There's been a dramatic drop-off in offense in the Kentucky National Insurance/KHSAA State Baseball Tournament at Whitaker Bank Ballpark this year. Terrific pitching has something to do with it, but the biggest reason for fewer runs and hits are the less-forgiving bats. A new rule this season reduced the trampoline effect in the aluminum bats, making them more like wood bats. The numbers don't lie. In the 2010 state tournament, there 82 runs and 128 hits in the eight first-round games. In 2011, there were 96 runs and 127 hits. The totals decreased drastically this year to 44 runs and 67 hits.
"The bats are a little more dead," St. Xavier senior Andrew Willinger said. "Last year you could check-swing and hit a double in the gap. This year you check-swing and you'll ground out to short." Bigger, stronger players can still whack the ball out of the park, as the 6-foot-3, 230-pound Willinger showed with a home run against Mercer County on Monday. Henderson County's 6-4, 260-pound senior Avery Pitt also showed power, pounding a pair of doubles to the wall against North Oldham. Pitt said the new bats have "a little less pop, but a guy like me, who's got a lot of weight behind it, the ball still goes pretty far." North Oldham shortstop Connor Heady, a 6-0, 175-pound junior who's committed to play at UK, presents a counterpoint. He hit nine homers this spring after hitting none last year. "But for me, it was the weight room," he said. "I put on about 10 pounds. And I took lessons from (former St. X and Houston Astros player) Chris Burke. He really helped me with my swing. I've tried not to let the (new bats) play a mental game with me. I just go out and play baseball."
Read more here:
http://www.kentucky.com/2012/06/07/22165...rylink=cpy
Stardust Wrote:There's been a dramatic drop-off in offense in the Kentucky National Insurance/KHSAA State Baseball Tournament at Whitaker Bank Ballpark this year. Terrific pitching has something to do with it, but the biggest reason for fewer runs and hits are the less-forgiving bats. A new rule this season reduced the trampoline effect in the aluminum bats, making them more like wood bats. The numbers don't lie. In the 2010 state tournament, there 82 runs and 128 hits in the eight first-round games. In 2011, there were 96 runs and 127 hits. The totals decreased drastically this year to 44 runs and 67 hits.
"The bats are a little more dead," St. Xavier senior Andrew Willinger said. "Last year you could check-swing and hit a double in the gap. This year you check-swing and you'll ground out to short." Bigger, stronger players can still whack the ball out of the park, as the 6-foot-3, 230-pound Willinger showed with a home run against Mercer County on Monday. Henderson County's 6-4, 260-pound senior Avery Pitt also showed power, pounding a pair of doubles to the wall against North Oldham. Pitt said the new bats have "a little less pop, but a guy like me, who's got a lot of weight behind it, the ball still goes pretty far." North Oldham shortstop Connor Heady, a 6-0, 175-pound junior who's committed to play at UK, presents a counterpoint. He hit nine homers this spring after hitting none last year. "But for me, it was the weight room," he said. "I put on about 10 pounds. And I took lessons from (former St. X and Houston Astros player) Chris Burke. He really helped me with my swing. I've tried not to let the (new bats) play a mental game with me. I just go out and play baseball."
Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/06/07/22165...rylink=cpy
In my opinion it's not been so bad. If you know how to execute small ball stategies, to me it is just as exciting as the home run ball. It's hard for the other team to always expect the unexpected for 7 straight innings. I have had a good time watching our team whip up on a couple of high profile state ranked teams this year that we were huge underdogs in, that just didn't appear to understand that element of baseball.
The deadened bats were certain to make for more bunts, baserunning, hit and runs, etc. And I would have thought that they would make infielders show their true ability. I did hear a lot of "baseball guys" in our area talk about playing small but it seems like they just didn't do it. Offensive numbers were certainly down in region 4
Its called most coaches and players dont know a thing about hitting mechanics, including my self. All we know is the stupid little cues our coaches yelled at us growing up and we keep repeating them, although we dont even know what they mean. Its time to get educated in rotational hitting. After watching slow motion video and frame by frame of the best hitters in the world, I know they are not doing what i was taught and kids are still being taught. No more squashing the bug and hitting with the arms! The real question is, where is the information at? How do we teach it? I know not one person is gonna have the most perfect "hitting system", so with that in mind who are some of the best instructors in the country and do they have dvd's,books, clinics and so forth.
