Interesting take from a great MLB hitter.

[MonteScheinblum]

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cx_Rleau1-Y/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

 

The 2 people where I learned about hitting……

 

1.  My dad who almost won the batting title and made the all star team in 1972.  He learned most of what he knew from Ted Williams, who he spent spring training with and part of a season when he was with the Senators.

 

2.  Rod Carew, who was a family friend and I worked at his academy 2 summers.

 

What Berkman said is what I learned.

 

 

Edited October 8, 2023 by MonteScheinblum

[cardoustie]

Love it 

[joelotw]

Thanks for sharing Monte. What a great athlete your father was, I read his Wikipedia site. Same principle applies to golf swing I assume. 

[rchang72]

@MonteScheinblum I remember reading in “Men at Work” that Tony Gwynn specifically kept his hands back to hit a slicing ball. I’m assuming both he and Berkmann had specific reasons to do their particular moves. What what he trying to do differently? Just curious 

[Boise59]

I remember when your dad played  with the Tribe (oops meant Guardians!).

[bilbry57]

Saw him play for Angels in high school in 1973 I think he hit .300 That year good all around player

[tm3]

Interesting baseball comments, and interesting family history.

 

Nothing trumps genetics.

[Lefty_3Jack]

I always hit it better when I focus on keeping trail hip back and getting arms down first.  My hips will be damn near square at impact, but contact is much better.    

 

The first part of the video where he talks about guys hitting topspin balls to the pull side is interesting.  You can find it somewhere on the internet where someone said Barry Bonds would hit pitching wedges into McCovey's Cove as a drill.  It was to educate his hands on how to get inside the ball and not hook it foul.  In a life prior to launch angle, guys like McGwire, A-Rod, Bonds would say the sign of an elite hitter was to be able to hit the inside pitch out of the ballpark without pulling it foul.  

[Gamble Gamble]

On 10/8/2023 at 3:08 AM, MonteScheinblum said:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cx_Rleau1-Y/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

 

The 2 people where I learned about hitting……

 

1.  My dad who almost won the batting title and made the all star team in 1972.  He learned most of what he knew from Ted Williams, who he spent spring training with and part of a season when he was with the Senators.

 

2.  Rod Carew, who was a family friend and I worked at his academy 2 summers.

 

What Berkman said is what I learned.

 

 

 

I'm rarely on here, but when I saw that Instagram post show up in my feed a few days ago, I immediately thought about the clinic where you were talking about the epidemic of 68 Ballerina move. 

 

You told me the fix was to speed up my arms  

 

Since my golf IQ back then was somewhere around Forrest Gump level, I never understood how to do that correctly.   I thought speeding up the hands was in a "across the body" motion.  The intent worked until my hand path went too far out then a million compensations came in to avoid shanking the ball.  

 

Now finally, 8 years later I understand that speeding up the hands means letting them and the arms drop faster while unfolding the elbow, in an up and down method (NOT ACROSS the body) while allowing my pivot to get the hands back to the ball. 

 

I use to feel so jammed up and quick, I now feel like I have so much time between transition and impact.  The intent also had the benefit of reducing my head movement towards the target in transition too.   

 

Moral of the Story:  you were right  AND if you're a student, do not just nod and assume you understand what to do, ask the pro detailed questions rather than interpret it with your amateur level golf brain.  

[Chunkitgood]

There’s a great deal of ambiguity if not imprecision in such discussions.  “Fast” does not mean the same as “early in a sequence.”  What happens later in a sequence by definition does not happen independently of what happens earlier in the sequence.  The sequence starting I really believe at the ground is what makes the hands move fast.

[Nels55]

Sounds good!

 

Here is another take that is maybe an opposite approach?

 

 

[Nels55]

Here's how to hit:

Don't think!

[MonteScheinblum]

29 minutes ago, Nels55 said:

Here's how to hit:

Don't think!

One of my first memories as a child.  72 all star game at Fulton county.  My dad handed me 3 baseballs and said go over to those guys and ask them if the will sign balls for you.

 

They dad and were happy to.

 

Hammer, Yaz and Say Hey.

 

Aaron hit a home run and the crowd went so crazy, I remember being scared.

[Nels55]

7 minutes ago, MonteScheinblum said:

One of my first memories as a child.  72 all star game at Fulton county.  My dad handed me 3 baseballs and said go over to those guys and ask them if the will sign balls for you.

 

They dad and were happy to.

 

Hammer, Yaz and Say Hey.

 

Aaron hit a home run and the crowd went so crazy, I remember being scared.

That's awesome!  Willie was my hero growing up, he will always be the greatest!  

[hammersia]

Baseball is based on cricket, a proper sport.

[Golf_Goof]

Dude is pretty fired up 😄

 

Arms first and down has been my focus the last half of the season and has paid off huge for me. Focusing on lower body first resulted in EE and ruined my progress in this game for too long.

[jonsnow]

6 hours ago, hammersia said:

Baseball is based on cricket, a proper sport.

Cricket is an insect. Next you'll tell us soccer is football...

[Nels55]

7 hours ago, hammersia said:

Baseball is based on cricket, a proper sport.

I have seen claims that Baseball is based on a sport called Rounders which I believe is a little kids game?

[AdamMH]

8 hours ago, hammersia said:

Baseball is based on cricket, a proper sport.

