Posted by: Jack Mankin (mrbatspeed@aol.com) on Fri Oct 10 12:16:14 2003

>>> I have no arguments about a heavy bag, as I have never used one. When a hitter makes contact with a pitch, and happens to hit it hard and fair, the contact point can vary about two feet. To hit the ball with maximum power, you would need to maintain top batspeed for at least two feet in your swing. Not every pitch is going to be hit in the exact same spot, due to the pitcher changing speeds and locations. You might be hitting a fastball that you were looking for out in front of your front foot, and a fastball with a little more zip on it a foot or so deeper. Since the hitter does not know exactly where he is going to make contact, I think that getting to max bat speed early and then trying to maintain it for a couple of feet is a much better approach than trying to figure out when to back off on max bat speed. Getting to max bat speed early IMO is a very good idea as it will help you to hit the ball to the opposite field with power. Maintaining max batspeed IMO is a good idea too, as it will let you pull a pitch out in front of your lead foot with power.

Doug <<<

You make a good point. – When working with a hitter on the heavy bag, I have found the best results are when the batter practices timing to reach maximum bat speed when hitting the ball straightaway (bat perpendicular to ball flight at contact). At this time the batter will be completing shoulder rotation and the ‘hook’ in the hand path. There are only about 4 or 5 inches of bat travel from hitting straightaway to hitting to the power alleys. The acceleration (or deceleration) factor is more limited with this timing than trying to maintain bat speed over a long distance.

Jack Mankin