Customer Reviews

Lau's Laws on Hitting: The Art of Hitting .400 for the Next Generation; Follow Lau's Laws and Improve Your Hitting!

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Lau's Laws On Hitting is the first book in twenty years to finally give you the truth on what it takes to build the most dynamic swing. All I've seen out there in the past are recycled and generic jargon. Charley Jr., clearly has taken his fathers' already legendary aspects on hitting to the highest of heights. Lau junior dispels the myths and shows you step by step how to build your swing and he also warns you on how much bad and incorrect information is out there. The apple has definately not fallen to far from the tree.

I have been a high school baseball coach for the last 15 years. In the early 90's, I tried to use Lau, sr.'s mechanics, but I didn't fully understand the "why" of Lau, sr. Charley Lau, jr. "filled in the gaps" for me. When I first read Lau, jr.'s theories on hitting a baseball with backspin vs. topspin, I thought that there would be no way that high school kids could be taught this. He proved me wrong. Employing his drills to the max to accomplish this, my team last season went from hitting 0 home runs and .280 in a summer league to 35 home runs and .350 during the spring season (2001) smashing our way to the regional finals. We actually had to get away from intrasquad scrimmages because our infielders were not getting enough work. Our hitters were constantly driving the ball to the outfield either over the fence or in the gaps as Lau, jr. claims you will do in his book. Our players and I swear by the techniques Lau, jr. stresses in this book. It is by far the best book on hitting that I have ever read and that includes The Art of Hitting by Ted Williams.

Charlie Lau, Jr. takes up whether his famous father left. His instructions are great, as are most of the illustrations and photos. The book gives you a very good guide as to the types of swings you should have to be successful in hitting. I would not calls his techniques "Lau's laws" because by nature, the choices and styles of most people vary, if only slightly. However, the regimen outlined in the book is excellent and a must read for every serious coach and student of the game. He needs to mention that baseball, though mental enough, involves many nuances which we cannot control. I don't believe any one person revolutionized baseball more than the VCR did years ago. Highly recommend this book!!

Having read many books on hitting, one of the two best was the book by Charley Lau Sr. Lau senior's original book and concepts are often misquoted and misunderstood despite the fact that his book was very simple and informative. I was very dissapointed in Lau Jr's book. Too often he takes credit for some "new insight" that his father described years ago. Not only does he seem to take credit for much of his father's work, but he also adds all kinds of bunk about new "essentials" of a good swing. The more you read, and the more you watch good hitters, the more you see that there are VERY few absolutes. So many small components of the swing have both positive and negative impact; the net effect often depending on the other components of the swing. That's why major league hitters have such different swings. Lau Sr. captured the essense of the very few absolutes. Lau Jr. just couldn't restrain himself. I know he talks about how he helped A-Rod and others, but his theories don't stand up to biomechanical scrutiny (at least as he describes them) and the hints of arrogance in his book just turned me off.

The book isn't totally bad. There are a few minor additions to Lau Sr. work that can be helpful. But the notion that Jr. has somehow figured it all out just isn't accurate. DO READ Lau Sr. Read Lau Jr. only if you want a stimulus to make you think independently. If you havn't been around hitting much, and intend to just read and believe, you might be dissapointed and misguided by this book.

A few years ago my son was about to start his first season of T-Ball and I found myself in a conversation about hitting with Dan Evans, a former General Manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Then, a year or so later I found myself confirming the information Dan & I had discussed in a subsequent conversation with Kevin Malone, who succeeded Dan as the Dodgers General Manager.

Dan recommended to me these three books to read in order:
1. Charlie Lau Jr's "Lau's Laws on Hitting"
2. Charlie Lau Sr's "The Art of Hitting .300"
3. Ted Williams "The Science of Hitting".

If you are a parent or coach who is serious about teaching his/her child or players how to hit you *MUST* read these books.

The first book in the sequence is Charlie Jr's book "Lau's Laws on Hitting". It explains the mechanics of the lead arm extension hitting technique his father created in a very clear and easy to follow way. If this is the only book on hitting you read there is no doubt you will be able to provide your child/player with a solid foundation from which they will experience great success. Once you know what to look for it's easy to identify a swing based on the Lau technique - the same technique that is currently used by over 70% of all major leaguers today.

