hitting lessons!

[TIGERFAN]

15 yr old needs hitting lessons. Any suggestions?  Thanks

[RangerDad]

Kirk Hall - Barbers Hill area

[WeedBegone]

No matter who she takes from---she will need to take lots of quality swings between these lessons.  Also, equip her at home with a batting tee and soft toss net which can easily be made out of  1 1/2  inch PVC pipe.

The tee is essential for getting the head on the ball at contact. 

I say these things because so many parents put emphasis on the "hitting instructor" which is a good thing, but the work in between lessons  is where the money is spent wisely. 

[Guest bigcat]

Very true WEED. You got to swing the bat, a lot.

[Guest Darren33]

OK, I probably should have started a new thread on this, but here we go, linear versus rotational for fastpitch?

Darren33-OOC99

[trout]

OK, I probably should have started a new thread on this, but here we go, linear versus rotational for fastpitch?

Darren33-OOC99

Very few are completly one or the other. Teach what you know and be sure that it works or you will hear about it.

[JohnnyT60]

I personally like rotational...............................................on a linear line.  ;D ;D ;D

[strike king]

i live in the country and my dad taught how to hit with a tomato stake and a bucket of pea gravel

[WeedBegone]

i live in the country and my dad taught how to hit with a tomato stake and a bucket of pea gravel

brings new meaning to knock the "P" out of it. 

[DAMan]

i live in the country and my dad taught how to hit with a tomato stake and a bucket of pea gravel

brings new meaning to knock the "P" out of it.   

ROFLMAO

[JohnnyT60]

15 yr old needs hitting lessons. Any suggestions?  Thanks

Back to your original question, there are a list of coaches above in the thread titled Lessons.

Lauren should be back in town for Christmas, Holly probably available and Jeremy is always available.

[RVerde]

I like the swing those MLB guys use. Whatever you call that.

[JohnnyT60]

Any particular batter in mind?

[RVerde]

Manny and Pujols but conceptually most of them.

[RVerde]

Hitting the best pitchers in the world would in my mind require the best swings in the world. There are some exceptions but for the most part MLB hitters would have to have the most efficient swings.  There are some plane adjustments necessary because of release point but the plate is the same size.

(the zone however is bigger or smaller at times because of umpire differences)

[DAMan]

Jeter for NY has about as perfect swing as I have seen.  Adjusts well, low strikeouts during the season and always good average, even some power.  A-rod not bad either.

[Guest Darren33]

We added another coach to our team about three weeks ago - Young kid (27 years old - that tells you how old I'm getting to call him a young kid) that moved here from Houston a couple of months ago.  He's teaching them what he calls "The Major League Swing."  It's all over the internet if you do a search, but it's a Pujols style swing.  And like Trout, he says it's not one or the other (linear or rotational), it's a mix of both.

We've already seen a ton of improvement in the girls swing - mostly on power, which was what we needed to improve on the most.  Bat head speed is significantly improved.  Of course he has stressed to the girls the importance of 100 swings a night in between practices, and they've taken him to heart.  I've told this kid (our hitting coach) to post his name out here for lessons.  I'll check and see if he's available (and interested) and will send his contact information to the original poster of this message board.

[JohnnyT60]

Tell him to post it on the coaches offering lessons thread and I will add his info.

[Guest baseball25]

BARRY BONDS BABY HAS THE BEST SWING EVER , BEST BASEBALL PLAYER EVER
1990-NL-MVP
1990-ML-Major League Player of the Year
1992-NL-MVP
1993-NL-MVP
2001-NL-MVP
2001-NL-Hank Aaron Award
2001-ML-Major League Player of the Year
2002-NL-Hank Aaron Award
2002-NL-MVP
2003-NL-MVP
2004-ML-Major League Player of the Year
2004-NL-Hank Aaron Award
2004-NL-MVP
1990-NL-OF
1991-NL-OF
1992-NL-OF
1993-NL-OF
1994-NL-OF
1996-NL-OF
1997-NL-OF
1998-NL-OF
1990-NL-OF
1991-NL-OF
1992-NL-OF
1993-NL-OF
1994-NL-OF
1996-NL-OF
1997-NL-OF
2000-NL-OF
2001-NL-OF
2002-NL-OF
2003-NL-OF
2004-NL-OF

[WeedBegone]