What on earth could the point of this comment possibly be? Totally irrelevant to the discussion being had here and not particularly correct either.

[Pepperturbo]

2 hours ago, jonsnow said:

Cricket is an insect. Next you'll tell us soccer is football...

Or a frog a prince?

 

@MonteScheinblum Good vid.  I hope others can understand what those two were saying.

Edited October 12, 2023 by Pepperturbo

[bilbry57]

14 hours ago, MonteScheinblum said:

One of my first memories as a child.  72 all star game at Fulton county.  My dad handed me 3 baseballs and said go over to those guys and ask them if the will sign balls for you.

 

They dad and were happy to.

 

Hammer, Yaz and Say Hey.

 

Aaron hit a home run and the crowd went so crazy, I remember being scared.

Great story 3 of the best to ever play.  Hopefully you still have the balls😎

[bilbry57]

Willie's response to hitting reminded me of a story about Mickey Mantle & Ted Williams.  

One time before a game, Williams confused Mantle with a series of questions of his own. When Ted asked him which hand was his power hand and which was his guide hand, Mickey had no idea what he was talking about. After listening to him, Mantle tried applying his theories at the plate, but imitating Ted only made batting more difficult. He didn’t get a hit for about twenty-five straight plate appearances.

While Williams was interested in the science of hitting, going as far as meeting with a physics professor at MIT to learn about the aerodynamics of a curveball, Mantle was all brawn and instinct. “Hell,” Mantle said years later, “I just used to go up there swinging.”

[MonteScheinblum]

38 minutes ago, bilbry57 said:

Great story 3 of the best to ever play.  Hopefully you still have the balls😎

Those and about 50 more all time greats like Williams, DiMaggio, Mantle, Koufax, Gibson….etc

 

signed to me personally 

[bilbry57]

15 minutes ago, MonteScheinblum said:

Those and about 50 more all time greats like Williams, DiMaggio, Mantle, Koufax, Gibson….etc

 

signed to me personally 

I remember you told me your son was a pretty good ball player. One day that will be a great gift to pass on to him. Also may encourage him to learn more about the history of Baseball 

[phizzy30]

On 10/11/2023 at 7:05 AM, Lefty_3Jack said:

I always hit it better when I focus on keeping trail hip back and getting arms down first.  My hips will be damn near square at impact, but contact is much better.    

 

The first part of the video where he talks about guys hitting topspin balls to the pull side is interesting.  You can find it somewhere on the internet where someone said Barry Bonds would hit pitching wedges into McCovey's Cove as a drill.  It was to educate his hands on how to get inside the ball and not hook it foul.  In a life prior to launch angle, guys like McGwire, A-Rod, Bonds would say the sign of an elite hitter was to be able to hit the inside pitch out of the ballpark without pulling it foul.  

Yep.  Little league and high school coach taught us to pull our elbows in and drive the hips on inside pitches.  Similar to what Jeter used to do at the plate to hit it opposite field with his in to out swing.  Hardest pitch location to hit and keep it in play is high and inside IMO.  It's even harder when the pitch is a slider or curve ball. 

Edited October 13, 2023 by phizzy30

[phizzy30]

On 10/8/2023 at 12:08 AM, MonteScheinblum said:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cx_Rleau1-Y/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

 

The 2 people where I learned about hitting……

 

1.  My dad who almost won the batting title and made the all star team in 1972.  He learned most of what he knew from Ted Williams, who he spent spring training with and part of a season when he was with the Senators.

 

2.  Rod Carew, who was a family friend and I worked at his academy 2 summers.

 

What Berkman said is what I learned.

 

 

That's awesome Monte.  I idolized Ted and tried to learn as much as possible from his old vids growing up playing Little League and high school baseball.  I don't think there was a pitch back then that he couldn't hit. 

Edited October 13, 2023 by phizzy30

[tm3]

At least some of the success of sports greats is due to confidence.

 

Ted Williams reportedly took batting practice while saying before every pitch, "I'm Ted (effing) Williams, and NOBODY can strike ME out!"

[bilbry57]

4 hours ago, tm3 said:

At least some of the success of sports greats is due to confidence.

 

Ted Williams reportedly took batting practice while saying before every pitch, "I'm Ted (effing) Williams, and NOBODY can strike ME out!"

It's was in the Jim Bouton's book Ball Four a classic

 

 

Ted Williams, when he was still playing, would psyche himself up for a game during batting practice, usually early practice before the fans or reporters got there.

He'd go into the cage, wave his bat at the pitcher and start screaming at the top of his voice, "My name is Ted fing Williams and I'm the greatest hitter in baseball."

He'd swing and hit a line drive.

"Jesus H Christ Himself couldn't get me out."

And he'd hit another.

Then he'd say, "Here comes Jim Bunning. Jim fing  Bunning and that little s*** slider of his."

Wham!

"He doesn't really think he's gonna get me out with that s***."

Blam!

Edited October 13, 2023 by bilbry57

[tm3]

Maybe I should try screaming on the tee, "I'm tm (effing) 3 and NO OB can ever get MY drive!"

[Lobby]

I went to an Astros / Giants game as a kid. 
 

A kind lady sitting behind me asked who I was rooting for. 
 

“The Giants”

 

”But you’re in Houston. You’re supposed to root for the Astros.”

 

”No. I like Willie Mays!”

 

Ah, the things we remember.