Swingin' down or up at the ball. That is the ?

[Swing Coach]

I am still waiting to hear a coach (at any level) use the words "slight uppercut" "tilt the shoulders" etc. All I ever hear is the opposite. I was at a minor league baseball game tonight and struck up a conversation with a player working on his swing before the game. He says they are taught to bring their hands straight down and to the ball in the quickest fashion they can. He demonstrated by throwing his hands at the (imaginary) ball while he kept the barrell back and on top...showing me the "bat lag" he wants to get.

I talked to him about dropping the barrel below his hands, shoulder tilt etc, and I could tell it sounded kind of foreign to him. Then he said those moves might be good for more advanced players, but their coaches want them to work on getting the hands down to the ball quickly with the barrell coming down at the ball and uppercutting only after contact.

I videotaped one of their players hitting a ball to the wall, and of course, the barrell was well below his hands, uppercutting as he made contact.

So the question is, why do the slew of coaches out there teach one way, while the best hitters do it another way? I say teach the youngsters to swing like the pros as soon as possible, and that it's not necessary to teach them to first learn a "more basic" swing. What are your thoughts?

[BoardMember]

SwingCoach, do you play golf?

Better yet, is this guy swinging up or down at the ball?

http://photos.imageevent.com/siggy/hitting/pro/PujolsAlbert3.gif

I am still waiting to hear a coach (at any level) use the words "slight uppercut" "tilt the shoulders" etc. All I ever hear is the opposite. I was at a minor league baseball game tonight and struck up a conversation with a player working on his swing before the game. He says they are taught to bring their hands straight down and to the ball in the quickest fashion they can. He demonstrated by throwing his hands at the (imaginary) ball while he kept the barrell back and on top...showing me the "bat lag" he wants to get.

I talked to him about dropping the barrel below his hands, shoulder tilt etc, and I could tell it sounded kind of foreign to him. Then he said those moves might be good for more advanced players, but their coaches want them to work on getting the hands down to the ball quickly with the barrell coming down at the ball and uppercutting only after contact.

I videotaped one of their players hitting a ball to the wall, and of course, the barrell was well below his hands, uppercutting as he made contact.

So the question is, why do the slew of coaches out there teach one way, while the best hitters do it another way? I say teach the youngsters to swing like the pros as soon as possible, and that it's not necessary to teach them to first learn a "more basic" swing. What are your thoughts?

[Swing Coach]

I can't view that file, but went and looked at other ALbert swings and I would say (from a side view) he is swinging down and then up to contact.

The minor leaguer I spoke with said he broke ALbert's swing down and claims he is down all the way to contact.

So what is your point as it relates to teaching?






ps - sunny in Illinois tomorrow if you want me to make a tee time

[mike28nc]

I would say hands above the ball, and bat in plane with the ball. Which the ball is going downward so the bat is going upward.

Mike

[swingbuster]

BM is asking the right question...do you play golf?

Do we want an aspiring golfer to drop his back shoulder and swing up....no. Do we swing down and maintain that path no.

When a quality pitch is presented it is usually around the upper thigh. The swing path to that ball is diagonal or oblique.

Imagine a hula hoop around the players body and tilt it diagonally. Is it up/ , down , or level. So the barrel follows the hula hoop. When players show you what they do it is never what they do.

None of the above or all of the above is probably the answer with qualification

So the question is, why do the slew of coaches out there teach one way, while the best hitters do it another way? I say teach the youngsters to swing like the pros as soon as possible, and that it's not necessary to teach them to first learn a "more basic" swing. What are your thoughts?

Agree wholeheartedly

The swing is the swing as proven by video and is what you say you saw in reality. Coaches have been mis-describing that as long as there has been a game. They are showing the shaft to shoulder position / the tight lag position and they really want the weight shift that it promotes but few videos show the barrel above the ball to contact so why tell kids to do the wrong thing.

Keeping the hands above the ball mentally gets the hinge angle forward and the player releasing the back side IMO. So one cue that is not really happening in the swing makes some player do something that should be happening.