[quote name="baseball25" post="683782" timestamp="1256311668"]
BARRY BONDS BABY HAS THE BEST SWING EVER , BEST BASEBALL PLAYER EVER
1990-NL-MVP
1990-ML-Major League Player of the Year
1992-NL-MVP
1993-NL-MVP
2001-NL-MVP
2001-NL-Hank Aaron Award
2001-ML-Major League Player of the Year
2002-NL-Hank Aaron Award
2002-NL-MVP
2003-NL-MVP
2004-ML-Major League Player of the Year
2004-NL-Hank Aaron Award
2004-NL-MVP
1990-NL-OF
1991-NL-OF
1992-NL-OF
1993-NL-OF
1994-NL-OF
1996-NL-OF
1997-NL-OF
1998-NL-OF
1990-NL-OF
1991-NL-OF
1992-NL-OF
1993-NL-OF
1994-NL-OF
1996-NL-OF
1997-NL-OF
2000-NL-OF
2001-NL-OF
2002-NL-OF
2003-NL-OF
2004-NL-OF

[/quote]

But his swing comes with the big [size=18pt]*[/size]

[Guest baseball25]

If you know the game of baseball roids don't make you hit a baseball, they don't make you hit a curveball,changeup and etc, you still got to play the game, Bonds was a 5 tool player coming out of ARIZONA ST.

[WeedBegone]

[quote name="baseball25" post="683821" timestamp="1256315218"]
If you know the game of baseball roids don't make you hit a baseball, they don't make you hit a curveball,changeup and etc, you still got to play the game, Bonds was a 5 tool player coming out of ARIZONA ST.
[/quote]
Sorry to ruffle your feathers, but since you question the knowledge of baseball, I would acknowledge that if performance enhancing drugs are prohibited, then there is probably good reasoning.  Perhaps, home runs, doubles, and triples might have been routine outs if the player was wearing the body he was born to be. 

My point is, when working with youth and teaching them mechanics, it is ok to refer to player styles, but if you choose to pick a specific player, then there is always a possibility of disappointment. 

BTW--if you happen to be one of those stuck  with a B Bonds jersey, you might get a good deal on it on e-bay---(just kidding. )  ;D

[Guest baseball25]

I gurantee I know more baseabll than you buddy and my knowledge of the game is way above your level sweetheart, steroids don't make you hit a baseball Bonds and arod were 5 tool players when they came into the league. Bonds was a 30-30 player for so long. He's the only player that has 400 hrs and 400 stolen bases in a career and he has 500 each.

#1 Barry Bonds - Certainly this will be a controversial pick, but it's also the obvious choice. Barry Bonds is, in fact, the greatest hitter who has ever played the game of baseball. His major competition is Ted Williams and Babe Ruth who I believe should both be somewhat marked down due to inferior competition, but even without such a mark down, Barry Bonds dominates when talking about best peak performance.

Based on OPS+, Bonds had the three greatest seasons in baseball history (2002, 2004, & 2001 - in that order.) Babe Ruth had the next best 3 seasons and Ted Williams the next best 2 seasons. Incredibly it's then Bonds at #9 (2003) and Ruth again at #10 and #11. What's that mean? The top 11 greatest hitting seasons of all time were all by these three hitters. There's no surprise then that these are the top three hitters of all time on my list.

Bonds has to be #1 though, because his peak was higher than any other peak and he did it in a much more competitive era than did Ruth or Williams.

Of course Bonds also has some great career numbers (most obviously as the all time leader in home runs, but he's also the career leader in walks & runs created) but it's his peak performance numbers that make him the greatest hitter of all time. He holds the single season record for slugging percentage, on base percentage, OPS, OPS+, walks, & home runs.

It's also worth noting that of these three great hitters, Bonds is the only one who was a great base runner (over 500 career stolen bases) and while I did make note that I am not considering defense when compiling this list, I do think it's worth pointing out as a curiosity that Bonds is also the only one of the three who was a great defensive player (not counting Babe Ruth's amazing pitching skill of course.)


posting) is still one home run shy of tying Babe Ruth’s 714 career home run total. Down the road is Hank Aaron’s all-time record of 755 home runs.

Due to Bonds’ prolific home run hitting of late and growing investigations tying the San Francisco Giant slugger with potential use of steroids, more and more people are questioning if his attempt to pass these time-honored baseball marks is legitimate.

While many people on moral grounds want to dismiss Bonds’ achievements because he might have used an illegal drug, would steroid use really help him hit more home runs? Does more muscle equal more distance on a flying baseball?

Those are very tough questions to answer with purely scientific data. Baseball players of different eras were facing different pitchers throwing different balls in different stadiums. And within the game of baseball, there’s more support than you might think that Bonds’ achievements have more to do with pure baseball skills than possible increased muscle mass due to steroids.

