Posted by: Coach C () on Mon Jan 5 14:19:53 2004

>>> I've never posted under a different name and don't recall making the statement before. It's something I wish wouldn't come up, because it's significance to hitting mechanics is zero!
>
> Pujols says fast hands, Gwynn say's pull the knob, I say quiet the body with fast arms, but the hips must engage correctly. You say this, Tom says that, Epstein says that.....we all have a theory. You say your right and I say.....maybe so, but I'm not convinced.
>
> Maybe someday. <<<
>
> Hi Coach C
>
> I place little importance on what a player or coach says about a hitter’s mechanics unless a frame-by-frame analysis verifies their comments. -- For any theory to be taken seriously, it must be supported with the laws and proven principles pertaining to its function.
>
> Jack Mankin
>

The laws of motion are difficult to dispute, however you have overlooked the human condition in your analysis. With a machine the link from the shoulder to arm to wrist to hand to handle to bathead can not be broken, and yes it optimizes batspeed in my opinion. However, yet to be invented is a machine that tracks pitch speed as well as location.....the great equalizer in baseball. However more importantly than that is the notion the it takes the human mind a fraction of a second for the synapsis to fire. Just because I think hands and arms....(which I do), doesn't mean that they are the first to fire. You equate hand action to a straight move, independent of any body action. In my opinion what you are witnessing is incorrect body action, leaving what you call a linear hand path available to the hitter. As a boxer I think punch, as a football passer I think throw, as a bowler I think roll the ball, etc, etc. Then magically the body does what it's supposed to do. Have you ever skipped rocks while you fish? How many throws did it take you to get the hip action right? Probably one, but throw took place because you hand knew what to do. Visualization is a key component of any learned component. I can't tell you how many times I've had kids instantly turn to me and say..........Wow, I felt that and their swings dramatically change in one minute. I often hear, "Oh, that's what you need me to do." Changing a hitters mechanics is not a gradual thing......something that takes 50,000 hacks to engrain. It takes doing it right one time and the student to say.....Oh, I understand now. Like skipping a rock for the first time. As a matter of fact, to teach the flip throw to infielders I'll take the kids to the beach, just to skip rocks. They think I'm a genius, but really they figured it out. Hitters will do what they need to do if you give them the right recipe. Turning the legs/hips is disaster for most people.

One last thought....when you skip rocks, does your hand go straight forward or does it pull back first? Hitting same thing!

Coach C