You make good honest observations that should be called into question. I think there are better ways to drive this point home to aspiring players besides telling them to do something that is NOT happening. The ones that fail at it are the ones that actually do what the coach says for it is at best a coin flip concerning outcome.

Many professional players have to hide the fact that they seek outside hitting coaching from the organizations for which they play. Coaching hitting is that inconsistent and poorly understood from what I can gather.

[Swing Coach]

So the proper teaching words to youngsters and their coaches is that the swing is level, not to the ground, but at a diagonal viewpoint. IN other words, the swing is level with the shoulders - when they tilt, the bat tilts at the same angle. Would this be a pretty simple, but accurate way to describe it?

[swingbuster]

I think so....when you have the mental picture them I am sure there are many ways to transfer it.

One fails and you redirect until you get some understanding

NOTHING trumps the feedback the batter gets actually swinging on the diagonal and watching the ball come out hot and on a line drive trajectory.

Then when you experience that one ball out of center and down to RCF you feel like you have chance to be a hitter at the HS level and beyond.

So few can do that ..........Middle in hitters are all to common and pitching coaches know that

[jima]

It's my opinion, but regardless of sport, great teachers don't teach literally. Sometimes teaching requires that the student learn a feel or sensation that can only come by practicing drills that aren't actually the form or mechanics that the teacher wishes the student to finally end up with (TomG, does "swing thought" come to mind?). I think its impossible to teach high level hitting in a literal fashion. For instance, can you imagine a coach showing a video to Johnny and remarking...."do you see where Pujols is right before contact Johnny? I want you to practice that today and work on your shoulder and bat angle at impact, OK?" Good teaching doesn't work that way...only a great eye, experience with success and failure over many years forms a good hitting instructor. As Hogan said, you have to "dig in the dirt." Sorry, about being all over the place here. jima

[Erik]

I would like to see the diagonal swing path to the ball. I think it's important to show this path to the ball. Can someone show this by a drawing or other?
Donny could you give the definitioin of the diagonal swing plane?







Erik,

[bbjunkie]

I would like to see the diagonal swing path to the ball. I think it's important to show this path to the ball. Can someone show this by a drawing or other?
Donny could you give the definitioin of the diagonal swing plane?







Erik,

Somewhere back in the last year or two there were a lot of graphics posted here of the skeleton and the swing plane. I thought those illustrated it quite well, if someone has the time and energy to go back and find them.

[Erik]

bbjunkie,
Didn't Nyman create this? I don't think you can get this swing plane if the back elbow drops before launch. Thanks!!






EL,

[virg]

Golf? Check the clubs! All pitched upward to varying degrees.
Switching clubs changes a swing all by itself. Golf? silly oversize tabletop game.

[Jake Patterson]

So the question is, why do the slew of coaches out there teach one way, while the best hitters do it another way? I say teach the youngsters to swing like the pros as soon as possible, and that it's not necessary to teach them to first learn a "more basic" swing. What are your thoughts?

Ignorance - They teach what they do not understand.

[Erik]

I think the some coaches just have fixed ideas. These ideas were created partly by others that had credibilty. I think the coach has to have a willingness to have an open mind. This is where I believe the problems began. Most coaches I believe they know everything that needs to be known for their players. This is common and this hurts players.




Erik,

[BoardMember]

Golf? Check the clubs! All pitched upward to varying degrees.

So is a bat, and depending on position of contact on the diameter of the bat head determines what club is being used........

One of these players has been taught to swing down to contact, and one is being allowed to swing up into contact:

http://i12.tinypic.com/2yzbtqd.gif

There is a lot of discussion here on why someone would teach a downward path to the ball. I don't think this is necessarily wrong. If we consider there are essentially 2 parts of the actual swing, IE launch to contact, and contact to finish, it would make sense that part A of the bat head path is a downward path, even if that path is angular as Donny pointed out.

This is why I asked the question about golf, and Donny knows it. Is a golfer swinging angularly down or up "INTO CONTACT".

Even if you use the hola-hoop analogy, which a precise picture, the bat MUST travel down before it travels up.

[tom.guerry]

In the segmented mlb swing, the torso needs to be stretched enough to adequatell power the swing. The torso can't keep stretching when the back shoulder "unloads" or when the arms take the hands away from the shoulder.

