Posted by: Rory (daggar1@yahoo.com) on Mon Mar 31 21:59:30 2008

> > >>> I have a question for you or Jack. How many MlB hitters have talked about pulling on the knob? I have talked to a few(most likely not as many as you guys) and everyone I have spoke with says that pulling on the knob with the lead shoulder is a big mistake. They have stated that this will cause you to "lose" the barrel and get "long" to the ball. Also, it can cause you to pull off of the ball. The drills I have seen them do are more of a hands to the ball type of drills. Could it be that they are not trying to send there hands in a CHP but they lose because every thing is rotating around an axis? I hear them talk about hands to the ball, why? Could it be that they are allowing there hands to turn the barrel to the ball and not the shoulders? How do we dismiss what the Pros say they do? <<<
> >
> > Hi Graylon
> >
> > Mike Epstein asks a very important question, “Do we actually teach what we see?” After studying video of the best hitters, he found that what he saw did not match the batting cues he was taught. I would suggest you do the same. Open your mind by forgetting everything you have read - everything Jack Mankin, Teacherman, or a Pro hitter has told you. With this open mind study video of a great hitter and record only what you see – not what you think you ought to see.
> >
> > Did the batter rotate his shoulders from the start of the swing to contact? Did he pull off the ball? Trust what Granlon saw – not what he thought, heard or read.
> >
> > Jack Mankin
>
>
> Jack,
>
> Thanks for the response. You're right about believe what you actually see. It all gets confusing at times. Like when you see something but yet the hitter says that he is trying to do something contridictary to what he actually does.
> IMO the hands do take a circular path but I believe that they practice drills to fight the circular path because they feel that they will get to long and loopy. It's very hard to write what I am thinking, sometimes they may practice on something contradictory to what they actually do in order to benefit and add to what actually happens.
> I heard good advice from someone and that was "get 24 inches of handle out of the way". I had to think about it for awhile and then it finally made sense to me.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Graylon

I think we all need to realize that just because someone is pro does not mean they are an expert at swing mechanics or even have a clue as to what they are really doing.

A perfect example was Theriot today on deck with what looked like a 10 pound weight on his bat.

All the studies are showing that this actually decreases bat speed.

So why is he doing it?

Because he doesn't know better or because everyone else does it. Its what he has always done and he is comfortable thinking its a good thing to do.