I think they should get rid of the power swing.
Think about it, most hitters try and hit the ball as hard as possible most of the time. Whether your the 2nd batter, the cleanup hitter or the 9th hitter, when your up to bat, your goal is to hit the ball as hard as possible (most of the time). If the pitcher hangs a curveball or serves a fastball down the middle of the plate, your going to try and hit the ball as hard as you possibly can.
Because of this, I think they should drop the "power swing" and just make a slightly toned down version of it, the "normal swing".
The swing David Ortiz uses when he grounds out on an 0-1 pitch has the same effort and force as the swing he uses when he hits that same 0-1 pitch out of the park. The difference is a result of aiming his swing and timing the pitch. The difference between a grounball and a HR is only an inch or two movement along the diameter of a baseball.
Of course, there are some slap hitters in the game, but even they try to hit the ball hard most of the time, they just lack the power. A guy like Juan Pierre may not hit a lot of HR's, but he still tries to hit the ball hard, (most of the time).
I say most of the time, because there are certain situations that dictate a more controlled swing; a swing that isn't as agressive. I'm talking about when most hitters shorten up with 2 strikes against them. Or when a hitter is told to hit and run and needs to put the ball in play. Or when there is a runner on second or third with less than two outs and your trying to advance the runner by hitting a groundball to the right side. These are situations when you would shorten up your swing and take a little off and sacrafice a little pop in order to put the ball in play.
For this, I say offer a secondary contact swing. I say secondary, because it is not the default swing. However it is accomplished, it would require something different than the normal swing (either a different movement on the swing stick or it would require the press of a trigger while swinging).
Risk vs Reward:
Normal Swing:
The obvious benefit of the normal swing is that when you make solid contact, you hit the ball harder than when you use contact. You get the benefit of extra bat speed which in turn leads to farther hit balls assuming equal contact. If programmed right, HR's would come at a natural rate and wouldn't require the use of a power swing to try and jack balls out of the yard.
The Risk os the normal swing is your slightly less likely to make contact. You have less margin for error when compared to the contact swing. If your talking about zone hitting or cursor hitting or some combination, you would be required to be more exact with your aim in order to make solid contact. Also, when it comes to timing a pitch, you would have to be more exact in the window that exists of when you have to start your swing to make contact.
Contact Swing:
The benefit of the contact swing is that you are slightly more likely to make contact with the pitch. Again, using some sort of system, you would be required to be less exact on your aim of your swing in order to make contact. You'd still have to be close, but not as close as the normal swing. The same goes with timing. Would still be a window of when you have to start your swing to make contact, but you would have a slightly larger window.
The risk is that you lose power. It would be very rare to hit a HR using a contact swing. My thought is that a contact swing is the swing you use when your just trying to put the ball in play. Your down 0-2 with a guy like Jason Kendall and your not trying to do anything but play a slighly advanced game of pepper.
I would let the user have a few choices of how to differentiate the swings, but I was thinking
a) Like the current SS's movements, Forward = Normal, let go=contact
or
b) SS forward for norma, R Stick + SS forward for contact. (I like this better because as a hitter you know ahead of time when your just trying to make contact and therefore can prepare yourself in advance).
Agree/Disagree? Thoughts?
Think about it, most hitters try and hit the ball as hard as possible most of the time. Whether your the 2nd batter, the cleanup hitter or the 9th hitter, when your up to bat, your goal is to hit the ball as hard as possible (most of the time). If the pitcher hangs a curveball or serves a fastball down the middle of the plate, your going to try and hit the ball as hard as you possibly can.
Because of this, I think they should drop the "power swing" and just make a slightly toned down version of it, the "normal swing".
The swing David Ortiz uses when he grounds out on an 0-1 pitch has the same effort and force as the swing he uses when he hits that same 0-1 pitch out of the park. The difference is a result of aiming his swing and timing the pitch. The difference between a grounball and a HR is only an inch or two movement along the diameter of a baseball.
Of course, there are some slap hitters in the game, but even they try to hit the ball hard most of the time, they just lack the power. A guy like Juan Pierre may not hit a lot of HR's, but he still tries to hit the ball hard, (most of the time).
I say most of the time, because there are certain situations that dictate a more controlled swing; a swing that isn't as agressive. I'm talking about when most hitters shorten up with 2 strikes against them. Or when a hitter is told to hit and run and needs to put the ball in play. Or when there is a runner on second or third with less than two outs and your trying to advance the runner by hitting a groundball to the right side. These are situations when you would shorten up your swing and take a little off and sacrafice a little pop in order to put the ball in play.
For this, I say offer a secondary contact swing. I say secondary, because it is not the default swing. However it is accomplished, it would require something different than the normal swing (either a different movement on the swing stick or it would require the press of a trigger while swinging).
Risk vs Reward:
Normal Swing:
The obvious benefit of the normal swing is that when you make solid contact, you hit the ball harder than when you use contact. You get the benefit of extra bat speed which in turn leads to farther hit balls assuming equal contact. If programmed right, HR's would come at a natural rate and wouldn't require the use of a power swing to try and jack balls out of the yard.
The Risk os the normal swing is your slightly less likely to make contact. You have less margin for error when compared to the contact swing. If your talking about zone hitting or cursor hitting or some combination, you would be required to be more exact with your aim in order to make solid contact. Also, when it comes to timing a pitch, you would have to be more exact in the window that exists of when you have to start your swing to make contact.
Contact Swing:
The benefit of the contact swing is that you are slightly more likely to make contact with the pitch. Again, using some sort of system, you would be required to be less exact on your aim of your swing in order to make contact. You'd still have to be close, but not as close as the normal swing. The same goes with timing. Would still be a window of when you have to start your swing to make contact, but you would have a slightly larger window.
The risk is that you lose power. It would be very rare to hit a HR using a contact swing. My thought is that a contact swing is the swing you use when your just trying to put the ball in play. Your down 0-2 with a guy like Jason Kendall and your not trying to do anything but play a slighly advanced game of pepper.
I would let the user have a few choices of how to differentiate the swings, but I was thinking
a) Like the current SS's movements, Forward = Normal, let go=contact
or
b) SS forward for norma, R Stick + SS forward for contact. (I like this better because as a hitter you know ahead of time when your just trying to make contact and therefore can prepare yourself in advance).
Agree/Disagree? Thoughts?
I believe FPS baseball had that in 1998, BTW.
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