The Williams/upsloping swing keeps the hands at the shoulders until the shoulders have tilted and kept the torso stretching,resisting the opening hips.

Then the torso uncoils/unloads turning the shoulders, then letting the arm s come away which produces the upsloping swing.

You can't swing down this way without keeping the back elbow up,then slotting it without unloading the back scap.

Keep elbow up to swing down.

Even when you are "slotting" the back elbow, it feels like it's staying up.

Same in overhand throw with high arm slot.

[swingbuster]

[QUOTE]Donny could you give the definitioin of the diagonal swing plane?


I tried with the hula hoop analogy. I think the swing is an elongated circle and the elongation of the perfect circle is from the shift to move the COM forward.

Using PCR stuff..if the arms, hands and bat stay in the momentum plane of the shoulder turn ( which they do on many picthes) it is easy to see the diagonal plane that great hitters use on low balls. THe barrel starts into the orbit higher somewhere north of the 45 slot and stays in the shoulder turn plane to contact. The shoulder lever is turning diagonally which does have the hands arms and the barrel directly in the plane behind them.

The barrel release ahead of the hands hits the ball on the upswing giving it lift.

You get lead arm extension and find it easy to unhinge tha barrel and get lead leg extension ahead of contact

[Swing Coach]

Based on what I am hearing and seeing from BM's picture analogy of Albert and the boy, is it safe to assume that a great drill would be for a kid to stand with a fence (wall) behind him. Tell him to swing without hitting the back wall. Then you could add some shoulder tilt etc. But the point would be that the kid who casts his barrel backward slightly would hit the wall.

Make sense?

[LClifton]

Based on what I am hearing and seeing from BM's picture analogy of Albert and the boy, is it safe to assume that a great drill would be for a kid to stand with a fence (wall) behind him. Tell him to swing without hitting the back wall. Then you could add some shoulder tilt etc. But the point would be that the kid who casts his barrel backward slightly would hit the wall.

Make sense?

Yes it makes sense.

Suggestion: Make sure to video.
Things not seen in 'real time' (speaking for myself :)--will be evident in video.
i.e,,,short-arming the swing, rounding the ball, the 'down move' continues to go downward, etc.

Of course, one way to determine if swing path is good-- is monitoring ball flight while using this 'barrier behind' type of drill.

Down, yet up.? Contributors to this?
http://lclifton.hittingillustrated.com/MBradley2.gif

[BoardMember]

To further my thoughts on the downward "teach" in the "teaching format".

I think you'll all agree that you CANNOT accuratly duplicate what we see in the swing trying to perform it in slow motion for you students. Sure you can EMULATE positions but that's where it stops.

Why is that? It is because the swing has forces working on it's "true creation" that are forces that cannot be duplicated in slow motion.

Without getting into biomechanics I'll try to explain.

If you look at the clip of Dukes kid above, his hands "drop behind and down", never getting connected to the shoulders/hips.

Consider this. During a 1/2 Speed tee drill, with the tee set in the just in back of the contact zone, if the hitter is prompted to swing down to contact from launch, his hands WILL move forward and downward crossing the rear peck(breast) into contact. THIS WILL PROMOTE THE CONNECTION we all seek in the swing.

Now, move the tee slightly forward to the contact zone, and using the same key of the downward path, and add in the other 50% of power into the rotation of the hips and upper torso, in essesence "adding the forces" you cannot duplicate in slow motion, and you will see the path "morph" into THE CONNECTED pattern of the MLB swing. The swing WILL flatten, and peak the bottom of the arch before contact, because of the rotational forces moving forward and stretching the path.

What you end up with, is a "powerful, connected" swing that moves into contact stretched from downward to forward from rotational forces created from hip/torso turn.

Kids and coaches who attempt to "Emulate" the path creation by using the hands getting down in order to swing up are the one's we are seeing posted here.

DO NOT take away the though of swinging down to contact, in the context of creating a "true, connected MLB path".

