Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Wed Feb 26 02:45:36 2003

>>> I just watched your video the final arc. One thing that was unclear to me was the circular hand path. After we do the inside turn with our shoulders and our hands start in the circular path, it looks to me like they move away from the body to go in this circular path. Do you still want to keep the hands inside the ball or doesn't it matter with this circular path? <<<

Hi Rick

Welcome to the site. – By definition, when the hand-path is circular the hands will stay about the same distance from the center of the body (axis of rotation). Therefore, for the hands to be accelerated into a circular path, their first movement must be perpendicular to the path of the incoming ball (not parallel to it). Or in other words, not straight back toward the pitcher. --- The hands first accelerate perpendicular to the ball. Is that what you are referring to as “the hands moving away from the body?”

A linear (straighter) hand-path occurs when the first movement of the hands are directed close to (or across) the batter’s side back toward the pitcher. That is one reason why I think the “keep the hands inside the ball” cue is fine for coaches who teach linear mechanics but counter-productive to rotational principles. – Most coaches associate “hands inside the ball” with a hand movement parallel with the path of a ball – not perpendicular to it. You can not produce an effective CHP after the hands have started parallel to the ball.

Jack Mankin