Stylistics for high school hitters.

Every hitting coach should familiarize himself with the postulations of the masters: Lau, Hriniak, and Williams.

Baseball coaching on the high school and middle school levels has its own set of problems. One of the most vexing of them is the limited player pool. Since coaches cannot recruit, draft, trade, or buy players, they have to evaluate a polyglot lot, pick the players who appear to have some talent, and then undertake the laborious process of developing them.

The players will be strong or weak, fast or slow, tall or small, athletic or non-athletic. Everyone will have to have something added or something eliminated, and all will need a lot of polishing.

One of the most essential starting points is the identification of the player's batting style. O.K., so he can be called a Charley Lau-type hitter. (He once saw George Brett hit the centerfield fence a few times, and fell in love with his style.)

What is the kid doing right? What is he doing wrong? Is he being effective? Does it pay to tinker with his style? Should he be encouraged to try something else?

The answers will, of course, depend upon the coaches' knowledge and experience. Almost every dedicated coach will have some knowledge of the great hitter and an understanding of the basic commonalties, or "absolutes," of their styles. A study of the videotapes, workshops, and literature will generally provide a pretty clear-cut picture of the three predominant hitting styles: Weight-Shift, Rotational, and Combination.

Charley Lau, along with Chicago White Sox batting coach Walt Hriniak, are identified with the Weight-Shift system. Ted Williams is the apostle of the Rotational system, and Mike Schmidt has developed his own system, which he identifies as the Combined system (an amalgam of Lau's and Williams' principles).