Hitting Styles

There are many successful hitting styles, and I think the hitter's physique and natural abilities probably affect the choice. So I don't have a lot of absolute rules, just a few preferences:

At "launch," I prefer to see the hands about even with the back shoulder, with about a hand's breadth of space between the front of the shoulder and the thumb of the top hand. If the hands begin higher, hitters tend to swoop down at the ball. Lower, and hitters tend to have trouble handling pitches at the top of the zone.

From the launch, I want them to drive the knob straight toward the pitch.

Even though I ask beginners not to wrap the bat excessively (barrel end pointed toward pitcher), a modest angling of the bat forward before launch doesn't seem to hurt, so I don't correct it if it occurs naturally. Yes, I know many people hate wrapping, and claim it slows the bat, but I don't see it, except in the extremes. Andres Galarraga is a severe bat-wrapper, but he doesn't seem too handicapped by it.

I prefer a level or near-level swing, but I recognize that many players have succeeded with slight uppercuts or slight downcuts. Here are my unscientific observations about the two:

Uppercuts: I think that uppercuts (contrary to most young hitters' beliefs) lead to more weak ground balls than they do fly balls. If you are an uppercutter and you hit the ball above its center (even slightly), you will tend to impart a forward spin, and that's not what you need for carry. A ball hit square on the nose with a slight uppercut does take off at about the right angle for maximum distance (Michael Tucker is a good example, when he's in a groove). Ted Williams, as I recall, made the point that the goal of his slight uppercut was not to lift the ball but to match the plane of the pitch (which comes at a downward angle), thus maximizing the time the bat spent traveling in line with the ball. But the strike zone was higher in Ted's day. It's very hard to hit a low strike with an uppercut without grounding out.

Downcuts: A slight downcut, if the bat hits the middle of the ball or below, will tend to impart backspin and therefore more loft and carry. The advantage of downcutting, other than backspin, is that when a ball is missed slightly above center it tends to be hit hard, not bounced weakly. But downcutters tend to pop up a lot, I think, especially on high fastballs. Naturally, downcutters prefer the ball down. So when my pitchers face downcutters, I tend to call lots of fastballs up and in.

So I work toward a near-level swing, allowing exceptions if players seem unable to adopt it successfully. I don't say "swing level" a lot, because kids seem to interpret this in various ways. Uppercutters tend to think their uppercuts are level. Also, the "swing level" command is just plain confusing on pitches at the knees, where a truly level swing is impossible. On low strikes, I like kids to "drop the barrel of the bat" on the ball and drive it where it's pitched, with no attempt to lift it. So my mantra is "hit the ball where it's pitched" or "drive it straight back where it came from" or some such.