What do you ABS numbskulls think on this one. Check out the replays on this video, every catcher reaches and closes the mitt but the ball never arrives because it’s a home run. What are they reacting to that they close the mitt down, sound of bat contact, anticipation of ball hitting mitt leather, or something else. I always kind of thought, but not exclusively, that ball contact with mitt initiated the close down upon the ball, They are all reaching and closing the mitt, probably a simple answer but wondering if anyone has better insight on this.
I’m going with Billy Casper having an insight into reaching and closing. From Billy’s book:
"A friend of mine, teaching pro Dale Andreason, once said that from the time we are infants we do everything contrary to what the good golf swing asks for. Assuming you are right handed you reach over with the right hand to take things off tables, turn the pages of books, or put the cap on the toothpaste tube. But in the golf swing the right hand must go under as though you were scooping your soup from the side of the bowl.
This is against your natural muscle tone, so when starting the club down to the ball the inclination is to turn the right hand over.
This casts the club outward, and it most assuredly closes the club face…You might try picking things off tables with a sideswipe of the right hand. You can also beat a lot of rugs out in the yard. But one of the best ways to withstand the tendency to throw the right hand over in the downswing is to concentrate on the move of the left hip"- From page, 82, Casper’s book.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. This is so funny, I was reading through this thread and came across this post I’d made back in 2010, it’s almost word for word what I was talking about in the other baseball thread, with the reasoning too - Gehrig even gets a mention. These are not my words, I’d quoted them from a baseball piece…
Very interesting stuff, Double R, thanks for sharing that. I have a bit of a crazy test to prove why that soup spoon idea is true, and why it’s actually a natural move, but it’s difficult to out into words. I’ll try at some point to see what I can come up with. Though, after reading my ‘repeat’ post above, I wonder if maybe I’ve shared it before!
Just looking at a Bo Jackson compilation there, and even he had a much more level swing like the old timers. Probably showing my age because I was thinking of him as a modern player, but whatya gonna do…
I tried to quote this piece earlier on but it kept uploading as a long scroll across document, not sure why. I’m going to try again as I think it’s really interesting.
REASONS FOR THE FLAT SWING
Musial, Ted Williams, Aaron, and Frank Robinson emerged from an era when the strikeout was considered a humiliating defeat. Each strikeout tolled ultimate failure in the mano-a-mano duel with another competitor, the pitcher, and was something to be avoided at all costs.
Too many Ks meant the player was defeatable, that he hadn’t learned his trade and was not qualified for the big leagues. A player striking out on a scale to exceed 100 strikeouts annually couldn’t make it - he was farmed out quickly by managers who demanded the hitter move the runners with each at-bat, preferably with team hits - ground balls and line drives.
Excessive strikeouts were the mark of a hitter who hadn’t mastered his skill, who shouldn’t wear the major league uniform.
Today, it is not uncommon for middle infielders to approach or exceed 90 to 100 strikeouts.
Thus, for security reasons, the old-time hitter treated the strikeout like the plague. And, to get on the good side of the manager, he concentrated on moving runners with team hits - line drives and ground balls.
The formula was simple: hit line drives or ground balls, and avoid fly balls and strike three.
This was accomplished by swinging on the same plane as the incoming pitch - level plane, almost a chop, in order to deliver the bat on a linear collision course with the pitch. Players like Musial, Mays, Aaron and Gehrig mastered it.
It was a humiliation to be a bad ballstriker on tour back in the day. You couldn’t make a check.
Bo Knows…
Power is profitable. Homers over strategy. Fame over team execution. Ego, ego, ego…it’s a symptom of our cultural decline. Or just standard ops in the lives of humans…who really knows?
Bo had such good footwork. Never seen a guy with thighs like that float around on his toes like that…wonder how much football training helped him fire those hips?
It’s an interesting correlation alright between the pride/shame in hits/fairways hit in both games, and what they’ve ended up producing as a sport.
I also think the players have too much say in golf - the idea that they complain when a course is too hard, and somehow tournament organizers listen to them and set it up easier, really is madness.
I remember a good few years back, Jack had bunker rakes with fewer tines at the Memorial, and they created ridges and troughs when used. The players threw a strop because they were too hard to play out of, and that was the end of that. Farcical.
