In the split second from the time the ball leaves the pitcher's hand until it reaches the plate you have to think about your stride, your hip action, your wrist action, determine how much, if any the ball is going to break and then decide whether to swing at it.
Once I found my swing, I feel like if I put a good swing on it, I feel like it's got a good chance to go wherever - left, right, center - it doesn't matter. But I'm not just out here going to swing for home runs of anything. I'm just trying to put a good swing on the baseball.
Nobody ever swung a club too slowly.
The arc of Ken Griffey Jr.'s swing has gotten bigger than when he hit line drives. Juan Gonzalez is a terrific power hitter, too.
You can't see the bat hit the ball if you're generating any bat speed. If you're just laying the bat through the strike zone, sure, maybe.
He's (Rafael Palmeiro) always the left-handed swing you want to copy. He's got a real smooth swing and he's never off balance. He's always on top of the ball. I just like watching him hit.
Stay inside the ball, put the barrel on it, and swing hard.
I'm still learning about my swing more. I continue to learn, with the help of my hitting instructors.
You take a couple of days off, and your swing is going to be off. I think it takes 15, 20 at-bats to really feel comfortable again.
I always talk about it like I'm a hitter first and if I'm doing things right and my body's in the right place, I drive the baseball.
A swing is like a car. You've got the fan belt, carburetor, pistons, spark plugs, fuel pump. If any part isn't working, the car doesn't run. Same way with hitting.
A baseball swing is a very finely tuned instrument. It is repetition, and more repetition, then a little more after that.
You can watch videos and hit off the tee, stuff like that, but at the same time, it's you against the pitcher. I just need one swing or one pitch to click, and you can find your swing.
I had a baseball swing my whole life. When I was growing up, everyone had a different, very specific softball swing that was very short. And I had a big stride and I had, you know, a baseball swing, and people did not like it.
Baseball and golf have a lot of things in common, including the fact that players in both games love hitting for power. However, in both sports, trying to do so strictly with muscle strength doesn't work very well. In fact, I see a lot of guys in both baseball and golf struggle when they try to swing with tight arms.
I created a little thing with my hands, just to create a more consistent plane to backspin balls, and obviously growing into your body helps. It's kind of complicated, more about starting the barrel flat and then creating a movement - flat to up, I guess - going towards the pitcher.
Everybody believed you had to have a big piece of lumber and then muscle the ball over the fence. But by the time I and Hank Aaron - another guy who did it with his wrists - were through, there were a lot of guys ordering light bats and playing handball.
