Mechanically who was the best hitter you have seen?

[24]

Straight up like the title asks. Who has the best hitting mechanics you have ever seen?

[TCM]

Re: Mechanically who was the best hitter you have seen?

Ken Griffey Jr.

[Buckeyes_Doc]

Re: Mechanically who was the best hitter you have seen?

Ken Griffey Jr immediately came to my mind.

Best swing I've ever seen.

[Blzer]

Re: Mechanically who was the best hitter you have seen?

Barry Bonds

This isn't a homer call; this is the exact reason I love him. This is also the difference between people who love Griffey's sweet swing and people who realize how many fundamental flaws it had. It's a sweet swing, probably the prettiest thing I have ever seen... but it sure isn't perfect on a mechanical level, or even that good for that matter (in the sense that, if you want to coach a good swing to kids, you never refer to Griffey's swing).

If you want me to go into detail, I certainly could go on for a while, but Bonds combines the following things in his swing on a more-than-excellent level:

- Compaction
- Quickness
- Balance
- Stability
- Backside torque
- Power
- Hand-eye coordination
- Solidity
- Consistency
- Variety to all areas of the outfield
- Beauty

Adrian Gonzalez is up there for his purity, and he can do much more with the ball than Bonds can when it comes to overall field spray, but he doesn't have the quickness that Bonds did, and the kind of patience that he did. Guys like Gwynn had the most control, but again, lacked the power/beauty that Bonds did.

I'm a hitting coach for both baseball and softball, and I am able to apply Bonds' swing to players from both the left and right side in both sports (or at least the ideas behind what made him so successful), for players of all sizes. Obviously a swing isn't everything, and he did a lot more than that, specifically with regard to pitch recognition (and I also provide that insight for them after they master their swing), but it's a good basis to get kids started with, assuming you're looking at the right things with his swing.

On the right side, as far as players I've seen, I love Manny Ramirez when he's actually dialed in. Same with Pujols, but not quite as much. I still think he has holes which derive from his stance, but it's his stance which also keeps his swing where it needs to be. At least he has the right approach when it comes to: 1) getting a good pitch to hit; 2) trying to hit line drives with back spin.

[bkrich83]

Re: Mechanically who was the best hitter you have seen?

Barry Bonds

This isn't a homer call;

Now that's funny.

[Blzer]

Re: Mechanically who was the best hitter you have seen?

Now that's funny.

My point was that there are reasons I love Bonds outside of the fact that he played for San Francisco. I can name you dozens of players who are/were on the Giants in the past five years who I do not like. I can also name Dodgers who I love.

Anyway, the proof is in the pudding. If the rest of the substance in my post doesn't count toward the reasons for my opinion, then I don't know what does. Saying "Griffey" because he swings like the Nike swoosh doesn't really help an argument of the most mechanically sound swing out there. Just sayin'...

If it helps, I'll edit that part out of my post. I only felt it was necessary because people would call me out on it otherwise.

[bkrich83]

Re: Mechanically who was the best hitter you have seen?

My point was that there are reasons I love Bonds outside of the fact that he played for San Francisco. I can name you dozens of players who are/were on the Giants in the past five years who I do not like. I can also name Dodgers who I love.

Anyway, the proof is in the pudding. If the rest of the substance in my post doesn't count toward the reasons for my opinion, then I don't know what does. Saying "Griffey" because he swings like the Nike swoosh doesn't really help an argument of the most mechanically sound swing out there. Just sayin'...

If it helps, I'll edit that part out of my post. I only felt it was necessary because people would call me out on it otherwise.

Everyone knows you're a homer for all things Bonds. Because you post that you aren't doesn't make it any less true.

As far as the rest of the substance of your post, there wasn't much substance to it, other than tooting your own horn, and mixing in some personal opinions, which is equally as laughable. There was no actual substance to it. Just an opinion by someone with a mass amount of bias.

[loloben]

Re: Mechanically who was the best hitter you have seen?

Tony Gwynn

[bkrich83]

Re: Mechanically who was the best hitter you have seen?

