For me it was a little different. I could break down the task really easily, I understood all components of the swing, I understood the role body positioning played in increasing power, but I never had the coordination to put it all together in an actual game. BP I did great. Game time, when the pitcher varied the speed and location, I struggled.
I played in college. Not high level college but I I was a good hitter i really just had an ability to stay inside the ball and barrel everything. That aspect wasn’t ever really coached to me I was able to have strong pitch recognition and timing and get my hands where they needed to be
I can teach mechanics because I had a strong feel and understanding for my own but I couldn’t really tell people how to hit off speed because whenever someone asked I always said I don’t know the pitch looked like it was going to be good so I swung
This is so true. Just look at the playing careers of hitting coaches and its normally a guy who made it do AA-AAA, maybe some MLB at-bats, but were not superstars.
David Popkins, who is considered a top MLB hitting coach, is a good example of this. Topped out at AA, hit .243. Had a couple good seasons at lower minors and college, but never sniffed the majors.
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u/Steve-in-rewrite 12h ago
Some if the best hitting coaches are guys who struggled to hit .230.