The Swing

THE SWING

In my mind, hitting a baseball has always been considered the hardest thing to do in any sport. There's no doubt that no one can be triumphant in any other sport where they succeed only one-third of the time. Keeping my hands closer while swinging the bat has always been a great challenge for me, although I feel that is the most effective way to hit a ball. Adair would disagree with that. He believes that keeping your hands closer to your body for a longer duration throughout your swing creates more bat velocity. More arm extension during the swing slows your bat speed and decreases your control over the bat (31). No athlete would argue with an author with a Ph.D. regarding baseball, but I believe that my swing is more effective when I am the most comfortable with it. Maintaining control of my hands during a swing is one challenge, but baseball is a mind game; as a result, baseball comes down to how comfortable you perform, how focused you stay, and how much effort you put in.

The reaction time of a batter during the pitch determines where/whether they hit the ball. Adair explains the reaction time: "he will swing so that the hitting area of the bat strikes the ball squarely-he hopes! All of this takes time and judgement-and good judgment takes more time" (38). My biggest strength, in my opinion, is my hand-eye coordination. I can hit the ball very squarely and prefer executing rather easy hits than powerful ones. During each of my practices however, I try altering my swing little by little until I find the most effective one. Practicing keeping my hands in longer and generating a shorter, quicker swing allows me to feel more confident going up to hit with a newer swing.

The picture on the left shows me in a swinging stance with a soccer ball under my back shoulder. This helps with two things while swinging; forcing your hands close to your body and keeping your back shoulder level. It's very essential to maintain balance-leveled shoulders so that when you swing, you minimize the chance of hitting the ball directly up in the air.

Would an athlete perform better with a proven, technical swing or a comfortable, relaxed swing?

Adair, Robert Kemp. The Physics of Baseball. New York: Harper & Row, 1990. Print.