Tony Gwynn

Agreed.

In todays game, I am a fan of Chase Utley and Robinson Cano from the left side and Pujols and Longoria from the Right side.

[Knight165]

Re: Mechanically who was the best hitter you have seen?

Tony Gwynn

Gwynn is a GREAT choice IMO.
If we can count video....ol' #9 from Boston was pretty good. I don't want to re-overuse "sweet" ....but damn if he didn't make it look real easy....

M.K.
Knight165

[Buckeyes_Doc]

Re: Mechanically who was the best hitter you have seen?

My point was that there are reasons I love Bonds outside of the fact that he played for San Francisco. I can name you dozens of players who are/were on the Giants in the past five years who I do not like. I can also name Dodgers who I love.

Anyway, the proof is in the pudding. If the rest of the substance in my post doesn't count toward the reasons for my opinion, then I don't know what does. Saying "Griffey" because he swings like the Nike swoosh doesn't really help an argument of the most mechanically sound swing out there. Just sayin'...

If it helps, I'll edit that part out of my post. I only felt it was necessary because people would call me out on it otherwise.

You're very against Griffey aren't ya? In both of your posts you mentioned him.

Thinking of active players I would have to say Albert Pujols, Ryan Braun, and Jacoby Ellsbury are my top 3.

[bkrich83]

Re: Mechanically who was the best hitter you have seen?

Gwynn is a GREAT choice IMO.
If we can count video....ol' #9 from Boston was pretty good. I don't want to re-overuse "sweet" ....but damn if he didn't make it look real easy....

M.K.
Knight165

He has to be counted. Hell he probably had the best swing and the best mind of any hitter ever, no matter the era. It's just tough for me to add him since I've just seen video, and there's so little of it I've actually seen.

You're right, he made it look so easy.

[CabreraMVP]

Re: Mechanically who was the best hitter you have seen?

There's so many great swings but I'll go with these 4

Cabrera's swing is as perfect as a swing can be. He's the guy I study when trying to improve my swing. Perfect balance and he keeps his hands close to his body so he can drive the ball the opposite way so effectively.



Gonzalez just has a such a nice swing. I love that little leg kick and the way he brings his hands back at the start or 'coils' them. Then he just unwinds his body perfectly through the zone and has that perfect line drive stroke.



My favorite swing though is Craig Monroe, who used to play for the Tigers. He had the prettiest swing I've ever seen. His homeruns were a thing of beauty.




And Cano:



And Ted Williams...while I don't think he had the prettiest swing, mechanically he has to be the best. He literally wrote the book on hitting. Lol. The Science of Hitting is one book that every baseball player must own!

[Blzer]

Re: Mechanically who was the best hitter you have seen?

You're very against Griffey aren't ya? In both of your posts you mentioned him.

On the contrary, actually. He was my favorite AL hitter growing up.

I just said he gets so much [deserving] praise for his beautiful swing that people seem to forget it is not a good swing to attempt to replicate and hope to be successful. There are many mechanical problems with the swing. The fact that the first two people (I suppose yourself included) instantly thought of Griffey makes me bring him up, because there's a difference between something looking good, and something being fundamentally sound across the board. I'm not saying he was a poor hitter at all, but I think the beauty masks the issues.

As for the horn-tooting thing, I have no idea what that was referring to. The hitting coaching thing? Sorry, I meant that to be an example of how his method works and makes sense, while others would not so very much. As far as the Bonds thing, there are things about his game (and personality) which I hated. His ability at the plate was not one of them. Jason Heyward is my new favorite player, and I probably hate everything about his fundamentals at the plate.

I forgot about Cabrera. I think I would favor him over Pujols. Although, I like his mental game probably even more than his physical game. He is probably the smartest active right-handed hitter today, and I think as far as active hitters go, I would take him over anybody else. Now I have to think of another lefty right now who might outshine him.

[roadman]

Re: Mechanically who was the best hitter you have seen?

I like Tony Gynn's suggestion, Rod Carew had a real sweet swing and I'm partial to Paul Molitor's.