[rvwink]

Thank you, thank you, Mr. Ted Fort for providing the blueprint for numerous swing improvements in this hitter's arsenal.

Managed a small BUCKET of balls with my new crossline swing. Definitely a dramatic improvement on what I was doing previously. I tried to think about why crossline felt and worked better for me. While 30 balls is certainly just a small sampling, here is my guess as to what is improved.

In swinging, the direction of the swing is set far earlier in the sequence, so the fact that one's hips are opening early is of small consequence. In hitting, the position of your hips at the point of contract matters more. So my theory is that the cross line hip swing provides insurance for hitters to prevent an early hip opening before the tricep takes over, causing one to hit the ball on the wrong line.

How did I do BUCKET?