Posted by: J () on Fri Apr 18 17:02:15 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
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> > > > I use a similar tool called a swing fan. It was made for golf, but I find it equally helpful for my baseball swing. I have a few questions for you.......Do you feel more powerful with the stride or could you hit without a stride equally well? Also, what percentage of power do you feel in the lower back and abs?
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> > > > Thanks,
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> > > > Coach C
> > > > Congrats on your success
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> > > Thanks for the response. I too have a swing fan for golf. It has helped my golf as well. (I golf right handed and bat left handed so I can't use my golf fan for baseball). You ask some thoughful questions. Sometimes I could swing the fan with more force without the stride. My own opinion is that you need a short stride for timing the pitch but you have to be careful because if you stride too much you get too spread out and can't use your legs to create that torque and couple. Since you are working against air resistance you really feel the forces in your lower back and abs. Then when you swing without the fans you hardly notice it but the bat seems to swing your upper body around. It is quite a sensation. I wish the people here had a chance to experiment with this device and think about the principles that are discussed here. I think it would help in understanding the swing better. Mike Kay
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> > "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.".....This is the result of what Jack says, when stride foot lands, all forward body movement stops. An excellent example of theory shaking hands with practice.
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> I liked the phrase you used "theory shaking hands with practise". It made me think back to when I played and experimented a lot. Sometimes I would try something in batting practise that seemed to work because of the repetition of hitting in batting practise. But after one or two at bats in game competition against live pitching I could tell it wasn't going to work out after all. The principles involved in hitting around a fixed axis worked for me in game competition as well as in batting practise. Plus the theory makes sense. Mike Kay
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I might also add that I think your technique would help force the top to initiate the swing rather than the bottom hand, which in turn will encourage more rotationalism/less linearism.