Posted by: Doug () on Mon Apr 21 10:43:47 2003

“Yes his hands are hidden but they can still go straight to the ball at the contact point, which I believe they do.”
> >
> > Hi Teacherman
> >
> > About 50% of a hitters bat speed is generated from the angular displacement of the hands. So I would again ask you to address my original question to you.
> >
> > “If by “linear” you mean "hands straight to the ball", please explain how he makes up for the loss of bat speed generated by the angular displacement of the hands (circular hand-path)?” Are you saying he is a pure torque hitter with little (or nothing) gained from a linear hand-path. Or do you think a linear hand-path somehow generates angular bat displacement?
> >
> > Jack Mankin
>
> Jack
>
> Again, a great discussion. I think we have disagreed about this before. But I still contend that there is very good bat speed at extension. In fact, I think maximum batspeed is at extension as Paul Nyman states. The problem comes from the fact that it is very difficult to get extension against top pitching. Griffey, McGwire, ARod often do, to name a few. It creates a long swing that isn't useful (it's fast but takes to long to get the barrel to the ball). Therefore, some batspeed is sacrificed for bat quickness by most all mlb players.
>
> But, at extension, when the hands stop and the barrel whips around, the batspeed is significant. I have a clip of Arod, completely broken down, clearly disconnected and extending, reaching for an outside pitch and he hits the ball 390 feet. Where did that batspeed come from? It had to come from the whip effect.

Teacherman, That is where hand strength comes in handy. All the best power hitters have hand strength, and on a tough outside pitch, a hitter with hand strength can still smoke a ball that a weak handed player can't.

Doug
> >