Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Wed Nov 28 10:03:45 2007

HI Jack

>>> X factor stretch has been proven to exist in the golf swing and the baseball swing (refer to Skill Technologies) and is proven to be present in the BEST SWINGS. Video analysis is not the way to test the movement of the body. Currently it is way behind products such as what Skill Technologies and others have out there where exact measurements and not video estimates are best used for analysis. Take a trip down to Phoenix and see it for yourself.

I will agree that too much stretch will decrease the chances of maximizing power and hitting the ball but the stretch is there and is required to have a great swing. <<<

Hi Dave

During my study, I used equipment as, or more, advanced than Skill Technologies. I agree they can give more precise data. However, for all practical purposes, I have found that the findings I made with a Motion Analysis Computer, I can also be make with video analysis.

You state, “I will agree that too much stretch will decrease the chances of maximizing power and hitting the ball but the stretch is there and is required to have a great swing.”

And there within lies my concern with the X factor. To say that a greater X factor (separation) produces a greater “torque angle” for maximum power is misleading. As Tom and Teacherman points out, some of the games’ best hitters open their hips a good number of degrees before the shoulders rotate. However, I can show clips of equally good hitters who have little or no hip rotation prior to shoulder rotation.

Therefore, the degree of separation greater than that obtained during the inward turn, is more a matter of style than a necessity. Just as a longer stride is not necessary to produce power, neither is a greater X factor – at least not for the baseball/softball swing.

Jack Mankin