Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Sat Oct 27 16:35:04 2007

>>> A rubber band is worthless until stretched. It's value is in it's ability to "unstretch"...the elasticity. The hitter must employ this elasticity. Without it you simply have "brute strength rotation...or..."how fast can I turn"...versus the mechanical advantage gained by using the stretch/unstretch ability of the body. The highest level hitters stretch the upper body rearward against the opening of the lower body. This is all controlled by the hands/barrel. At the appropriate time the stretch is released and the bat is swung.<<<

Hi All

If Teacherman’s above statement is correct, the more hip rotation that occurs before the shoulders rotate, the greater the stretch for his “rubber band” analogy. Maximum stretch for maximum power and quickness would be when the shoulders remained closed as the hips fully open.

According to my statement, we should see the shoulders start to rotate just after hip rotation is initiated. This means the shoulders and hips are both rotating during most of the swing.

Soon, I will mark-up clips of a couple great hitters showing their “hips to shoulder” separation and let you decide for yourself which statement is closer to what you see.

Jack Mankin