Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Mon Aug 28 11:19:24 2000

>>>JACK;IN ANOTHER POST YOU WERE EXPLAINING TO ME HOW BAT TORQUE IS CREATED AT A POINT BETWEEN THE HANDS AND OPPOSITE MOVEMENT OF THE BOTTOM HAND IN RELATION TO THE PULLING BACK OF THE TOP HAND.I THOUGHT THE BOTTOM OF BOTH HANDS STARTED TOWARDS THE PITCHER TO BEGIN WITH AND ON POINT OF BAT TORQUE THE BOTTOM OF BOTH HANDS PULL BACK TOWARD CATCHER TOGETHER.IT SEEMS TO ME THAT THE OPPOSITE TORQUING AFFECT COMES FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE BOTTOM HAND PULLING BACK AND THE TOP OF THE TOP HAND EXTENDING OUT INTO THE PITCH. ARE WE THINKING THE SAME THING AND SAYING THEM DIFFERENT OR AM I OFF ON ANOTHER TANGENT.RQL JACK, STILL PONDERING THIS IDEA OF BAT TORQUE COMING FROM THE PULLING BACK OF TOP HAND. IF THE TOP HAND DOES THE OPPOSITE OF THE BOTTOM HAND TO CREATE BAT TORQUE AT A POINT BETWEEN THE HANDS AND THE TOP HAND PULLS BACK THEN THE BOTTOM HAND MUST BE PUSHING FORWARD.PERSONALY I ALAWYS FELT MOST COMFORTABLE WHEN MY HANDS FELT AS ONE ON THE BAT LIKE ONE BIG HAND AND THE BOTTOM OF THE HAND CAME BACK AND THE TOP OF THE HAND EXTENDED OUT WHEN USING THE CIRCULAR HAND PATH. <<<

Hi RQL

Sorry I didn't answer your post earlier. I think you ordered the video and thought it might answer many of your question. --- Let us start with your final point >>> PERSONALY I ALAWYS FELT MOST COMFORTABLE WHEN MY HANDS FELT AS ONE ON THE BAT LIKE ONE BIG HAND AND THE BOTTOM OF THE HAND CAME BACK AND THE TOP OF THE HAND EXTENDED OUT WHEN USING THE CIRCULAR HAND PATH. <<<

The hands should take a very loose grip as "two" different levers with different responsibilities. The forces they apply to the bat, from initiation to contact, will always be in opposing directions. The bottom hand (and knob end of the bat) is always being "pulled" by the rotation of the lead shoulder. At initiation the lead arm pulls the bottom hand in an arc around toward the pitcher. As the swing progresses, the direction of that pull is constantly changing so that by contact the pull of lead shoulder is pulling the bottom hand back toward the catcher (for pitches from the middle-in). -- Once again, at contact, the lead shoulder has rotated to where it is now pulling back toward the catcher.

At initiation, the top hand is pulling back toward the catcher but by contact it is being driven forward toward the pitcher by the rotation of the back shoulder. So, as one hand is applying force in one direction, the other is always applying a force in the opposite direction. -- That is torque.

So RQL, it would be better not to think of the hands as a single unit, but as "two different levers with different responsibilities."

Jack Mankin