The Great Hitting Debate - Linear or Rotational

If you've struggled with understanding these new terms or trying to figure out how they apply to hitting then you aren't alone. Hitting seems to be filled with lots of new words that have caused a lot of confusion and frustration for many coaches trying to figure it all out. If you're curious about understanding what these terms mean and how they apply to hitting then this article should help.

The terms Rotational and Linear are really new words for some old concepts. Rotational refers to rotation or twisting, while Linear means moving in a line or shifting your weight. Instead of thinking of these two terms as hitting concepts that you need to choose between let's look at them in another softball skill - throwing. When a player throws, they:

• Move their weight back when they bring their arm back in the arm circle. This back motion can be called a load, a weight shift or a newer team - a negative move - which simply means the player is moving away from the target.
• The player then strides and brings their body forward as they stride. The player's weight is now moving forward which is again shifting the weight forward or doing a positive move (toward the target) as the player's hand begins the throwing motion.
• Once the player's stride foot plants the player then brings the ball into the release position which requires the player's upper body to turn slightly, or rotate as the hand explodes into the release position to let go of the ball (Rotational Part).
• So in order for a player to throw a ball that player must first generate some power by going slightly away from the target or going down into their back leg - which can be called loading or a negative move, followed by a weight shift forward with the stride (also called a positive or linear move), and combined with a rotational motion for the player to bring her hand forward into the release position.

When we look at these terms as they relate to the hitting motion we see:

• That hitters, just like throwers, move slightly back or down (called a negative move since it's away from the pitcher) when they begin their swing which is their negative/loading or trigger move.
• Hitters then let their weight shift slightly forward as they take their stride, which is also a linear move since the movement is in a line forward (called a positive move since it's toward the pitcher).
• In order to bring the bat into the contact zone the hitter must rotate her hands from slightly behind her into the contact zone which is the rotational phase of hitting.
• And then on the follow through the hitter continues her swing forward toward the pitcher as long as possible before finishing her rotation on the follow through (just like the throwing motion).

These words, linear and rotational, can be confusing and can make it seem like concepts that coaches must choose between. But the softball (and baseball) swing is really a combination of both. As with the throwing motion, the softball swing involves both a linear and a rotational element. I do want to point out that during the rotational part of the swing, the hitter should keep their hands rotation forward for as long as possible and not twist all of her power away from the ball and toward either dugout - which definitely hurts power and direction.

For more information on the hitting check out our Hitting eSkill, Hitting eDrills, Hitting Disks, and Tee Stackers.