Posted by: tom.guerry () on Thu Nov 6 08:36:00 2003

Rich-

Thanks for wading through that.

"Centering the bat" is of course a cue,so how does it (infinitely)/"should " it (still infinite,but less "adequate ways") get interpreted ?

It is probably part of the second most important of all the incredibly controversial "moves " of the hitter.For the context of this remark,see Science of hitting,pp. 45-6,section title:

HIPS:WHERE THE ACTION IS

"...The most important thing I can think of is the COCKING OF THE HIPS [Ted's italics]...............You would think it would be an instinctive thing.............Certainly nobody had to tell me about it.........But I look around at the young hitters today,and 25% of then don't cock their hips or hands............"


so I think #1 is hip cock (more Williams-"I never saw a good hitter that didn't have good hip cock.....Dimaggio had it,but it wasn't as noticeable because of hiw wider stance" - food for thought)

AND #2 appears to be "hand cock" which I think is what prepares the body for what Jack describes mechanically as THT.

The bat "centers" by getting cocked/ponited to the pitcher in many cases.It gets cocked primarily by internal rotation of the back arm as the hip cocks,and then finishes "cocking"/"centering" by back scap load.Then you are ready to apply THT.It is such a universal image that it is the major league logo (at least one major interpretation of that image.

This is the one area in which I disagree with Epstein significantly.He recommends NOT centering.This is understandable because most will center by using the small muscles that "wrap" the bat by wrist action which lengthens the swing.The solution is not to eliminate centering,but to "cock the hands"/"center the bat the "right way via internal rotation and scap load,using the big muscles to move the arm.What I would call "arm action" as opposed to hand or wrist or torso motion.