Posted by: george stanley (saint_george13@yahoo.com) on Wed Jan 9 11:50:30 2008

> >>> very good insight!!! far too many hitters AND coaches forget the primary designation.. either you are RIGHT handed or LEFT handed... THAT DESIGNATION INDICATES WHICH IS YOUR POWER HAND!!!THAT MEANS THAT HAND IS MORE POWERFUL THAN THE OTHER HAND!! THAT MEANS YOU SHOULD RELY ON THAT POWER HAND TO PROVIDE MOST OF THE POWER!!! HELLO?!?!?
> i have my students wrap their power hands onto the bat with duct tape & then hit off a tee or soft toss.. this gets them in the mindset that they must not EVER turn loose of the bat until they have gone all the way sround.. this also makes them understand they must be accelerating from the moment they launch & continue to exert maximum force all the way thru the swing.. this gets the hitter to understand that he can generate far more power by pushing off his back leg, torqueing his lower body,& keeping his power hand in tight to his torso.. the hitter must realize & utilize the strongest parts of his body- the leg, the hip & the arm on the power side.. i believe this is key to generating maximum batspeed, to keep your hands in tight..this will generate far greater batspeed & power than implementing a too wide, too open stance & buggywhipping with just the arms & shoulders only.. <<<
>
> Hi George
>
> In the clip below, the batter is practicing a drill to keep his hands in “tight” and drive with his “Power Hand.”
>
> <a href="http://www.quickhands.net/pics.html">Tight & Power Hand Drill</a –
>
>
> In this clip are two of those bad “buggywhipping” type hitters.
>
> <a href="http://callyjr.hittingillustrated.com/barryted.gif">BuggyWhippers</a –
>
>
> Which clip would you say most closely represents what you teach?
>
> Jack Mankin

HELLO JACK!!

i endorse the "tighr & power hand drill".. HOWEVER,on this clip, I do not see the lower body torque which should be implemented pre-launch on the swing, so i am not all that satisifed with this specific example... he is mnerely swinging his arms like a gate with his hands in tight..

the buggywhippers illustrated are both engaged in batting practice, whereby both hitters have elongated beerbelly swings implemented by 16" softball players.. these swings have no relevance to actual game condition hitting... i am of the school that you should practice like you play.. that means no 65 MPH lolllipops served up in MY bp's..this encourages you to think you are playing beerbellyball, which in turn encourages you to SWING like you're playing beerbellyball.. but in fact you are not.. so you do not in fact do yourself any good by implementing a beerbellyball swing during batting practice, as you well know..however,

ortiz's bat is pointed at the 2B man.. this long loopy swing travels back it looks like about at lease a foot or more before it starts forward at the ball..he is WAY PAST THE PERPENDICULAR.. NOT GOOD. he also has his weak arm almost straight... his arms are extended, which means his bat speed is diminished when compared to a hands in-tight
posture... no matter what the hitter's name is or how big his paycheck, the LAWS OF LOGIC & PHYSICS STATE THAT HE WILL GENERATE GREATER BATSPEED WITH HIS HANDS IN TIGHT.. NO MATTER WHAT HE IS DOING, HE WILL IMPROVE IF HE CHANGES.. MIKE tells me that mr. ortiz is above the LAWS OF PHYSICS, & thus immune to them, that they do not apply to him.. & the way he swings is the best way it can possibly be done... simply not so.
ted williams does not have much of a backswing... his bat starts out about perpendicular & he doesn't have TOO much hand motion or drawback.. he does not have much of a stride at all, his swing is fairly level, with not anywhere as much uppercut on the end of his swing as ortiz.. his hands are in a little bit, but not as much as they could be.. he also liked being at the back of the box, which leaves you vulnerable to breaking balls away.. he is no different than any other hitter who played, in that he did some things very well, but had some weaknesses that a pitcher could exploit.

i have a great deal of trouble with coaches who think that since the beerbelly softball stance & swing works for aged matured juiced up hitters in MLB, these same tactics are going to work on the youth of america... but only the strongest & most mature of those will succeed to some extent..the rest... oh well.
QUESTION: is this the way you want to teach every young hitter to hit a baseball? this style can only be mastered after many years of endeavor .. i believe to start out with a short closed stance & implementing a short direct swing starting from the back leg & going forward without a windup & lengthen it as you age will work much better than to start out with this softball swing & THEN discover you don't have the strength or athletic ability to make it work.. & end up losing your ambition to continue to strive to improve, thus discouraging many young players who might otherwise succeed if they took a different slant..
what do you think?