Efficiency is key

The definition of efficiency is the ability to accomplish a job with a minimum expenditure of time and effort. This is the word Dave likes to use for swings instead of better or worse. So after watching enough swings in my time I've realized there aren't two different swings, linear and rotational, but rather more efficient. A swing is a swing is a swing, the bat travels in a roughly circular path, with the objective of hitting the ball. Enough said?

A more efficient swing is one that has the most room for error. Error being in misjudgment of timing or location, we are only human with far from perfect hand-eye coordination after all. Therefore, our goals as hitters are 1) to achieve the highest bat speed possible at the point of contact, giving the most power 2) to create a smooth bat path on the same plane in which the ball is traveling for as long as possible, giving a higher percentage of solid contact. As shown in Figure 1 below, by matching the plane the ball is traveling on with the bat, the hitter has a greater chance of hitting a line drive.


Figure 1: Differing angles of swings. By swinging upwards and matching the plane that the ball is traveling yields a better chance of hitting line drives. Click to enlarge image.

We can achieve these goals by first rotating the lower body BEFORE the upper body, "coiling" the back to create a slingshot effect, and snapping the wrists through the hitting zone. And second by having a slight bend at the waist and opening the hips with the belly button FACING the pitcher at contact, allowing for the arms to reach out in front of the plate as far as possible. This position creates an upward swing path, which is good since all pitches are dropping!! (that crazy thing called gravity)

So now that we've got that cleared out, we can start getting into the nitty gritty.