Posted by: JJA (jjanagnost@worldnet.att.net) on Thu Oct 9 10:58:20 2003

If you read Charley Lau, Jr.'s book, he comments on many of the great players (including Bonds) in regards to whether they use the Lau principles or not.

In Bonds case, he says that Bonds uses some of the principles but not all of them. Don't forget, in contrast to Jack, Charley Jr.'s book does not give a well defined definition of what a "rotational vs linear" hitter is. Charley Jr. loosely defines a rotational hitter as someone who hits off his back foot, who concentrates on "squishing the bug". These two points are absolutely anathema to the Lau method.

Thus, in his book Charley Jr. makes the case that Bonds is a more rotational hitter than what he considers perfect (compared to A-Rod or Manny Ramirez), as Bonds often finishes with his weight on his back foot. On the other hand, the cover of Charley Jr's book has Bonds hitting his 400th using the one handed, high finish which is a hallmark of the Lau system. This is why he says that Bonds uses some but not all of Lau's methods.

-JJA