Posted by: Doug () on Tue Sep 2 22:11:51 2003

Jack,many hitting instructors and scouts talk about having strong hands or quick hands and I agree with them.However they feel that it is the hands that are responsible for the power that gets generated into the bat.I however feel that what is happening is that the whole process of rotation and [rear elbow getting in the slot] createstht.My videos have showed that while the elbow is coming down and the top hand is pulling back the front shoulder is turning forward and out which pulls the bottom hand forward thus causing tht early.Now all the energy is going thru the hands and they are also applying whatever they can but the pressures that sre felt on the hands that make people talk so much about the hands are really created by a combination of body rotation and the way the body applies pressure to the bat [torque early thru late in the swing.]Let me also mention that one of the 1st problems I have when I teack rotational mechanics and I tell them to use their hips and shoulders to lead the swing ,they do not apply torque in the swing thus it drags thru the zone,it is almost like linear leading with the hands with no rotation except opposite because the hands are not connected properly able to apply torque properly.I have found if I have them lead with the hips 1st it keeps the hands back properly while the sequence gets underway and then drive the hands to the ball hard but make the shoulders stay ahead of the hands.This seems to keep torque being applied while rotation fuels the swing.
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> > > > rql
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> > > > If a guy doesn't tht correctly, what happens to the contact zone and timing? Do the hands get ahead of the rotation? Does the contact zone move? If so, where? Is timing affected?
> > > >Teacherman if you are refering to rotational swing and not being connected properly during tht then I think I can answer this.A:the contact zone is further back and timing is off.B:hands lag behind rotation and zone is deeper over plate.Not only is timig affected but so is batspeed because of incorrect mechanics[not connected so you can't transfer energy properly.]
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> > rql
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> > My take would be that the hands get ahead of rotation without proper tht. The pulling of the barrel back toward the catcher would keep the hands back as compared to a hitter who pushes his top hand forward. I would think the guy who pushes his top hand forward would be subject to getting ahead of rotation thereby moving the hands and contact point out front. Your take??
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> >>Teacherman,on a linear swing I would agree with you but I said if you are refering to a rotational swing.I believe you can try to be rotatioal and leave the hands back and not apply torque .In this case both hands are just being dragged thru the zone,I guess what I am saying is that kids can apply rotaional mechanics and yet not have proper tht and bht only the body is turning and just dragging the hands thru.This is the area I am wading thru and would like to get responses on what others are seeing as faults in their hitters who they are teaching rotational mechanics.I'm not worried about separating linear and rotational that I have down it is the flaws that arise from combining rotation and torque and all the ques that have been thrown out over the years,what I see is so often their seems to be a right way and a wrong way or 2 ways to interpret each que.

rql, I have always felt that clearing (rotating) the hips allows you to get the elbow into the slot easier and then hard rotation of the shoulders starts your batspeed. Kids that lag the bat don't (can't) do the next thing to increase their batspeed and that is the movement of the hands (bathead) the last two feet before contact. I don't know what the percentage of power the hands create, but it is plenty, and it can happen with the elbow in a good position in the slot and with hard shoulder rotation. I feel that the hips are clearing and getting the rest of your body in position to hit the ball. If we were together in person, it would be much easier for me to demonstrate. The printed word is not my strong suit. Young kids have a lot of bat lag, because most of them have weak hands that can't help out the last couple of feet before contact. I have met many fine power hitters over the years and some were short and some were tall, but they all had strong hands.

Doug