Rotational Hitting: is where the hitter uses rotation to power the swing.  He begins his swing with the placement of his front foot and then rotates his hips and upper body through the hitting zone.  

Linear Hitting: is mostly done with the upper body and the throwing of the hands straight to the pitcher.  Making the motion more of a straight line to the pitcher.

Problems with Rotational Hitting:  Rotating early in the swing causes the hitter to open up early and causes the hitter to be vulnerable to the outside corner.  Also a rotational hitter does not usually get the extension through the ball that the best hitters get.

Problems with Linear Hitting:  Linear hitters never get everything into their swing.  They are relying on all upper body strength and never use the big muscles of the legs and torso.  

The Right Way to Swing: Great hitters use both rotational and linear attributes.  They begin their swing with a slight inward turn moving their weight to the inside of their back foot.  They then step softly forward with their front foot keeping the front foot and body closed and weight back as they step with the toes of the front foot.  The hands stay back and continue loading towards the catcher as they begin their soft step.  They then place the foot down and begin their rotation of the hips.  The front leg straightens as the weight is rotated forward to stop the forward momentum and release the rotational movement into the back of the baseball.  As the hips begin to rotate the shoulders follow, then the arms and lastly the hands.  The hands need to stay relaxed and should not go out to the ball.  The feeling should be that your body is throwing the bat out towards the location of the pitch.  Notice how I said the body throws the bat not the hands.  Throwing the bat out with the arms and hands cause early release which in turn promotes rolling over the ball.  When a hitter has the feeling of throwing the bat with the body, the batter will stay behind the baseball and extend through the baseball.  Relaxed hands will also give you the palm up palm down location of the hands at impact without having to concentrate on that position.  It is very important that a hitter understands that the swing starts from the ground up.  The swing starts with the front foot, then the hips, then the torso, then the shoulders, then the arms, and lastly the hands and bat.