Rotational hitting is taught in Franklin, Ky at Pearls Hitting Facility by Greg Shelton - a 29 year hall of fame coach at Franklin now coaching at Beech High School. My son has been under his tutelage for 3 years now and he is a certified Epstein Rotational Hitting instructor
I seen the previews of the Epstein. Looks like pretty good stuff, hes about the only person you can find main stream. Is your son in HS ball now?
just starting high school - on a side note "rotational hitting" - epstein style is largely ignored - most epecially by old school guys - all our lives, we have taught our kids to "throw your hands at the ball", never dip your back shoulder, "stay on top of the ball" - as a previous poster said google pics on almost every modern hitter and see where the back shoulder is - the concept of true rotational hitting in it's purest form is really just staying inside the ball, having good bat lag, and letting your strong muscles do the work - If taught properly and thoroughly - it works!!
robeyeshua Wrote:just starting high school - on a side note "rotational hitting" - epstein style is largely ignored - most epecially by old school guys - all our lives, we have taught our kids to "throw your hands at the ball", never dip your back shoulder, "stay on top of the ball" - as a previous poster said google pics on almost every modern hitter and see where the back shoulder is - the concept of true rotational hitting in it's purest form is really just staying inside the ball, having good bat lag, and letting your strong muscles do the work - If taught properly and thoroughly - it works!!
I was just wondering how well he responded to the bbcor bats. I know and understand that its not going to change a ground ball hitter into a home run hitter over night but with time and proper instruction/ execution the athlete would get to his full potential for power and hitting for average? Thats pretty much what I got from his site and it makes sense to me.
On your side note... I dont understand how its been ignored for so long. Look at todays best hitters and the best hitters of all time, they have the same exact swing minus style (pre-pitch ritual/bat waggle/stance). Its funny how they can be criticised, its the same swing that Ted Williams had. The best hitter of all time. I just think its a very interesting topic and striving to learn as much as I can about hitting. Well actually all aspects of the game its just this is the first one that came to my mind. I know when I played little league through high school and one year of college ball the best instruction I ever had was stupid cues that I never knew what they meant! I dont blame the coaches though, the information just wasnt there and Im sure they did they best they could. No excuse today though, the internet is the coaches best friend today. Get to see what all the best coaches are doing. Just gotta keep in mind that not everything you read or see is the best there is and there is no other way of doing it.
We did use the new bats in middle school ball - the kids didn't complain that much - our better hitters still had several extra base hits each - At the high school level, the effects at our school were pretty obvious with only 2 home runs hit by any team all year. Just seems like a long ball dies quickly at the 275 mark or thereabouts
Guys, hitting is hitting. If you want to be a great hitter understand that you need 20/15 eyesight and 98 mph bat swing. Rotational hitting is a lot for an average HS player to comprehend and emulate. IMO the biggest problem with coaches and dads is that they think they are working with the next Ted Williams. In my experience the best strategy for the average player is to keep the swing compact and short to the ball. It is not about where you start the swing it is about where you finish it. A short compact swing with good hip rotation does produce. I see kids trying the Rotational Hitting and the first thing I notice is how long the swing becomes. An average HS player probably swings around 85 mph and a long swing means they can hit 75 mph really well and hardly touch 85 mph. Hope I didnt offend anyone, just stating my opinion from working with average to above average high school players for many years.
There is certainly a strong tendency to get lengthier swings with the rotational approach - something has one has to work on - ie. keeping the swing short and compact - the key with rotational hitting is just that - getting rotation - getting the strong muscles more involved. It is something that can be learned by kids with reasonable learning skills, dedication to it and a lot of repetition. I went looking for help when my son was about 11 and the traditional linear approach was only producing ground ball outs that the defenses were good enough to make plays on. My boy was an average hitter, at best, and we wanted to get better. The rotational concept began to work for us and we have stuck with it. I will say that in principle it is different than most people have been taught but very much shadows the type of swings of the best hitters in the game. Also worth mentioning I think is that in all likelihood the time (hours) we have spent working on hitting is certainly at least as important as the principle itself.
robeyeshua Wrote:There is certainly a strong tendency to get lengthier swings with the rotational approach - something has one has to work on - ie. keeping the swing short and compact - the key with rotational hitting is just that - getting rotation - getting the strong muscles more involved. It is something that can be learned by kids with reasonable learning skills, dedication to it and a lot of repetition. I went looking for help when my son was about 11 and the traditional linear approach was only producing ground ball outs that the defenses were good enough to make plays on. My boy was an average hitter, at best, and we wanted to get better. The rotational concept began to work for us and we have stuck with it. I will say that in principle it is different than most people have been taught but very much shadows the type of swings of the best hitters in the game. Also worth mentioning I think is that in all likelihood the time (hours) we have spent working on hitting is certainly at least as important as the principle itself.
Any sport, there is no substitute for repitition. Any swing, throw or fielding position has to be second nature. It cannot be anything he has to think about while trying to perform. He must have done that in repitition and on his own time. Most parents dont realize that to be exceptional at ones sport, practice away from organized practices is the key. Just like studying, if all you get is classroom lecture, most would not be very successful. Same with sports. I always told my kids, to outwork the opponent and more often than not you will be successful.
Commanche,
I dont think its too much for a high school player to comprehend at all. I also dont think little jonny who only practices during organized practices would be successful with it just like you said, it needs to be second nature. When you step in the batters box all you should have to worry about is if it is a good pitch to hit or not. Its going to take countless amount of reps just like everything else in any sport. You teach a pitcher the same mechanics as the pros use, you teach the fielder the same as well, why not the batter?