Posted by: etk () on Thu Apr 17 14:01:22 2003

Hi! I played college and amateur baseball back in 1980. After college I bought this windmill bat with 3 big fans that you swung against air resistance somewhat like swinging a broom. I learned that the best way to swing was by creating a couple with my legs. I would stride and when my front foot hit the ground the weight on both feet was exactly the same and remained that way throughout the swing. My legs would push against each other. My front leg would straighten and push my front hip back toward the catcher and my back leg would push my back hip toward the pitcher. This caused my hips to rotate. I would swing this windmill bat about 20 times and then swing a regular bat. The sensation was unbelievable. The bat seemed to whip itself around and I felt like I had to hold on to the bat to keep it from flying away. My hitting really improved. I could wait on a fast ball and not get too far in front of a curve ball. Of course the competition I played against wasn't that great but I felt that I had a very quick bat. So much so that I went a summer season (almost 100 at bats) without striking out and hit almost .400. I could hit the ball a lot harder. When I saw Jack's video I thought that he is exactly right. I have a master's degree in civil engineering so I know more than the average person about angular momentum and torque and in my opinion Jack is on the money. Shifting your weight from your back foot to your front foot and throwing the bat towards the ball and pitcher is not the way to go. I could never swing my windmill bat very well this way. The air resistance would soon let you know the proper way to swing a bat. Mike Kay