This technique teaches how to create the most efficient & powerful swing a batter can create and then to control the release of that power into the point of contact... in otherwords, how to hit the $*#^ out of the ball.
As of this review, my 9-year old son has been using this technique for the last 3-years and recently wanted to test his skills by going into a 70mph batting cage (which is a typical speed most 13-14 year olds practice on) and was successful in ripping a few off the back netting directly above the throwing arm... in otherwords, timed perfectly. Through the first few games of our season he was 14-for-20 with 5-triples & 4 doubles (short hopping the fence a half dozen times) and my son is one of the smaller kids on the team!

Jr's book does a great job of asking and answering the following:
*What is the difference and significance of static and dynamic balance?
*Why does the batter's weight HAVE to shift back before going forward?
*What is the significance of having the toes on the rear foot pointing down while swinging?
*Why do we want to create backspin vs. topspin?

These are just a small sampling of the many questions associated with the technique that Jr. answers in a way everybody can easily understand.

Jr's book is a short cut to his father's hitting technique and as such should be read before Sr's book. Reading Jr's book more quickly puts the pieces in place to build a smooth yet powerful and efficient swing based on this technique.

Sr's book on the other hand, "The Art of Hitting .300", is more comprehensive and technical exploring more of the technique and in greater detail... a pleasure to read. Jr's book is all you'll need to learn and teach the technique but to really understand and appreciate what is going on and why you'll want to read Sr's book.

Through countless hours of video study, the Lau's have isolated common traits of a successful swing from among the game's greatest hitters and are now sharing their discoveries through these books. The individual elements that make up this technique in both books are referred to as "Absolutes".

Lastly, you'll also want to read Ted William's book, "The Science of Hitting" to learn the mental aspect.

The real value to Williams book is it teaches the batter that there's much more to hitting successfully than just walking up to the plate and swinging a bat. It teaches the batter how to prepare, what to think about as you walk up to the plate, what to look for while in the batter's box, and how to make in at-bat adjustments.

Consider Jr's book the shortcut to perfoming this technique, Sr's book the more comprehensive and necessary to fully understand the technique, and Ted Williams book a necessary compliment to learning the mental approach to hitting.

Hoped this review helps and as Charlie Jr. says, "Sweet Swings!"

OK, I'm now a father of two boys, one 2.5 years old, and the other three weeks old. I know it may sound a little over zealous, but I have only a few short years to teach them the proper foundations of hitting, the foundations I never had as a young (and somewhat unsuccessful) hitter. The mental approach to the plate, the proper technique and WHY it works, situational hitting, practice drills, and simple confidence. Mr. Lau's book provides all of this and much more. He takes an engineering (some say unorthodoxed) approach that all can easily understand. I get the impression Mr. Lau believes anyone can be a successful hitter by applying his father's (and Charley Jr's expanded) method. Need proof? Just check out Alex Rodriguez and Mark McGuire, each who are under the Lau's Laws influence. Why are there bigger hits now days? Look at the tachnique.

First off, the book clearly accounts what the Lau method has provided for the success of pro and young players, and George Brett is the poster child for the technique (according to this book). Need I say more. The book covers everything from selecting your bat to deciding whether or not to take the first pitch. No more freebies for the pitcher from me!

Don't worry, I won't drill my young bucks to death. The youngest one still has to learn how to hold his head up (I've about perfected his grip though)! I'm not hoping for MLB material either. I do want them to be able to enjoy the sensation of a great hit. Heck they'll probably take up trombone. I firmly believe teaching the Lau method will give them the best chance at developing a successful hitting habit. I've got to learn it first, and I can't wait to start. Perhaps it will also help me stay out of their coaches way. Who knows, maybe I will carry a few more softballs over the fence too!

You could watch baseball all your life, and miss out on many of Mr. Lau's secrets. That was the case for me. I strongly recommend this book to any player (baseball or softball), father, mother, or coach.

Save a spot for my two boys at your hitting school Mr. Lau!

This is the only book we found that provides a step-by-step guide to improve your hitting. As a single Mom, I appreciate that it's easy to read and understand. The results speak for themselves.

My kid was a rec league hitter who was feared by every pitcher he faced for smashing the ball up the middle or deep to right; then, facing kids from travel teams, he stumbled badly in fall ball due to poor hitting. It was humbling. Trying out for a travel team was tough, and entailed a three month process that resulted in an offer to play, contingent on working on hitting all winter. Work we did, hitting thousands of yellow balls from an Iron Mike, thousands of soft tossed baseballs, and thousands of balls hit from a tee.

