Myths About Hitting
Many people believe passionately in, and teach, ideas and
cues that don't hold up to close scrutiny.
Some of those ideas
and cues include...
While it's true that most kids' swings are very
different than the swings of major leaguers, I have seen
enough kids who are able to copy the hitting mechanics
of major leaguers that I believe that the big difference
is just due to instruction and experience.
A Good Swing By A Young Hitter
A Good Swing By A Young Hitter
A Good Swing By A Young Hitter
Of course, kids and females aren't as strong as adult
baseball players. That's why they play on smaller fields and,
more importantly, swing lighter bats. That lets them use the
same mechanics as the best ballplayers in the world.
A to C Swing
I just put together a new piece in which I discuss
the myth of the A
to C swing.
Backspin
In a recent essay I discuss
the myth of
backspin in hitting.
Proponents of Linear Hitting believe that, for a
variety of reasons, you should keep the barrel
of the bat above the ball and the front elbow down through the Point Of Contact.
Ryan Howard
Home Run to Right Field
The problem is that you don't see that
in the swings of good hitters like. Instead, good
hitters
always let the barrel fall below the hands and hit the ball
with a slight uppercut.
Albert Pujols
Of course, the clip above also calls into question ideas like...
- The linear handpath.
- Swinging down for backspin.
- The idea that a loop in the swing is bad.
How can those cues be good advice if they aren't what the
best hitters in the world do?
When it comes to the leagues that my kids play in, perhaps
the most popular cue that I hear coaches and parents use is,
"Level swing." The problem is that, if you look at pictures of
good hitters, it's rare to ever find a picture of a good hitter
swinging with their bat level to the ground. For instance, Don
Mattingly may be the chief salesman for the level swing, and
here he is with a swing that is anything but level.
Don Mattingly's Swing
You can also find countless pictures of non-level swings on
the internet.
Jim Edmonds
Home Run
Donnie Murphy
Home Run
Jack Cust
Home Run
Travis Buck
Home Run
Miguel Tejada
Double
If you listen to major league baseball broadcasts,
one of the biggest words that you will hear is
extension. The problem with all of this focus on
extension is that, while you do see it in hitters'
follow-throughs, you very rarely see it at the Point Of Contact.
That is because extension is the effect
of a good swing, not the cause of a
good swing.
Albert Pujols
Alfonso Soriano
Albert Pujols
As I explain in greater detail in my piece on
Squishing the Bug, many
people believe and teach that hitters should be squishing
the bug at the point of contact. I assume that is
because of pictures like the ones below. People see those
pictures and assume that the hitter also was in that position at
the Point Of Contact.
Albert Pujols
Adrian Beltre
However, if you look at pictures of the best hitters then you
will see that very few squish the bug as
it is taught. Instead, most good hitters are on the point of
their back toe, or their back feet
are entirely off the ground, at the Point Of Contact
Albert Pujols Not Squishing the Bug
Alex Rodriguez
Manny Ramirez
For More Information
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pieces I have written about the subject...
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