Stylistics for high school hitters.

Every hitting coach should familiarize himself with the postulations of the masters: Lau, Hriniak, and Williams.

Baseball coaching on the high school and middle school levels has its own set of problems. One of the most vexing of them is the limited player pool. Since coaches cannot recruit, draft, trade, or buy players, they have to evaluate a polyglot lot, pick the players who appear to have some talent, and then undertake the laborious process of developing them.

The players will be strong or weak, fast or slow, tall or small, athletic or non-athletic. Everyone will have to have something added or something eliminated, and all will need a lot of polishing.

One of the most essential starting points is the identification of the player's batting style. O.K., so he can be called a Charley Lau-type hitter. (He once saw George Brett hit the centerfield fence a few times, and fell in love with his style.)

What is the kid doing right? What is he doing wrong? Is he being effective? Does it pay to tinker with his style? Should he be encouraged to try something else?

The answers will, of course, depend upon the coaches' knowledge and experience. Almost every dedicated coach will have some knowledge of the great hitter and an understanding of the basic commonalties, or "absolutes," of their styles. A study of the videotapes, workshops, and literature will generally provide a pretty clear-cut picture of the three predominant hitting styles: Weight-Shift, Rotational, and Combination.

Charley Lau, along with Chicago White Sox batting coach Walt Hriniak, are identified with the Weight-Shift system. Ted Williams is the apostle of the Rotational system, and Mike Schmidt has developed his own system, which he identifies as the Combined system (an amalgam of Lau's and Williams' principles).

Various other batting styles appear to be based on individual idiosyncrasies (Pete Rose, Reggie Jackson, Johnny Bench, et al) rather than any delineated system. Nevertheless, a study of these hitters will further enhance a coach's knowledge and understanding of hitting.

The Weight-Shift system of Lau and Hriniak is designed to put the batter in the best position to hit to all parts of the field - hitting for average rather than sheer power by putting greater pressure on the defense.

The Rotational system, advocated by Ted Williams, is predicated on a forceful rotation of the hips and shoulders to generate power - a "pull" system that emphasizes power over average, though Williams never suffered from a power shortage.

The Combined system of Schmidt stresses "centerfield contact," combining power and high batting average, though Schmidt hit over .300 only once in his career. He compensated with enormous power.

Since the role of the hitting coach is to assist each hitter in developing the hitting style best suited for him, it will behoove every coach to familiarize himself with the basics of the three current hitting styles.

POSITION IN THE BOX:

The position in the batter's box is tied in with the swing.

Lau positions the batter deep in the box and back from the plate.

Williams wants this hitter to move closer to the plate and deeper in the box to ensure a rotational hip action and pull of the ball.

Schmidt also positions the hitter away from the plate to allow the hands to stay on the inside of the pitch, over the plate, and to direct the ball toward centerfield.

BAT POSITION AT THE LAUNCH POINT:

Lau's Weigh-Shift and Schmidt's Combined system calls for the hands to be at shoulder-level - a high-hand position that will produce a downward path of the bat barrel and a level swing.

Williams' Rotational system seeks a slight upright upward direction of the swing, which calls for a lower hand position (below the letters).

PATH OF THE SWING AND FOLLOW-THROUGH:

The swing path of the Weight-Shift is elongated, flat, and level.

Schmidt's Combined system also emphasizes the level, elongated swing path, which enhances centerfield contract. Both Lau and Schmidt want the bat to be started from a more horizontal angle, 45 degrees or less.

With low-slung hands, Williams' Rotational system tends to produce a slight uppercut, for which he advocates a vertical bat hold.

TOP HAND/BOTTOM HAND:

The one important aspect of hitting common to all three systems relates to the function and importance of the rear arm or top hand. Since the top arm is positions behind the bat, its action is that of pushing the bat through the strike zone.

Laws of physics hold that greater force can be exerted on an object when the source of that force is positioned behind, rather than in front of, the object being moved. As a result, the top hand or rear ann force generates the power necessary to drive the ball.

In addition to top-hand importance, the Weight-Shift system relies on the lead arm or bottom hand to direct the hands to the ball. Lau emphasized the importance of this lead arm extension. By allowing the top hand to be released from the bat after contact, he achieved full front extension of the arm. This lead-arm extension with release of the top hand from the bat is the trademark of the Charley Lau/Walt Hriniak Weight-Shift system

STRIDE FOOT ON LANDING:

One of the "Ten Absolutes" cited by Lau is not opening the toe of the front foot beyond 45 degrees. This is vitally important in preventing the hips from "flying open," causing the head to stay locked into the hitting zone.

Williams' Rotational system is based on a forceful pivoting of the hips and shoulders - a rotational system in which the lead foot must be open at the onset and at the completion of the swing so as not to restrict the pivot.

HITTING FOR POWER:

Lau's philosophy of hitting for power is based on the maturation process. He felt that a hitter should not go for home runs until later in his career, that he should master the "absolutes" of hitting and learn the fundamentals before striving for the long ball.

As previously stated, Williams' Rotational system is based totally on hitting for power. Two aspects of his philosophy need to be understood by players and coaches alike.

First, in The Science of Hitting, Williams points out that in order to hit for power, a player must have the size and strength, and that in a two-strike situation, the hitter must change to an inside-out swing in order to protect the outside of the plate, which is the basic idea behind the Weight-Shift system.

Schmidt takes the medium point of view in reference to hitting for power in the Combined system. He cautions the hitter that pulling the ball may defeat the purpose of hitting for average and power.

He further emphasizes that when hitting for power, the batter should try to go straight-away, from left-centerfield to right-centerfield.

A good coach is first and foremost a good teacher who started out as a good learner. Good coaching thus involves a study of skills, techniques, strategies, and philosophies plus the application of what has been learned to coaching situations.

Lau and Schmidt developed their knowledge through scientific research, whereas Williams used data gathered from analysis of his hitting to justify his Rotational theory of hitting.

Williams has been grossly misunderstood as a theorist. Even though his primary emphasis has been on developing power by utilizing the hips, he always wanted the hitter to develop his own style of hitting, based upon his size and strength.

He further stipulated that any time the hitter goes to two strikes he must yield to the pitcher and make adjustment. He has to give up the idea of pulling the ball and go inside-out with a more level swing.

Rob Ellis THE PROFESSIONAL HITTER Hitter Productions, Atlanta, GA 1990

Charley Lau and Alfred Glossbrenner THE WINNING HITTER Hearst Books, New York, 1984

Mike Schmidt and Rob Ellis THE MIKE SCHMIDT STUDY: HITTING THEORY, SKILLS, AND TECHNIQUES McGriff & Bell, Atlanta, GA, 1994

Ted Williams and John Underwood THE SCIENCE OF HITTING Simon and Schuster, New York, 1970

Bill Pfeil, Asst. Baseball Coach Upper Arlington (OH) H.S.