Posted by: BHL (Knight1285@aol.com) on Mon May 3 09:45:13 2004

Dear Jack,

Before I ask you my question aggain, let me thank grc for illustrating my argument with major league Hall-of-Famers.

Here are my points. Please address each one as soon as possible.

1. The primary reason for my suggestion is that many right-handed batters who throw in the same manner tend to drive the bat linearly, since they are top hand dominant. As a result, their natural physical attributes work against creating a good circular handpath.

On the other hand, if right-handed throwers were told to bat lefty, their power hand would be their bottom hand, forcing their lead arm to straighten, and their top hand to stay back, which is essential for a circular hand path, and bottom hand torque.

2. Also, many righties who bat the same way that they throw tend to be right-footed. On Batspeed.com, numerous individuals agree that straightening the rear knee is imperative in order to develop good lower body mechanics, but fail to understand that right-handed throwers the hit righty use their weaker leg--their left leg--to straighten to knee, making the rotation slightly slower.

However, if they hit lefty, they use the quicker, stronger knee--the right knee, to straighten the front leg, making hip rotation a little bat faster.

Finally, in both "Final Arcs," Jack argues that it takes a while to overcome poor muscle memory. While I agree, I believe that it would take an inordinate amount of time of right-handed batters that hit righty to forget their old linear mechanics, and learn new rotational mechanics.

3. Seen in this light, it would make much more sense if a right-handed hitter hits the opposite way he throws, and learns good mechanics from the start, than teaching a right-handed hitter who throws righty to convert to rotational mechanics, which will take twice as long.

In the end, these facts seem to support hitting the opposite way that one throws.

BHL