Below is another of my CRUDE pictures of what happens during a down-drill, and what happens when you add ballistic hip and torso turn.
http://i16.tinypic.com/345zwjm.jpg

Watch this clip and see if you can see Pujols start his swing downward, and "stretch" the swing foward in the MLB pattern.

http://i12.tinypic.com/2yzbtqd.gif

Think twice before correcting a downward path and replacing it with an "Upward into contact" teach. :think:

And understand why HiddenGem says the downward swing thought is CORRECT. It promotes connection...........

Donny could you give the definitioin of the diagonal swing plane?
I tried with the hula hoop analogy. I think the swing is an elongated circle and the elongation of the perfect circle is from the shift to move the COM forward.

Using PCR stuff..if the arms, hands and bat stay in the momentum plane of the shoulder turn ( which they do on many picthes) it is easy to see the diagonal plane that great hitters use on low balls. THe barrel starts into the orbit higher somewhere north of the 45 slot and stays in the shoulder turn plane to contact. The shoulder lever is turning diagonally which does have the hands arms and the barrel directly in the plane behind them.

The barrel release ahead of the hands hits the ball on the upswing giving it lift.

You get lead arm extension and find it easy to unhinge tha barrel and get lead leg extension ahead of contact

[Swing Coach]

This is really great stuff for teachers...the main reason why I am a member of this site. Coming out of discussions with a different perspective and some different tools to use is invaluable. I will definitely try that tee drill.

[Baseball gLove]

Any comments on this swing? I think he should keep his back elbow closer to his hip longer and tilt a little more. I also think he's dropping his hands too much.

http://eteamz.active.com/NVYB/videos/MVI_0491.AVI

This stand-up double one-hopped to the 360 foot mark in left near gap.

[NewbieBBDad]

I see quite a bit of bat drag in the second vid.

[Swing Coach]

THis is just what BM is talking about. If you pause the video in the right spot, you can see the barrel dropping and then coming up to the ball. I don't think he is moving down with his swing as his first movement.

I rememember 7-8 years ago, Jim Thome came to work out in the winter with a team I was associated with and he hit off of tees with a total down chop, drilling the ball into the bottom of the net. I was confused then, but now I realize he was conditioning his body to do the first move BM talks about with his tee "back" drill.

Now looking back when my son was about 4 years-old, he had a pop-up Fisher Price batting machine. I would step on the foot pad and the ball would pop straight up in the air. With his tiny baby bottle bat, he had to quickly go down at the ball (no time for casting the barrel) and the end result was a ball over the neighbors fence for a home run...which means he came up to the ball at contact. It was an untouched virgin swing that was perfect until I messed it up by straightening it out.

Most young hitters I see cast the barrel down because they instinctively think they should be doing something while the ball is coming in. Unlike the Fisher PRice drill, a kid hitting off a picther has plenty of time to drop the barrel. The MLB boys do not.

[punker268]

I do agree that uppercuts on a slantward bat could work, but if you go straight at it, you have less of a chance to miss it. Remember to try to swing with the arms though.

[BoardMember]

This is an Outstanding swing. I see no drag, and he is absolutely swinging down to contact........Step the video into contact and watch.

Dissagree with your back elbow assessment also. The pitch is middle. The kid pulls back from the plate slightly on the stride. By doing so, he made the ball slightly away so his elbow is leaving the slot early to find the away ball.

Watch his butt drift slightly to 3rd on the stride,(use the fence grid to gage). He might be slightly afraid of getting plunked. That will change with age.

Bet if you throw him inside the elbow works tighter, OR, he'll step way into bucket if he's really afraid. I suspect that isn't the case.

Very nice..........:thumbsup:

Second look: I would think if anything you might want the "hands connected to the shoulder" a little longer and then into extension. Tough to tell from the back.

OVERALL, very nice.

Any comments on this swing? I think he should keep his back elbow closer to his hip longer and tilt a little more. I also think he's dropping his hands too much.

http://eteamz.active.com/NVYB/videos/MVI_0491.AVI

This stand-up double one-hopped to the 360 foot mark in left near gap.

[callyjr]

To further my thoughts on the downward "teach" in the "teaching format".

