Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Wed Mar 12 18:49:29 2003

>>> I'm new to the girls fastpitch scene and am studying as much as i can to help my daughter excel... i've come up with a great analogy to the rotational swing and how it works best. everybody's gone to the traveling carnivals that come to town in the summer time. and one of the great rides that have always been part of the carnival scene is the ride called the Tilt-a-Whirl. this ride has a large circular platform that rotates in the center(the center axis). this fast circular rotation is generated by a huge diesel engine(the legs,hips and abdomin)this is where ALL the power of the ride is created!!! now ont this platform are small pods that the customers sit in.(the pods are our bats) the circular rotation of the platform causes the pods to whip around(once again the trunk of our body) this speed is fun, but not near the fun as when the pod rotates on its individual axis(the axis of rotation between the top hand and the bottom hand on the bat) when the rotation of the pod coincides with the rotation of the platform the pod excellerates to it's maximun speed and that's when you hear the girls scream! and here's the most interesting point of the analogy... the pod DOES NOT HAVE A MOTOR TO CREATE POWER AROUND IT'S AXIS!!!! the top hand and the bottom hand DO N0T have to force the bat head to maximum speed, just a slight torque and relaxation of the arms and hands ALLOW the power from the legs,hips and torso to flow to the bat head. just as the rotation of the pod from the power of the diesel engine is ultimately created by the loose axis on the pod... if you haven't seen the Tilt-a-Whirl this doesn't make sense and you need to go to the carnival this summer with your kids and show them and yourself how bat speed is really created. to answer your question: legs,hips and torso rotate the shoulders which pull the arms and hands thru the strike zone and the wrists apply slight torque to overcome inertia and allow the bat to futher rotate around the axis on the bat handle.

Sorry I forgot to sign last post. Dave Huggins, hitting instructor for oakland A's says throw hands, hips will follow. i tried this and he was right. <<<

Hi Carl

Welcome to the site. I think your Tilt-a-Whirl analogy for transferring rotational energy is excellent, but I doubt that Dave would agree with you that the bat is accelerated from a circular motion like a "Tilt-a-Whirl." Dave teaches mechanics that has the batter extend his hands straight toward the pitcher " A to B " - no circular hand-path with the Huggins' swing. So, if the batter extends his hands in a straight path and there is no Tilt-a-Whirl effect to accelerate the bat-head around, what, other than "torque" causes the bat-head to cease trailing behind the knob and accelerate around toward contact?

Note: When oaring a boat, there is no "Tilt-a-Whirl" effect acting on the paddle. It relies soley on torque to power the blade around through the water - similar to the bottom-hand-torque mechanic used in the baseball/softball swing.

Jack Mankin