Posted by: Jack Mankin (mrbatspeed@aol.com) on Sat Apr 24 13:16:00 2004

>>> Brian,

I’ve noticed that you’ve been posting more frequently and taking stands on issues, as evidenced by your recent discussions with Teacherman. Each of you has accused the other of “… burying your head in the sand…”.

In the interests of proving that you (Batspeed.com) are not avoiding hard questions, I’d like to ask you to please review the threads listed below and comment. But most importantly, to answer any of my questions that Batspeed.com has left unanswered.


"i don't get no respect" - rodney d. ray porco Wed Apr 14 14:18:57 2004

top hand wrist ray porco Thu Apr 8 16:46:19 2004

Your Input, Jack and John? BHL Thu Apr 1 06:30:17 2004 <<<

Hi Ray

Until Brian has the opportunity to respond, I will do my best to comply. In my earlier post I agreed with you that with the mechanics used by most hitters there was a good possibility of the wrist rolling prior to contact when attempting to pull outside pitches. Therefore, I would not recommend the average hitter to try pulling outside balls. However, I also pointed out, that the rotational transfer mechanics used by the top hitters allow them to make contact on outside pitches well before the wrists reach the rolling point.

It is natural for the wrist to roll as the back-arm reaches full extension and the top-hand begins to roll over the bottom-hand. On most pitches this normally occurs well after contact – during the follow-through. But when attempting to pull outside pitches the back-arm of the average hitter may reach full extension before contact.

The average hitter does not use Top-hand-torque to accelerate the bat-head in an arc back toward the catcher before directing their energy toward the ball. Upon seeing the ball going to the outer edge of the plate, the average hitter uses his arms to extend the hands out toward the ball. The farther out the pitch, the straighter the resulting hand-path. A straight hand-path does not induce angular bat-head displacement and the bat-head trails behind the knob.

Therefore, on outside pitches, the average hitter (more linear mechanics) nears full extension of the arms with a fairly static bat-head. He now must bring the bat-head around by driving the top-hand past the bottom-hand (torque applied at the handle). But with the bat-head trailing far from contact, the top-hand can very well reach full extension and the wrists begin to role prior to contact – especially if the batter attempts to rotate the bat to the pull position.

Great hitters do use Top-hand-torque to accelerate the bat-head in an arc back toward the catcher before directing their energy toward the ball. Upon seeing the ball going to the outer edge of the plate, the top hitters allow THT and shoulder rotation to cast the lead-arm (which remains fairly straight during the swing) and bottom-hand away from the body into a wider path. With their CHP and THT, they have already generated good bat-head displacement which allow them to bring the bat to contact well before their back-arm nears full extension – even when rotating the bat to the pull position.

Obviously Ray, my explanation will not meet your expectations, however, I will attempt to answer your three questions, one at a time.

(1) In a rotational hitter is the potential for rolling the wrists increased the further the hands are from the body? --- Yes

(2) In a rotational hitter at what contact point (with an outside pitch in the black) is the top hand wrist at it’s weakest position to prevent wrist roll, - late (opposite field), even (center field), early (pull)? --- Early (pull). However, good hitters have pulled many outside pitches without the wrists rolling before contact.

(3) In a rotational hitter at what contact point (with an outside pitch in the black) is the top hand wrist at it’s strongest position to prevent wrist roll, - late (opposite field), even (center field), early (pull)? --- Late (opposite field)

Jack Mankin