rotational vs. linear hitting

Anybody here care to enlighten me on the pros and cons of these two theories?

 

True adherants to each style will argue for months and never admit that there are any cons to the style that they favor.

I started a thread with the same question about 10 months ago. Everyone ducked it for the same reason they are ducking your question ..... it's chasing the wrong thing.

Linear: a.k.a. Charlie Lau school of hitting. Everything is moving towards the ball. See Frank Thomas. Advantage: bat stays the the strike zone a little longer, long swing path, time to build up lots of momentum.

Rotational: "New Age" school of hitting. Keep a firm front side and swing around an imaginary point. See Alex Rodriquez. Advantage: Stay in balance. Quicker swing. Easier to react.

The advantage is from the proponents....

Truthful Theory: There are linear and rotational elements in everyone's swing. What the teacher stresses is the aspect that people work on. It is phyisically impossible to swing a bat without it being "rotational". If you stride forward (even by only 2 inches), you've introduced a linear element.

Ichiro Suzuki is probably the most intriguing player to watch at bat today. He uses elements of both at different times. He carries a high batting average, keeps the bat in the strike zone longer than any other player in the majors. Because of his success, there will be a new book out, probably as soon as he retires .... it will be called the "Slide Hitting, using your Mantra".

If you can't see it well out of the pitchers hand .... if you don't track the ball well coming to the plate .... if you don't have good eye-hand co-ordination, you will never be a good hitter, regardless of theory or method.

If you do see the ball well out of the pitchers hand .. track it well to the plate and have good eye-hand co-ordination and learn the strike zone, patience and have an idea of what you want to do that at-bat, you will be a good hitter, regardless of theory or method.

There ARE mechanical flaws which can interfere with your swing. A good hitting instructor is usually more about taking away your problems than changing your style.

 

The common element that strikes me in my short time trying to understand the differences, however minor, is that keeping the hands inside the ball is important. But I think good hitters, even those who've had no instruction, do this instinctively.

 

Not enough work is done with younger players particularly in "training their eye".

A pitcher picks up the ball at the release point (hopefully). Instinctively (particularly as the pitches get harder) he shifts his focal point about 30 feet and picks up the ball again. The brain reactively calculates the pitch from experience, flight-path and angle and interprets it ... the back-side and hands fire and the swing is underway.

You talk to young kids about tracking the ball all the way into the catcher's glove. This "dis-connection" of seeing the ball and picking it up again is universal and, unless thought about in the batters box, the batter doesn't realize he is doing it. The reason is that it's phyisiologically impossible to keep the ball in focus when the distances are changing that rapidly.

Hitting tiny wiffle-balls, bottle-caps (whatever they are -- and if you can find some), etc. helps teach the eyes to adjust rapidly to small, rapidly moving objects.

Co-incidentally, the shifting of the focal point is why the change-up is such an effective pitch. The release looks like a fast-ball, the path looks like a fast-ball, the amount of time it took to get to the "pick-up point" is different (fractionally) so hitters have a tendency to get out on their front foot.

 

Philosophy!?!?

Both rotational and linear occur naturally within a baseball swing! Yet as NCBB just said The TWO KEYS are again training the eyes as well as developing "timing" You can t Hit it if u Don t see it! Soft toss tee work as well as BP must incorporate/teach "frozen" eyes and heads before, during and EVEN after contact i.e. seeing the ball in the mit! Knowing finding and focusing on the release point of pitchers is instrumental to successful hitting. This take repetitions and DISCIPLINE. This is WHY alll hitters at ALLL levels swing and miss! Obviously the better "stuff" a pitcher has makes the trained vs the untrained eye much more capable of making consistent contact. This just scratches the surface and hope it helps! Secondly, being able to keep your weight centered as well as back dependent on the speed of the pitches is INSTRUMENTAL as well.. The best hitters (who obviously) have a great deal of athletic ability and quickness in their hands and hips can STAY BACK longer track longer and explode per say with the bat head!