Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Mon Jul 14 14:16:47 2003

>>> Hi. Somewhere on this site-- I can't find where
right now-- I believe Jack suggested swinging
a length of garden hose to get the feel for
swinging the bat through a proper arc instead
of a straight line. He said it removed hand
torque from the equation-- which should be
added after establishing a good swing arc,
since that's much more important-- and that if
you were swinging in a straight line, the hose
would flop at the wrists instead of retaining
straightness through the course of the swing,
like a proper arc should.

Anyway, I've tried it, and reached one odd
conclusion- I seem to want to hold the bat at a
different angle than before, with the end
pointed more toward the pitcher than toward
the sky behind me. That seems to enable me
to swing in more of an arc. Does that sound
logical? <<<

Hi Matt

You made a very keen observation. Body rotation and accelerating the hands should not be initiated until the bat is in the plane of the swing. That is the reason you are getting better results starting with the hose in the lower position. Many hitters, including some major league players, get into trouble with a vertical or cocked forward bat. They have not brought the bat-head into the plane as they fully initiate their swings. It causes wrist bind, bat-head stalls and waves in the swing plane. This is the basic reason Big Mac, Eric Davis, Strawberry and others, went into deep batting slumps.

Batters who successfully use Pre-launch Torque to maximize bat speed have their bat's vertical or cocked forward toward the pitcher (picture Gary Sheffield's bat pointing at the pitcher). But they all accelerate the bat-head back into the swing plane (normal launch position) by pulling the top-hand back before body rotation and a Circular-Hand-Path (CHP) is initiated.

Matt, try holding your hands out away from your shoulder (like Sosa) with the hose tilted toward first base. Then while keeping your inward-turn shoulder position, swing (smooth and easy) the hose back toward the launch position as you bring your hands back to the back-shoulder. When you get the rhythm and timing right you will already have hose-head speed as you initiate rotation and the CHP. --- The hose-head must be continually accelerated right through the launch position. It is all wasted if the hose-head is paused or slowed before you fully initiate the swing. Make sure you have maintained your inward-turn position and your hands are at the back-shoulder as you start rotation.

Jack Mankin