Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Wed Aug 15 13:38:14 2012

>>> Hi
I have purchased a couple of editions of the Final Arc and strongly subscribe to it in my coaching youth baseball (6U-8U).
Do you have an opinion on having the batter place his feet in a slightly pigeon-toed stance when in the "ready" position? I found a discussion from 2002 that advocated it. <<<

Hi Dave

I do not recall the "pigeon-toed" discussion you mentioned. However, I can see some advantage in having the lead-foot turned inward. It is very important to have a good inward-turn of the lead-shoulder in the launch position. Although I do not see any reason for the back-foot to be pigeon-toed, maybe you or another reader can shed some light on why.

Below is an exerpt from one of my discussions on the importance of the "Inward Turn" of the lead-shoulder in the launch position.

"Tim, I am glad to hear of the progress your son is making with rotational mechanics. Something I was writing today for the video may help in his advancement. I was discussing the "inward-turn" and why it is so important to a good swing. --- The inward turn is just that, a turn. It's not the shifting back and forward of the axis or the hands. It's a turn. There are two main benefits that result from this move. During the swing, the shoulders will rotate somewhat more (about 120 degrees) than the hips (about 90 degrees) during rotation. The "inward-turn" stretches the muscles of the torso so that there will be less slack (and in a stronger position) when the hips start to rotate. But even of more importance is the position the inward-turn brings the hands to.

The forces applied to the bat during initiation produce trajectories that will set the tone for the entire swing. It is very important that the first directional movement of the hands be arcing perpendicular (or as close as possible to it) to the line of flight of the ball. This will induce the greatest amount of angular displacement into the bat and propel the hands into the correct path. ---The inward turn should bring the hands, center of axis and the pitchers mound in line. If the batter will then allow the rotation of the body (stationary axis) against the lead arm to accelerate the hands, the first movement of the hands will be propelled perpendicular to that line (or parallel with the catcher's shoulders).

The top hand can also aid in getting the hands started in the correct direction (rearward pull from the top-hand). We will discuss this later. Hope this helps. It's a lot easier to show than write about."

Jack Mankin