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Thread: SI: The Swing

  1. #1
    Be the ball Roy Tucker's Avatar
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    SI: The Swing

    Really enjoyed this article from Sports Illustrated by Tom Verducci:

    http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vau...8406/index.htm

    Hitting a baseball is hard enough on its most basic level. A 90-mph fastball will get to home plate in 400 milliseconds, but the hitter needs 200 of those to see the ball, send the image to the brain and process its speed, spin and location. The swing itself takes about 150 milliseconds—literally, the blink of an eye. That leaves a scant 50 milliseconds to decide whether to swing and, if so, on what path.

    The goal is to connect a 2¼-inch-diameter bat barrel squarely with a three-inch-diameter baseball—without actually being able to see the ball right before contact. The eye can't follow an object moving that fast that close, so a hitter cannot track the pitch in its last five feet before it reaches the plate. Here's what that means: The batter loses sight of the baseball just when the pitcher wants the pitch to break off its path.
    She used to wake me up with coffee ever morning

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  4. #2
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    Re: SI: The Swing

    As Ted Williams (possibly/probably) the greatest pure hitter of all time said. "The hardest thing to do in sports is to hit a 'round ball' with a 'round bat', 'squarely.'

    Rem
    Last edited by remdog; 08-29-2013 at 10:42 PM.
    "For Reds fans, by Reds fans" Learn it, love it, live it.

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  6. #3
    Bullpen or whatever RedEye's Avatar
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    Re: SI: The Swing

    Baseball is hard. We do well to remind ourselves of that, no matter how many times we hear it. Axioms do exist for a reason. Thanks for the link.

  7. #4
    Danger is my business! oneupper's Avatar
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    Re: SI: The Swing

    Quote Originally Posted by remdog View Post
    As Ted Williams (possibly/probably) the greatest pure hitter of all time said. "The hardest thing to do in sports is to hit a 'round ball' with a 'round bat', 'squarely.'

    Rem
    It's a round ball and a round bat, and you got to hit it square.

    -Pete Rose


    Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/qu...x0vgdeoRcQB.99
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    Member RollyInRaleigh's Avatar
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    Re: SI: The Swing

    Quote Originally Posted by RedEye View Post
    Baseball is hard. We do well to remind ourselves of that, no matter how many times we hear it. Axioms do exist for a reason. Thanks for the link.

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  11. #6
    First Time Caller SunDeck's Avatar
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    Re: SI: The Swing

    Baseball is hard; by the time I was about 14 the only way I could get on base was to get hit. Baseballs ARE hard.
    Next Reds manager, second shooter. --Confirmed on Redszone.

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    Re: SI: The Swing

    Roy great link!

    I'll add one that I enjoyed on this subject from early July.

    http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/page/...ine?src=mobile

    Not as in depth, but at a very basic level outlines identifying the pitch and the reaction time batters have. Does a pretty good job of outlining the decision to swing or not.

  14. #8
    Sprinkles are for winners dougdirt's Avatar
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    Re: SI: The Swing

    Seeing the name of this topic led me to unbelievable disappointment when I found out this wasn't an article about Ken Griffey Jr's swing.

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    Re: SI: The Swing

    Quote Originally Posted by remdog View Post
    As Ted Williams (possibly/probably) the greatest pure hitter of all time said. "The hardest thing to do in sports is to hit a 'round ball' with a 'round bat', 'squarely.'

    Rem
    Didn't Ted also say something along the lines of "Maybe human eyes cannot see the ball hit the bat, but mine can"?

  17. #10
    First Time Caller SunDeck's Avatar
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    Re: SI: The Swing

    Ted Williams and Pete Rose also both said that they could tell a slider because it had a red dot on it. Many people scoffed, but when high speed photography came along, guess what they saw? A red dot on the slider. I tend to think hitting a baseball well is a rare fluke, a gift of good hands, eyes and hips that only comes along once in a while for a select few. I'm sure much of it is teachable, but there is a separation between those who have it and those who don't.

    I can remember clearly the day I realized I just didn't have it, watching an overweight old guy spray balls around the 90mph batting cage with an easy, graceful motion that made my swing look like a toddler swatting at flies with a yard stick. Two weeks later I was signed up for Spring soccer.
    Next Reds manager, second shooter. --Confirmed on Redszone.

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  19. #11
    breath westofyou's Avatar
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    Re: SI: The Swing

    Quote Originally Posted by SunDeck View Post
    Ted Williams and Pete Rose also both said that they could tell a slider because it had a red dot on it. Many people scoffed, but when high speed photography came along, guess what they saw? A red dot on the slider. I tend to think hitting a baseball well is a rare fluke, a gift of good hands, eyes and hips that only comes along once in a while for a select few. I'm sure much of it is teachable, but there is a separation between those who have it and those who don't.

    I can remember clearly the day I realized I just didn't have it, watching an overweight old guy spray balls around the 90mph batting cage with an easy, graceful motion that made my swing look like a toddler swatting at flies with a yard stick. Two weeks later I was signed up for Spring soccer.
    Yeah it's an art for sure... hence the swingmaster

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDMPQH_QEeQ

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  21. #12
    Member RollyInRaleigh's Avatar
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    Re: SI: The Swing

    Could always see the red dot on sliders and curveballs.

  22. #13
    First Time Caller SunDeck's Avatar
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    Re: SI: The Swing

    Quote Originally Posted by RANDY IN INDY View Post
    Could always see the red dot on sliders and curveballs.
    Exactly, I relied on the delivery, but of course the older we got the better kids could mask the pitches and that was it for me.
    Next Reds manager, second shooter. --Confirmed on Redszone.

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    Re: SI: The Swing

    Quote Originally Posted by westofyou View Post
    Yeah it's an art for sure... hence the swingmaster

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDMPQH_QEeQ
    I take it you aren't referring to Jacoby.

    Rem
    "For Reds fans, by Reds fans" Learn it, love it, live it.

  24. #15
    AlienTruckStopSexWorker cincinnati chili's Avatar
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    Re: SI: The Swing

    I haven't read the author's book but this was a great interview. The relevant portion is toward the beginning. Basically, the research discussed shows that at the major league level, good hitting has very little to do with quick reflexes but has almost everything to do with good eyesight and the ability to pick up cues from the pitcher, sometimes subconsciously. For this reason, Albert Pujols was completely overmatched when he tried to hit a softball thrown by Jenny Finch --- he had no idea what cues to look for from someone throwing a large ball underhand from only 48' away:

    http://www.npr.org/2013/08/05/209160...ve-sports-gene
    Stick to your guns.

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