection; that nobody actually teaches Linear Hitting and that
it is just a straw man that was invented in order to sell
Rotational Hitting.
The fact is that many people do in fact
teach Linear Hitting and use that term, or similar ones, to
describe what they teach. For instance,
Don Mattingly teaches a linear hand path in which he
advocates taking the hands directly to the ball.
That is the
definition of Linear Hitting.
There are also cues like "Throw
the hands at the ball," or "The shortest distance between
two points is a straight line," that, intentionally or not, will result
in a linear hand path.
The Weight Shift
One oft-proposed candidate for the key difference between
Rotational Hitting and Linear Hitting is the weight shift. Some
people think that Linear Hitters shift their weight more, or
differently, than Rotational Hitters. I find that, while there
are some differences in terms of what happens after the front
heel drops, I don't think those differences are significant.
The fact is that both Rotational
hitters and Linear hitters tend to shift their weight forward
during their stride and then stop the forward movement of their
weight after their front heel drops. As a result, and
because it is so ubiquitous, I do not focus on the weight shift
as a differentiator between Rotational Hitting and Linear
Hitting.
The Primary Source Of Power
A second candidate for the key difference between Rotational
Hitting and Linear Hitting is the source of power. This
one has some merit, because there are significant
differences in what teachers of Rotational Hitting and Linear
Hitting focus on when it comes to powering the swing.
Teachers of Rotational Hitting tend to focus on
the hips and core as the primary source of power. The point of
Rotational Hitting is to teach the batter to swing the bat with
their entire body, and in particular the muscles of the upper
legs, hips, and torso.
In contrast, teachers of Linear Hitting tend to focus
on the arms, hands, and wrists as the primary source of power.
In fact, in many cases Linear Hitting instructors deliberately
try to take the body out of the equation so as
to increase the time the head of the bat spends in the Contact
Zone.
Linear Hitting instructors think they can replace the
power of the body with the power of the arms, hands, and wrists,
but the fact is that it's not an even trade. The relative size of the muscles involved is
very different, which means that linear hitters have to
sacrifice much of their power. That isn't a huge problem at the lower youth
levels, and sometimes beyond if a hitter is particularly fleet of
foot, but it still tends to cause linear hitters to top out at
the high school level.[1]
The Hand Path
In my opinion, the hand path is the key differentiator
between Rotational Hitting and Linear Hitting.
Curved Hand Path
Rotational Hitting is most often taught in the context of the
curved hand path that you see in the overhead view above of Pete
Rose.
Linear Hand Path
In contrast, Linear Hitting is most often taught in the
context of the linear hand path that is demonstrated in the
video clip above.
The Limits of Linear Hitting
The problem is that you do not see linear hand paths at
the major league level. Even relatively linear hitters like Ichiro Suzuki still
employ fairly curved hand paths. The fact that you simply do not see linear
hand paths at the major league level also implies that they do not
scale; while linear hand paths may work at the lower youth
levels, they do not work in High School ball or higher because
the defenses are simply too good.
In Summary
To sum up, there are really two places where the Linear
and Rotational schools of thought diverge. At the end of the day,
Linear means...
- Linear hand path. Taking the hands directly to the ball. This is usually described as an A to C (or sometimes A to B) hand path.
- Powering the swing with the wrists.
In contrast, Rotational means...
- Curved hand path.
- Powering the swing with the hips.
Those are the two main distinguishing factors between the two schools of thought.
Rotational/Linear or Connection/Extension?
As I'm writing this essay, I'm starting to clue into why so
many people have a problem with the terms "Rotational Hitting"
and "Linear Hitting" and the difference between them.
The reality is that, at the major level at least, every hitter
is rotational if you define that based on the hand path
(and the hand path is the best way to distinguish between linear and
rotational hitters). You
simply do not see any linear hand paths at the major league level. In
fact, you don't see very many linear hand paths, in baseball at
least, above the grade
school level because that approach doesn't scale. As a result,
in my opinion the Rotational/Linear distinction really isn't
nearly as central as some people think.
Instead, an equally, if not much more important and
relevant, distinction is
between the Connection and Extension schools of thought.
What most major league hitters do is exhibit Connection at the Point Of Contact;
their hands rotate with their back shoulders. However, many -- and maybe
even most -- major league baseball commentators advocate
Extension at the Point Of Contact. In some cases this is because
they are advocating a linear hand path but in others it is
because they are exhibiting a curved hand path.
As a result, what I do in my instructional work and
Rotational Hitting 101 DVD is focus
as much on the Connection versus Extension debate as the Rotational versus Linear debate.[2]
Notes
[1] The biggest thing that was holding back
my highest-level client, Andres Torres
of the San Francisco Giants, was that he was taught a linear
hand path. He was taught to throw his hands at the ball, to slap
the ball, and to try to beat out the throw. This worked for him
all the way up through the AA level, in large part due to his
incredible speed, but it stopped working for him at the AAA
level. Over the past year I have helped him move to the
rotational
hitting approach, using Albert
Pujols as his model, and he has seen dramatic improvements in
terms of both his average and his power. That is why I teach
Rotational Hitting and not Linear Hitting.
[2] In
my work with Andres Torres, I found
that the biggest and most important revelation for him was the
distinction between Connection and Extension. This is relevant
to the Linear versus Rotational debate because when he tried to
swing using a linear hand path, he would end up extending too
early, disconnecting,
and robbing himself of power.
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