I think you'll all agree that you CANNOT accuratly duplicate what we see in the swing trying to perform it in slow motion for you students. Sure you can EMULATE positions but that's where it stops.

Why is that? It is because the swing has forces working on it's "true creation" that are forces that cannot be duplicated in slow motion.

Without getting into biomechanics I'll try to explain.

If you look at the clip of Dukes kid above, his hands "drop behind and down", never getting connected to the shoulders/hips.

Consider this. During a 1/2 Speed tee drill, with the tee set in the just in back of the contact zone, if the hitter is prompted to swing down to contact from launch, his hands WILL move forward and downward crossing the rear peck(breast) into contact. THIS WILL PROMOTE THE CONNECTION we all seek in the swing.

Now, move the tee slightly forward to the contact zone, and using the same key of the downward path, and add in the other 50% of power into the rotation of the hips and upper torso, in essesence "adding the forces" you cannot duplicate in slow motion, and you will see the path "morph" into THE CONNECTED pattern of the MLB swing. The swing WILL flatten, and peak the bottom of the arch before contact, because of the rotational forces moving forward and stretching the path.

What you end up with, is a "powerful, connected" swing that moves into contact stretched from downward to forward from rotational forces created from hip/torso turn.

Kids and coaches who attempt to "Emulate" the path creation by using the hands getting down in order to swing up are the one's we are seeing posted here.

DO NOT take away the though of swinging down to contact, in the context of creating a "true, connected MLB path".

Below is another of my CRUDE pictures of what happens during a down-drill, and what happens when you add ballistic hip and torso turn.
http://i16.tinypic.com/345zwjm.jpg

Watch this clip and see if you can see Pujols start his swing downward, and "stretch" the swing foward in the MLB pattern.

http://i12.tinypic.com/2yzbtqd.gif

Think twice before correcting a downward pathnd replacing it with an "Upward into contact" teach. :think:

And understand why HiddenGem says the downward swing thought is CORRECT. It promotes connection...........

frames 10 and 11, the bat barrel is below the hands and is coming up. I would say he is swinging slighty up or level to the ball of which is coming down. I wouldn't tell a kid to swing up because it might confuse them, but I am certainly not going to tell them to swing down.

Here is HS Freshman 2 days before tryouts, he played for a local elite travel team for the last 3 years. This is what I think when you say swinging down.

http://callyjr.hittingillustrated.com/Portersidehittingdown2.mov.GIF


http://callyjr.hittingillustrated.com/Portersidehittingdown2.mov

[Baseball gLove]

This is an Outstanding swing. I see no drag, and he is absolutely swinging down to contact........Step the video into contact and watch.

Dissagree with your back elbow assessment also. The pitch is middle. The kid pulls back from the plate slightly on the stride. By doing so, he made the ball slightly away so his elbow is leaving the slot early to find the away ball.

Watch his butt drift slightly to 3rd on the stride,(use the fence grid to gage). He might be slightly afraid of getting plunked. That will change with age.

Bet if you throw him inside the elbow works tighter, OR, he'll step way into bucket if he's really afraid. I suspect that isn't the case.

Very nice..........:thumbsup:

Second look: I would think if anything you might want the "hands connected to the shoulder" a little longer and then into extension. Tough to tell from the back.

OVERALL, very nice.

He used to step in too much and was closing himself off.

Here he gets jammed by a pitch that tailed into him. He opens his front foot a little but did a better job keeping the hands in.

http://eteamz.active.com/NVYB/videos/Apr17Bat.avi

[BoardMember]

Bet if you throw him inside the elbow works tighter,

Well there you go then. As I said, the elbow is more like you'd hoped to see it on the inside pitch. Everyone gets fooled 7 out of 10 times. The fun part is when they don't, like the first clip!

That pitch on the original clip was middle-out, so his elbow action was appropriate in my opinion.

Anyway, very nice swing.........

Keep up the good work! :thumbsup:

He used to step in too much and was closing himself off.

