One-plane vs Two-plane swings

[azmatsfan]

I know there's been mention of the one-plane and two-plane golf swings and how that idea relates to the baseball swing. I've been thinking about this a lot lately, and thought it could make for some interesting discussion. When I use the terms one-plane and two-plane I'm comparing the plane of the bat as compared to the shoulders as the shoulders begin to rotate. If the shoulders and bat are rotating on the same plane it's a one-plane swing,

but if the bat and shoulders start their rotation in different planes it's a two-plane swing.

In the one plane swing the bat head and upper body tend to rotate as a unit, where in the two-plane swing the bat head and upper body are independent. I don't know much about the golf swing, but the guy who came up with the terms (Hardy?) says they are two completely different swings in golf. Should we be treating it this way in baseball? Should we teach strictly one-plane or two-plane and teach them differently? I see both swings in the MLB, so I don't know if one is more beneficial than the other. We already have linear vs rotational, but now we have one-plane rotational vs two-plane rotational.

Discuss...

[dominik]

yes. some players start with a flat bat (not completely but 45 slot) in the plane while others "tip" the bat well out of the plane to start the swing. I think this is an individial thing but the tipping action requires to turn the bat/hands flat at the start of the swing to find the plane so it's a more complicated swing although it might possible lead to a longer acceleration distance and higher batspeed. but this of course only helps if you are making contact with the ball...