# Baseball: Definition of "swing"
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-definition-of-swing/363054
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [July 3, 2006, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-definition-of-swing/363054 "2006-07-03T15:28:22Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)
#### Post date: [July 3, 2006, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-definition-of-swing/363054/1 "2006-07-03T15:28:22Z")
I’ve been watching baseball for years and I realized that I never knew the legal definition of a swing and what criteria an umpire uses to determine if it’s a swing or a checked swing. So I decided to look it up in the MLB rules. And it’s not in [definitions](http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/official_info/official_rules/definition_terms_2.jsp), not in [The Batter](http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/official_info/official_rules/batter_6.jsp) . At least, nowhere I could find.
I have heard various things from fellow fans:
It’s a swing when. . .
the bat crosses the plate
the bat crosses the foul line opposite the hitter
the hitter breaks his wrists
the bat crosses in front of the batter’s wrists
So what’s a “swing”? I’ve got plenty of opinions so I don’t need more; come with a cite!
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [July 3, 2006, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-definition-of-swing/363054/2 "2006-07-03T16:12:03Z")
Usually, it’s when the hitter breaks his wrists. The batter is allowed to move toward a bad pitch without penalty (if the pitch is a strick, it doesn’t matter if the batter swings or not), but once he breaks his wrist, he’s considered having swung at it.
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### Author:  [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)
#### Post date: [July 3, 2006, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-definition-of-swing/363054/3 "2006-07-03T16:43:28Z")
I am far from a baseball expert but in Little League, we also used the rule of the break of the wrist.
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [July 3, 2006, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-definition-of-swing/363054/4 "2006-07-03T17:28:23Z")
Note that the other three things you mention make no sense as a determinating factor.
1. _The ball crosses the plate._ That means it’s a strike whether the batter swings or not. Every strike would thus be a swing under this.
2. _The bat crosses the foul line opposite the hitter._ – If the ball crosses the foul line, it’s not over the plate and a ball. But that would happen with any outside pitch for a ball, even if the batter is motionless.
3. _The bat crosses in front of the batter’s wrists_. This is just another way of saying “the batter breaks his wrists.”
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### Author:  [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)
#### Post date: [July 3, 2006, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-definition-of-swing/363054/5 "2006-07-03T17:31:38Z")
It’s somewhat tautological, but a “swing” is whatever the umpire thinks is a swing. There is no official definition of it.
For ball-strike purposes, there is no such thing as a “half swing.” Either you swung or didn’t swing.
Bunting at the ball and missing it can also be considered a swing, but sometimes it isn’t.
This is one of the vaguest areas in baseball rules.
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### Author:  [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)
#### Post date: [July 3, 2006, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-definition-of-swing/363054/6 "2006-07-03T18:05:44Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#):
>
> Note that the other three things you mention make no sense as a determinating factor.
>
> 1. _The ball crosses the plate._ That means it’s a strike whether the batter swings or not. Every strike would thus be a swing under this.
> 2. _The bat crosses the foul line opposite the hitter._ – If the ball crosses the foul line, it’s not over the plate and a ball. But that would happen with any outside pitch for a ball, even if the batter is motionless.
What? The OP distinctly type “bat;” you even typed “bat” yourself in your second line. Your explanations, however relate to the motion of the _ball_.
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### Author:  [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)
#### Post date: [July 3, 2006, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-definition-of-swing/363054/7 "2006-07-03T18:57:19Z")
> [@BobT](#):
>
> It’s somewhat tautological, but a “swing” is whatever the umpire thinks is a swing. There is no official definition of it.
And there it is.
It’s kinda like balls and strikes. Yes, there is a book definition, but a strike is what the umpire calls, period. And the pitchers/batters don’t really care. The ump could have a strike zone the size of a hat or be calling it a strike anywhere nose to toes, dugout to dugout; as long as they are consistent in the call, the players will quickly adjust to it.
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### Author:  [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)
#### Post date: [July 3, 2006, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-definition-of-swing/363054/8 "2006-07-03T20:28:06Z")
The closest thing to a definition is in 2.00 Strike (which is relevant – other than a swinging strike, when do we care whether or not it’s a “swing”?): a strike is a pitch “struck at” by the batter.
So there you go. Did the batter “strike at” the ball? If yes, it’s a swing.
The rule-of-thumb guidance I’ve been given in my umpire training relates to check-swing appeals: if you’re the base umpire on the corner, and you saw the end of the bat point at you: he swung.
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### Author:  [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)
#### Post date: [July 3, 2006, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-definition-of-swing/363054/9 "2006-07-03T21:09:23Z")
FWIW, the MLB announcers I’ve heard all seem to use the same terms when describing a “swing” or non-swing.
**Go around**
**Turn it (the bat) over.**
**Holding back.**
**Checking his wrists.**
Turning over refers to the rotation the bat takes when one fully swings. The other terms obviously refer to the motion of wrist-breaking.
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### Author:  [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)
#### Post date: [July 3, 2006, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-definition-of-swing/363054/10 "2006-07-03T22:21:22Z")
MLB announcers are practically as clueless as the average fan when it comes to the finer points of the rules of baseball. (Joe Morgan, I’m lookin’ at you…)