Could someone please "teach" me rotational hitting

[baseballplaya92]

Does anyone know of any drills i can do to become a rotational hitter? i know how its supposed to look, i just dont know how to get there. I reallly dont want to spend 50$ buying mike epsteins DVDs as i am a 15 year old kid and 50$ is alllott. so could someone please help me out. thanks guys

[Go Cardinals]

Does anyone know of any drills i can do to become a rotational hitter? i know how its supposed to look, i just dont know how to get there. I reallly dont want to spend 50$ buying mike epsteins DVDs as i am a 15 year old kid and 50$ is alllott. so could someone please help me out. thanks guys

http://www.chrisoleary.com/projects/Baseball/Hitting/RethinkingHitting/Essays/RotationalHitting.html

[JackB1]

Does anyone know of any drills i can do to become a rotational hitter? i know how its supposed to look, i just dont know how to get there. I reallly dont want to spend 50$ buying mike epsteins DVDs as i am a 15 year old kid and 50$ is alllott. so could someone please help me out. thanks guys

I have an idea that might help you...send me a private message and I'll fill you in.

[Encinitas]

Listen I am going to mention something that Dmac told several of us at hittingillustrated before passing away. Dmac at the time was discovering the great hitters tipping the barrel and convinced his minor league playing son to rework his swing to the tip and rip. And this is what he said.

Tipping does a couple of things that I like. It starts your bat in an upright (vertical) position which makes it much easier to then swing the bat and get some loft in your swing. If the tipping is done properly, it also gets the bathead a running start instead of swinging from a dead start that 95% of all amateur players do.

Get your hands back about even with your back tittie and then move them away from your body about 10" and then tip the bathead out towards the pitcher and then swing it without stopping anywhere in between.

If you raise your hands to hit like Bonds, then start your hands about level with your back tittie. If you lower your hands to hit like Vlad, then start them above your back shoulder. In both cases the hands will be at about shoulder height when your front foot comes down, but the difference will be that you have the bathead already moving and you will be creating loft in your swing.

If you want to hit the ball on the ground, then don't pay any attention to what I have just said.

Now those are basically just words that may or may not resonate with you, however strongly consider the advice. In this setup, your back elbow is significantly behind the hands (helps prevent armsy, elbow leading or bat drag) like this:

http://www.hittingillustrated.com/library/DOrtiz.gif

Now you will need to find an arm slot you like. Personally I think figuring out a way so that the lead arm is not completely extended and (so it can go past the tittie a little bit) is fine if you can maintain your rear elbow as high as or slightly above the hands. But be careful about stretching the lead arm too much. Everyone is different, but just having a good arm setup will at least help. Take your a clip or picture and compare your arms to Ortiz.

The other thing Ortiz and most great hitters figure out, is that the back elbow whatever height you choose (could be Jeff Kent) remains this way until you get the lead leg, (thus the hips) starting to open.

In this clip you should clearly study the back elbow and when it starts coming down, and when the hips open. The hint is your lower body better get started, to stretch the lower body briefly ahead of the upper body.

http://www.hittingillustrated.com/library/Manny10.gif

Lastly if the barrel is up as you stride, the hands are likely stacked one on top of the other, as the hips begin to open you need to from stacked hands to flat hands and fast. Turn the barrel with your hands to get them into proper palm-up/palm down position.

Summary:
Get good arm action in your setup (prevents the hands from coming forward to soon, and letting the lower body open up while the upper stays in there)
Keep the barrel up or tip it up as you stride
Hips lead the way
Get your hands flat quickly - The forearms must rotate
http://www.hittingillustrated.com/library/Chipper5.gifhttp://www.hittingillustrated.com/library/Fielder3.gifhttp://www.hittingillustrated.com/library/Delgado2.gif