Posted by: grc (grcrackel@yahoo.com) on Thu Aug 10 10:56:13 2000

> Question? --- Nothing that takes place below the armpits - not weight shift - not squashing the bug - not popping the hips - not the kinetic chain - not fast twitch muscles, etc., has any influence on developing bat speed -- other than their contribution to shoulder rotation. True or false?
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> Jack!!!
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> FALSE. Turning the hips creates torque, that pulls the upper part of the body into the swing and is the begining of bat speed. Then, each upper body movement that unfolds, like a flower blooming, (a little poetry he he he) adds to the speed.
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> Think of it this way. Assume that you are on a train traveling at 60 mph and you throw a ball 60 mph in the same direction the train is traveling. How fast is the ball traveling? Correct, 120 mph. The hips start the movement which is added to throughout the swing.
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> Jack, a foundational idea of your teachings is that bat speed equals power. Lower body movement complicates the swing and is another movement that must be taught. This type of swing has more things that can go wrong. If it does not add to bat speed, why do it???
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> Good question to get people thinking. But, this answer should end the discussion, don't you think?
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> Joe A. "The hips start the movement which is added to throughout the swing."...exactly...... "If it does not add to bat speed, why do it???" ...again, right on the mark....if hips do not transfer energy to shoulders (& so-on & so-forth), then for what purpose does hip rotation serve other than the obvious positioning function.....is jack saying that the shoulder itself is generating energy...or is jack saying that the shoulder turn has no energy whatsoever, whether it's "cumulative" energy transferred from the hips or whether it's energy from the shoulder turn itself ?....i'm confused......respectfully, grc.......