Posted by: BHL (Knight1285@aol.com) on Sun Apr 4 22:19:16 2004

Hi Jack and Rich,

One way to "keep the hands back" is to imagine a stake that connects the rear shoulder blade to the point lying between both hands and the bat. More precisely, the hands should be at a 45 degree angle to the ground with the rear elbow raised to ensure the correct swing plane. When the batter initiates the swing, he or she should feel the bottom hand swing upwards on a 45 degree angle towards the back ear--as if to hit it--while, simultaneously, experience the top hand swing at a 45 degree angle towards the opposite hitter's batter's box.

The back elbow should almost seem as if the batter is making a muscle, but, rather than unflexing, it should be squeezed even tighter as the swing progresses to maintain the optimum amount of bend in it.

All the while, the hitter squeezes the biceps against the chest, attempting to stretch the front arm as much as possible throughout the swing.

Once again, this material is not native to me--I am simply a gatherer.

As for Jack's tire analogy, let's assume there are two tires, one parallel to the ground, and one perpendicular to it. A rod (no pun on the Yankee's star) is then welded connecting the outside of the tire parallel to the ground to the center of the one perpendicular to the ground.

Suppose the one parallel to the ground rotates around a stationary axis, and swings the perpendicular wheel. This constitutes CHP.

Now suppose the perpendicular wheel spins around its axis while rotating. This is BHT and THT rotating at commensurate rates.

This is no different than someone with a huge uppercut (I altered Mankin's original model to make it easier to follow)who rotates around a stationary axis, gains CHP, and adds BHT and THT so the rotating bat will also spin.

Hope I understood your wheel analogy, Jack.

Sincerely,
BHL
Knight1285@aol.com