Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Wed Sep 27 21:05:34 2000

>>>JACK YOU SAY YOUR INSTRUCTION TEACHES TO MAKE CONTACT WHEN THE BAT IS PERPENDICULAR TO THE FLIGHT OF THE BALL{INSIDE OR OUTSIDE}.ON AN INSIDE PITCH IF THE BAT IS PERPENDICULAR AT CONTACT WONT THIS HIT IT OFF THE HANDLE,OR AT LEAST INSIDE THE SWEET SPOT.IF OPTIMUM CONTACT POINT IS PERPENDICULAR TO BALL TO CREATE BATSPEED WHY IS THE LONGEST BALLS HIT PULLED AND MOST HOMERUNS PULLED.<<<

Hi RQL

I think under normal circumstances, most batters attempt to hit the ball "straight-away." This means they try to bring their bat fairly close to perpendicular to the incoming ball. Of course, there are times when the hitter tries to guide the ball to one side or the other. But in most cases, balls are hit to the opposite field because of bat-lag on outside pitches. The wider the hand-path the wider the path of the bat-head. The wider the bat-head path, the greater the amount of torque required to maintain the same angular displacement. Therefore, since only a few hitters apply torque early in the swing, most batters hit outside pitches to the opposite field.

Conversely, the tighter hand-path requires less energy to bring the bat around. So on inside pitches the batter is more likely to have the bat rotate past perpendicular and pull the ball. --- So I don't think "pulling" or "hitting inside-out" is as much a matter of choice as it is a matter of "demand vs supply."

RQL, I agree with you on inside pitches. If the batter is jammed, it will be hard to have the bat perpendicular. To hit the ball fair he would need to break-down the lead elbow (hands farther inside) and pull or inside-out the ball. But for pitches in the strike zone, he doesn't have to think about pulling the inside pitch. It will happen automatically -- tighter hand-path, less resistance, quicker bat-head rotation.

Yes, you are right again. Most home runs are pulled (more degrees of rotation). And now with more top-hand-torque, the better hitters are able to pull even good pitches on the outside corner.

Jack Mankin