Posted by: Jack Mankin (mrbatspeed@aol.com) on Wed Mar 10 17:23:01 2004

>>> Jack-

I respect your decision and appreciate your openness to discussion.Perhaps I could stay more focussed.

My understanding of your explanation which I agree with is that the shoulder action drives the arms and hands.I feel a push pull in the swing from the shoulder action that turns the bat and quickens acceleration which is,I believe,in agreement with the way you have described pre-launch tht and tht at initiation.You have always emphasized and described the shoulder link action well.Is there any merit to Paul Nyman's argument that this is not torque ? <<<

Hi Tom

The pulling back of the top-hand during pre-launch not only aids in accelerating the bat-head into the swing plane (pre-launch torque), it also pulls the lead-arm tighter across the chest for good linkage to body rotation. Continuing to pull the top-hand back (as opposed to thrusting it forward) during initiation maintains that linkage as the shoulders start to rotate.

Accelerating the bat-head during pre-launch is more finesse than a power movement. Because it is a low power movement, gravity and where the batter holds the bat play a larger role in determining how much force applied at the handle (torque) is required.

Sheffield, as an example, has his bat almost parallel to the ground as he begins applying pre-launch torque. To accelerate the bat-head from that position in an arc up and over the knob requires a fair amount of force at the handle (torque) to overcome both inertia and gravity and accelerate the bat back to the launch position.

Note: Whether you see Sheffield's pre-launch movements as the un-cocking of the wrists or the pulling back of the top-hand , both apply torque at the handle to accelerate the bat-head up and back.

On the other hand, hitters like A-Rod who hold their hands and bat-head above the shoulders require less force (torque) at the handle. Gravity alone will overcome most of the bat's inertia while the force applied at the handle is as much to guide the bat-head into the swing plane as it is to accelerate it.

To this extent, I would say Paul is correct ONLY if he states that batters like A-Rod who hold the bat high use less torque during pre-launch than hitters like Bonds, Sheffield and Ruth who cock the bat-head lower and forward. Once the bat has accelerated to the launch position and the swing is initiated, all these great hitters will apply a great deal of top-hand-torque (plus CHP) to keep the angular displacement of the bat in sync with the rotation of the shoulders - staying with the power curve.

Jack Mankin