Posted by: daw (daw@bellevue-law.com) on Fri Dec 14 01:05:13 2007

> > HI All
> >
> > George states, “DO NOT STAND FLATFOOTED! REMEMBER MASS X SPEED = ENERGY. so just like throwing a pitch, push off your back leg & get your body mass going forward.. the faster, the greater the energy you are generating toward the ball..to stand stock still with no forward motion means you are generating NO energy whatsoever!!! HELLO?!?!?! “
> >
> > This illustrates just one of the problems of equating the mechanics of pitching a ball to that of swinging a bat. To say that since the development of forward momentum is required in pitching, it must also be true for hitting is misleading. Keep in mind that in hitting, forward movement of the body ceases at foot-plant and the batter rotates about a stationary axis. Whereas, in pitching, the upper-body continues to move forward after foot-plant and the pitcher rotates about a forward tilting axis.
> >
> > This weekend, I will develop a clip to show why the development of linear momentum is required for pitching but not for hitting.
> >
> > Jack Mankin
>
> hi jack!
>
> here we go with the LAWS OF LOGIC & PHYSICS again, which of course do not apply to hitting a baseball..
>
> forward movement DOES STOP AT FRONT FOOT CONTACT.... TRUE..
> what you are totally ignorant of is THIS FORWARD MOVEMENT FORCE IS NOT TOTALLY DISSIPATED & LOST UPON CONTACT...NEWTON'S LAW OF MOTION STATES THAT FOR EVERY ACTION THERE IS AN EQUAL BUT OPPOSITE REACTION.. according to that law, THIS REACTION IS INSTEAD TRANSFERRED TO THE ROTATIONAL OR TORQUE ENERGY FORCE BY THE LEGS...
> some power is lost of course, but SOME energy is indeed transferred to the body rotation, which will increase batspeed, thus increase power..
>
> however according to YOUR LOGIC, you would have us believe that you are going to generate more rotational force with little or no forward body mass motion than you would by pushing off your back power foot & attempting to get your body mass going forward as quickly as possible so as to transfer this force to a rotational force.. NOT!!
> sorry, but your concept of NEWTON'S LAW OF MOTION needs a little work..
> i hope your clip includes a model who does not look like he's playing 16" softball, who, once the pitch is released, doesn't drop his hands a foot, do a circle hitch with his hands & draw back his arms & hands a foot or so before FINALLY launching his swing... or is this clip indeed for the 16" softball instruction video?
> just wondering...


Newton's published his three laws of motion in 1686.

The third states that "for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction"....this applies to the meeting of two objects, ie, a bat hitting a ball. The amount of force the bat applies to the ball is equalled by the force applied by the ball to the bat, generated in exactly the opposite direction. There is some cutesy debate about this one.....if a feather is struck by a bat, does the feather apply equal force back to the bat? However, there is no debate that the rule applies to the interaction of two objects. Nor is there any doubt from the rule itself that the reaction is exactly opposite the inital action. Newton's law says the force your front foot applies to the ground when planting after the stride is equalled by the force the ground applies back to your foot in exactly the opposite direction....but it doesn't suggest or in any way imply that stopping your stride will unleash a rotational force.

More importantly, his FIRST rule of Motion states that an object will remain at rest, or in motion along a straight line, unless external forces are applied to change its direction. This is the rule of inertia and among other things means, simply, that once an object stops, it STAYS stopped until additional force is applied.

The theory that forward energy is somehow "stored" or "converted" into rotational energy once the stride is stopped directly contradicts Newton's First Law of Motion. Get into your stance and take an exxagerated stride, lunging as hard as you can and still plant into a balanced position........do your hips and shoulders want to come flying around once you've planted? Nope. You may lose your balance and continue forward along the staight line of your stride but you won't come twisting around.