Here he gets jammed by a pitch that tailed into him. He opens his front foot a little but did a better job keeping the hands in.

http://eteamz.active.com/NVYB/videos/Apr17Bat.avi

[BoardMember]

CJ, this kid REALLY swings down to contact, which could be good, given a few major corrections. He is a MAJOR KNOB DRIVER.

http://i14.tinypic.com/35ck0mr.gif

I'm not sure why, but there are at least 4 frames missing from launch to contact in the gif file you posted, but the .mov clip link really shows everything. He has a couple of pretty major swing flaws.

Do you have a "complete" gif of the .mov clip?

frames 10 and 11, the bat barrel is below the hands and is coming up. I would say he is swinging slighty up or level to the ball of which is coming down. I wouldn't tell a kid to swing up because it might confuse them, but I am certainly not going to tell them to swing down.

Here is HS Freshman 2 days before tryouts, he played for a local elite travel team for the last 3 years. This is what I think when you say swinging down.

http://callyjr.hittingillustrated.com/Portersidehittingdown2.mov.GIF


http://callyjr.hittingillustrated.com/Portersidehittingdown2.mov

[callyjr]

for some reason whenever I use just the camcorder I never get all the frames, but when I record it straight to the computer its usually all there. This is one where I just took the video camara and went to the cages. or maybe its just my lack of knowledge on converting them to gifs still.

[BoardMember]

If you email me the .mov clip I'll convert it.

for some reason whenever I use just the camcorder I never get all the frames, but when I record it straight to the computer its usually all there. This is one where I just took the video camara and went to the cages. or maybe its just my lack of knowledge on converting them to gifs still.

[Braves Fan 24]

I was always taught to swing downwards until contact but then at contact to follow through keeping the palm of your top hand up, which creates the curve you're talking about

[Ursa Major]

While some of these concerns may be apt thinking for the minor league player discussed above, at some point for youth players asking about whether they should swing "down" or "up" gets into "angels dancing on the heads of pins" territory, because I don't think they're helpful hitting cues -- although if you're reviewing video with a hitter, it may be useful for him to see them as the symptoms or consequences of other flaws.

I certainly don't think you want to be discussing the directions of the movements of the hands with virtually any hitter, because of the risk of promoting disconnection. For most, the better cue is to start the swing with the hips and then drive the back shoulder in the direction of the ball while keeping the hands back. If the posture is right, the back shoulder will create an arc toward the ball with hands just in front of it. The bathead necessarily will travel down and will start coming back up -- whether it in fact has started back up as of the moment that it makes contact with the ball will depend on how deep in the zone the ball has traveled. It's possible that a hitter will still have the bathead on a very slight downward path on a pitch on the outside corner that he or she is taking the opposite way, but this should be the exception.

[mike28nc]

CallyJr,

Looks to me that this batter is somewhat early and pitch location is outside some. Do you have a better clip?

I also think he is rolling over early somewhat because at contact his lead elbow is even or maybe somewhat lower then the back. Mankin talks about working/keeping the lead elbow up to prevent rolling over the hands before contact.

Mike

[LClifton]

The bathead necessarily will travel down and will start coming back up -- whether it in fact has started back up as of the moment that it makes contact with the ball will depend on how deep in the zone the ball has traveled. It's possible that a hitter will still have the bathead on a very slight downward path on a pitch on the outside corner that he or she is taking the opposite way, but this should be the exception.
My 2 cents, very well said Ursa.

[callyjr]

I was always taught to swing downwards until contact but then at contact to follow through keeping the palm of your top hand up, which creates the curve you're talking about

by doing this you take away opportunity to be on the plane of the ball as long as possible. By swinging down to contact you have to time your swing perfect every time or else your gonna miss or pop up. Swinging level to the ball allows for a few timing errors and gives you a better chance to get a good hit. Also if you hit the bottem of the ball while swinging slightly up it will put the back spin on the ball, if you hit the top of the ball it will put top spin on the ball. You get the best scenario in both situations.
http://callyjr.hittingillustrated.com/Epstein%20software/Epstein%20clips/Diagrams/swing%20plane.jpg

[callyjr]

CallyJr,

Looks to me that this batter is somewhat early and pitch location is outside some. Do you have a better clip?

I also think he is rolling over early somewhat because at contact his lead elbow is even or maybe somewhat lower then the back. Mankin talks about working/keeping the lead elbow up to prevent rolling over the hands before contact.