It was a good, but not great season, batting .421, no homers, 24 doubles and only one triple. He had to gut it out, because far too often he made contact with topspin and didn't have the wheels to beat out a grounder.

We started reading Lau's book just after the end of this season (2010). If you follow Lau's 10 absolutes of hitting, your student will begin to improve. Then, when your swing becomes a one-step thing of beauty, you will discover the truth of the Charley Lau method: THE FLIGHT OF THE BALL NEVER LIES.

Sure, we struggled to understand the purpose of some of the drills (my son hated the open top hand drills because they feel awkward at first). He got sick of hearing repeated instructions about landing the stride with the front foot closed, about pulling the knob of the bat to the ball, about releasing the top hand after contact, about everything in the method. And then...

...we hit three buckets of balls off a tee in a huge practice facility, and the balls sailed up into the far reaches of the net, still climbing when they hit, with almost all the balls falling with 20 feet of one another. That's the power of backspin and a one-part swing that is loose, fluid and controlled.

We moved outside and he hit live pitching for 30 minutes, and two buckets of balls consistently sailed more than 200 feet on the fly, many of them exceeding 225 and a few went over 250. The best part...the smile on his face, knowing that the Lau method had changed him from a kid who could hit the ball hard to a kid who could hit the ball well, consistently and with power to all fields.

As a student of the game for many years, it is amazing to find a method that works so well, so simply and in such a short time to teach the fundamentals of how to hit a baseball. My hope is that I'll have the chance to send my son to Charley Lau Jr.'s hitting school in Florida for a two day tune up just before the start of next season.

Charley Sr., sir, you changed the game for the better, and your son has followed well in your footsteps. Coaches...make the time to buy this book, and take your three best kids aside for an extra hour a week of hitting practice indoors for six weeks. You will change them for the better as hitters, and they will always remember that you were the guy who taught them how to hit the long ball.

This book is a must read for parents and coaches who want to help their kids develop a solid, repeatable swing. I played for a high school coach who was a huge Charley Sr. advocate and I think Sr.'s book is tremendous. Charley Jr. covers a lot of the same ground but focuses on certain principles, such as getting full extension by releasing the top hand and hitting the ball with backspin, that weren't covered in as much detail by his father. Charley Jr. also includes a series of drills that can help baseball players of all ages. Sr.'s book is not a good source for drills. Charley Jr. also includes a series of photos of the top major leaguers which validates the "laws" he advocates. He also picks apart a lot of the generic old school hitting philosophy which simply hasn't stood the test of time and isn't practiced by the top hitters in MLB but is still taught by many little league and high school coaches.

OK, I'm now a father of two boys, one 2.5 years old, and the other three weeks old. I know it may sound a little over zealous, but I have only a few short years to teach them the proper foundations of hitting, the foundations I never had as a young (and somewhat unsuccessful) hitter. The mental approach to the plate, the proper technique and WHY it works, situational hitting, practice drills, and simple confidence. Mr. Lau's book provides all of this and much more. He takes an engineering (some say unorthodoxed) approach that all can easily understand. I get the impression Mr. Lau believes anyone can be a successful hitter by applying his father's (and Charley Jr's expanded) method. Need proof? Just check out Alex Rodriguez and Mark McGuire, each who are under the Lau's Laws influence. Why are there bigger hits now days? Look at the tachnique.

First off, the book clearly accounts what the Lau method has provided for the success of pro and young players, and George Brett is the poster child for the technique (according to this book). Need I say more. The book covers everything from selecting your bat to deciding whether or not to take the first pitch. No more freebies for the pitcher from me!

Don't worry, I won't drill my young bucks to death. The youngest one still has to learn how to hold his head up (I've about perfected his grip though)! I'm not hoping for MLB material either. I do want them to be able to enjoy the sensation of a great hit. Heck they'll probably take up trombone. I firmly believe teaching the Lau method will give them the best chance at developing a successful hitting habit. I've got to learn it first, and I can't wait to start. Perhaps it will also help me stay out of their coaches way. Who knows, maybe I will carry a few more softballs over the fence too!

You could watch baseball all your life, and miss out on many of Mr. Lau's secrets. That was the case for me. I strongly recommend this book to any player (baseball or softball), father, mother, or coach.

Save a spot for my two boys at your hitting school Mr. Lau!