From everything my coach and my studying has shown, a quick start down will kill you if you are a hitter.
I have been playing for about 8 months now and have been a pure swinger up until the last month or so when I started hitting off and on. My alignments are great with hitting and they and I both seem to think that is the path that I should follow due to the fact that I'm 6'5 and muscular build with limited flexibility. However, I have carried over my aggressive transition from swinging into hitting and it is killing any hopes I have for consistency.
Does anyone have any thoughts, tips, or drills that might help?
I agree. I work with a former football player who is very strong and has good flexibility. I find that by working with hitting protocols he can keep his aggressive style and really 'feel' that he's hitting the ball with some force.
Your limited flexibility should be a great recipe for a hitter
We have a limited amount of time to accelerate the club. The slow Start Down is extremely important, so we don't waste all the speed before Impact. One of the best ways that I've found to fix the quick Start Down is to imagine that the club can only go fast after Impact. You can do it with a club or a wooden dowel. When using a dowel, listen for the loudest and highest pitch sound to occur after the ball. You should see an immediate change.
I use an analogy in describing the Start Down. It's similar to pushing a car down a hill.
The fast Start Down is analogous to quick and explosive push that would start the car down the hill. It would have the feel of a quick and heavy pressure that would last a couple of milliseconds. After the hard push, the car would come off your hands. Then you'd be chasing it, trying to get your hands in position to push again. This is not a very effective method.
The slow Start Down is analogous to a deliberate acceleration of the car. You would feel the pressure increase as you pushed against the car, and you would continue pushing until the car was moving faster than you could run. It would be similar to the Olympic bobsled. This scenario wins when you're chasing cars or pars.
Hybrid Mode