Mike


hey mike,

I have about 20 plus swings and they are all the same. the tee drill the select team uses made them hit the bottem of the net in the cages. I am not working with this kid as of yet, I think in the summer he going to do the 7 day program. Another one of my students told me last night about another drill they would do, they would hold the ball head high in front of you and drop it and you are to hit it n the way down. I had him try it, but there is no way you can get a bat under the ball, they are teaching hitting down. It has worked for a lot of years and this select club has done very well in the area, putting 19 seniors out of 19 into college last year. So I have no dis-respect.

[callyjr]

If you email me the .mov clip I'll convert it.

http://callyjr.hittingillustrated.com/Porterhittingdownbackview2.mov

http://callyjr.hittingillustrated.com/Portersidehittingdown.mov

[Comet 86 *```]

The best way is to ensure the bat is travelling along the plane of the ball around the point of contact simply because you'll increase your chances of hitting it. The only use of cross batting is to keep the ball along the ground to avoid being caught out, to be successful and consistant at this you would have to be very talented. Swinging flat batted is similar to cross batting unless you get a lot of perfectly flat pitches your either going to fly the ball or hit it straight into the ground. Once again the best way is to ensure the bat is travelling along the plane of the ball around the point of contact. You have to understand that there is no set plane of a pitch though because the pitch can vary from ball to ball . So it's best to judge this as the ball approaches and adjust your swing accordingly this may increase the need to hold back on the ball, but with practise it shouldn't take long to get the hang of it and be able to react earlier increasing power and control over the ball. After all you do get three swings at the thing so if you need wait a little on it, there's no advantage being like a raging bull at a gate composure is key. In practice, warm up, and if need be a game before you try to put a large amount of positive force on the ball you may want to swing to try and almost nutralise the force of the pitch (sort of like a cross between a swing and a bunt or in cricket it would be called a block), this will help you find the plane of the ball and do wonders for your timing and co-ordination. For the perfect shot 100% power and 100% control you need to co-ordinate the point of contact, and head lift which plays a big role in the follow through. This tends to be the archillies heel of a lot of batters. They tend to swing with more power than what their capable of controlling, this leads them to lift their head fractionally before the point of contact to help create it. Thus making them take their eyes off the ball consequencly causeing them to be inconsistant. A far as I'm concered nobody is capable of playing a 100% perfect shot let alone playing them consitantly but once you are aware of the problem and are motivated enough you can always work on it by taking a couple of steps back and assesing the situation. Taking lots of advice and trying lots of different suggestions is essential for a propper diagnosis of the problem as it may be due to a number of other things. These can as simple as using a too heavy or too light bat, a thought lack of physical strength, a need to face higher quality or faster pitching, a need to face slower pitching, poor wrist control, etc.
I hope my input can be of some use to someone cheers.

[Comet 86 *```]

This callyjr HS freshman looks to be trying to hit it into the side of the net shame he got a top edge it would have been a nice front foot pull shot might have even gone for 6 :laugh

[Jake Patterson]

Comet,
Not a bad illustration but the bat should represent more of an angle showing the bat head lower than the hands. The bat path is Ok but the location of the hands should be move up and more in the middle of the rotation.
Jake

[virg]

It's nearly impossible for the human frame (levers and pivots) to do anything straight. A swing arcs downward from high start to high finish, with a short segment of the arc before and after, including through intersection with a pitch.

If you hit some earlier than others, with that short segment you'll make contact slightly downstroke. Later contact, slightly up. Hit at the nadir and somebody will swear it was a level swing. go figure

[Comet 86 *```]

Comet,
Not a bad illustration but the bat should represent more of an angle showing the bat head lower than the hands. The bat path is Ok but the location of the hands should be move up and more in the middle of the rotation.
Jake

I agree totally, I didn't have time to create my own image so I had a look on the web but couln't find exactly what I wanted so I went with the next closest thing that happened to come from an above post. If I had created my own depiction I would include those points also more images showing examples of my thought on bat path for lower, higher, flater, wider, and closer pitches.