Star Tribune sports columnist Pat Reusse put that question to several current and past Minnesota Twins during spring training. And what they had to say could be surprising to anti-steroid purists:

"The truth is, there were so many guys taking steroids for a few years, and they couldn't hit like Barry Bonds. In my opinion, a guy hitting with a corked bat is taking a bigger advantage than someone who was on steroids,” said Twins outfielder Shannon Stewart. "If Bonds was doing all of this ... you still have to hit the ball. He still was going to hit 40 or 50 (each season), with or without steroids."

Maybe you’d expect such a comment from a current player looking to come to the defense of a colleague under siege in the court of public opinion. But what does a former baseball legend think? Here’s what Tony Oliva, former American League batting champ and current hitting consultant had to say:

“I hope baseball can soon stop talking about steroids. What I do know is the ballparks (today) are smaller and the ball is harder. I know those are two reasons for more home runs. Maybe steroids were the third reason. I don't know.”

Hall of Famer Paul Molitor chimed in with this take on the situation about Bonds’ late-career home run surge:

"As much as it might appear to be overwhelming evidence on the surface -- alarming physical transformation and a mysterious upgrade in power later in a career -- it's not a black and white issue. It's very strong speculation, but it's still speculation."

So what does it take to hit a home run? Reflecting back on the vintage film showing Babe Ruth at bat, he was by no means a chiseled athlete. Yet he had the knack to be the premier home run hitter for much of the game’s history. And Hank Aaron, the current career home run king, wasn’t Goliath, either, and was known for his all-around ability to play all phases of the game.

An essay by Robert Nishihara has an interesting take on the home run/steroids question. He turns to the book The Science of Hitting by former Red Sox great Ted Williams, considered by man to be the best all-around hitter to ever play the game, to define what it takes to hit a home run.

Writes Nishihara:

“A good hitter must identify a pitch to hit, know enough about the pitcher and the game situation to give himself the best chance to succeed, and put hands and hips into motion to drive the pitch. Nowhere does Williams mention that muscle mass aides in any of those critical elements. Williams, himself, of course, was rail-thin, and yet, he managed to crank out 521 career homers.”

“Sure, added muscle mass may increase the distance a player is able to hit a baseball, but what negative effect does that added mass have in altering the fluidity of the player's swing and, thus, his ability to hit the ball in the first place? A popular baseball refrain cautions fast players who have deficiencies in the batter's box that one cannot steal first base. Similarly, a power hitter cannot hit a home run if he cannot hit the ball. And hitting a baseball is a unique skill in the world of sports. It is a powerful act that does not require extraordinary muscle strength. Instead, it is primarily dependent on technique, reflexes, and hand-eye coordination, not brute strength. It is a correlation that so many people are failing to make these days.”

On top of that, many of the players to be disciplined in the last couple season for steroid use have been pitchers. If you believe steroid use helps a player hit the ball farther, then did steroids also help a pitcher throw harder? Would that make it harder for a player to hit a home run?

In my mind, all of these questions raise even more questions as to the impact steroids have on the records and performance of the game. Don’t get me wrong: I’m not advocating using illegal drugs in sports, but their impact on the game and its records isn’t as clear as things might seem on the surface.

[HR4MEK4U]

I did not even read all of what you said Baseball boy but I can say that cheaters never win. Bonds Cheated if he was so great coming in why use steroids? why does he need that edge? He was not above baseball! Ted Williams had no competitions, like you said he still had to swing the bat(curveball, fastball, slider) he still had to run and look .400 avg now that guy is a HOF. BONDS WILL BE LIKE ROSE WOULDA , COULDA , SHOULDA and Ilike Rose. What else you got?

[WeedBegone]

[quote name="HR4MEK4U" post="684065" timestamp="1256333445"]
I did not even read all of what you said Baseball boy but I can say that cheaters never win. Bonds Cheated if he was so great coming in why use steroids? why does he need that edge? He was not above baseball! Ted Williams had no competitions, like you said he still had to swing the bat(curveball, fastball, slider) he still had to run and look .400 avg now that guy is a HOF. BONDS WILL BE LIKE ROSE WOULDA , COULDA , SHOULDA and Ilike Rose. What else you got?
[/quote]

LOL--- I must have hit a nerve trying to help him unload that Bonds Jersey.  Other than that he sounds like a purdy knowledgeable feller.  His thesis was a little long if i might say.  :-\