Posted by: Teacherman () on Fri May 2 18:16:38 2003

>>> How would you describe Bonds hand action in this clip?
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> http://webpages.charter.net/nickkio/Bonds01.mpg <<<
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> Hi Ray
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> Thank you for giving the address to this clip. We have been discussing swing mechanics that is hard to visualize from the written word. This clip should help show some of the batting principles we are discussing.
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> In order to understand the mechanics that are used by only the best very hitters, I would suggest first watching the travel of the bat-head during Bonds pre-launch through full initiation. Note how the bat-head is first accelerated back toward the catcher before he turns and directs his energy toward the incoming ball. Also note that bat-head is accelerated back by the top-hand pulling back at a faster rate than the bottom-hand. Since the top-hand is rotating around the slower moving bottom-hand, I termed this mechanic Top-Hand-Torque (THT).
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> All great hitters accelerate the bat-head back toward the catcher before turning and directing their energy toward the ball. This cannot happen if the top-hand is driven forward at initiation. This will just cause the knob to accelerate toward the pitcher. To accelerate the bat-head back toward the catcher requires a mechanic (regardless of the name given to it) that causes the top-hand to be pulled back toward the catcher at initiation.
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> Jack Mankin

The barrel doesn't move back toward the catcher until the elbow begins to slot. The barrel is circling because of his hitch and doesn't take the move back until elbow starts dropping. I/m not as concerned about the name of the movement as I am as to what is really going on. I see no "bow and arrow" pulling by the thumb and forefinger. I do see the first movement of the barrel back to the catcher as the rear elbow heads for the slot.
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