Posted by: Nick (nickkio@aol.com) on Wed Feb 18 05:35:48 2004

BHL,

You have mentioned numerous times the concept of opening the heel to 45 degrees, which is what Epstein teaches. However, this concept clearly falls under the area of personal preference. If it works for you that is fine, but it is far from an absolute. It is easy to find good hitters who do not do this:

http://webpages.charter.net/nickkio/FootAngle.mpg

In his video Epstein says lower body mechanics determine if you are linear or rotational. Jack says upper body mechanics. This may be the reason why none of the hitters Mike shows on his web site have swings that look anything like a major league swing. Nick