Posted by: Tom Waz (sluggoking@msn.com) on Tue Jul 27 16:36:35 2004

>>> I think I understand the concept of THT well, but I just don't understand how to apply it. Do you apply "top-hand" torque with your "Top-hand" or is it a result of proper hip and shoulder rotation and it all falls into place? Cause lately I've been trying to create torque with my hands and it feels more like an arms only swing and I either cut my swing short or cast out, and my upper body rotation isn't full, so I feel more like a Juan Pierre hitting only singles and grounders.
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> So if I just keep my hands back and let the shoulders deliver the hands and bring the back elbow to the side at initiation, does the torque automatically apply to the hands? If the front shoulder is rotating back toward the catcher it pulls the front arm and hand in the same fashion, and the back shoulder is rotating around toward the pitcher, is that where the push-pull action (torque) comes from? In simpler words, I'm suppose to keep the hands back and once the front heel comes down, just rotate the upper body and focus on getting the bat inline with the pitch? On the old Mechanics section, the Launch Frame (Frame C) said "All slack has been taken out of lead arm so that any rotation of the shoulders will cause a corresponding acceleration of the hands." So it sounds like the shoulders creates the hand speed (thus torque) and I'm doing the opposite, creating (or trying to) torque with the hands and the shoulders are left behind. Am I right with my understanding. Any drills to help correct this problem-like the heavy bag? I think I might still have some old linear habits that haven't been fixed. <<<
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> Hi Dougdinger
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> Keep in mind that you are trying to develop a mechanic (THT) that less than a third of major league hitters have mastered. You must not only learn to execute the mechanic correctly, it will also require many more hours of trial and error to gain the timing and rhythm necessary to make it productive.
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> Pre-launch torque takes place before the shoulders rotate. Therefore, it is performed mainly with the arms and wrists. This is more of a low-energy finesse action used to accelerate the bat-head to the swing plane. But once the bat is in the plane and the swing is initiated with THT, this is now a high-energy movement that requires energy from shoulder rotation as well as the pulling back of the top-hand to gain maximum acceleration of the bat-head.
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> Dougdinger, the basis of good energy transfer from body rotation is the circular hand-path. The key to generating great bat-speed is to constantly apply torque throughout the swing without altering the angular displacement of the hand-path. If you ruin the hand-path by using the hands and arms to apply torque to the bat, the swing is also basically ruined.
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> Below is an e-mail reply that I sent on a method I use to teach THT to students who have fairly sound rotational mechanics. – This is tough stuff to learn if you had a knowledgeable coach demonstrating it to you. So do not get discouraged not understanding it from the written word.
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> Jack Mankin
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> ##
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> Thank you for your purchase of the DVD. --- Most hitters can not hit the outside pitch with any real authority. This is because they extend their hands out in a straighter path (linear mechanics), which means less bat speed generated from the hand-path. Therefore, most of their bat speed must be generated from torque – driving the top-hand past the bottom-hand. But this method of applying torque becomes less efficient when the hands are extended away from the body. With most swings, this leaves the bat-head lagging well behind the hands at contact. This results in balls hit to the opposite field with little power.
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> One of the main differences between linear and rotational mechanics is with rotational transfer mechanics, the batter keeps his hands back during initiation and accelerates the bat-head back toward the catcher before he rotates and directs his energy toward the ball. When the top-hand is pulling back (or just holding the hands at the shoulder) during initiation, shoulder rotation will accelerate the hands into circular path. At the same time, the rotation of the lead-shoulder (through the lead-arm and hand) accelerates the bat-head by applying torque at the knob. Now the bat-head acceleration can stay in sync with rotation as the hands cast out in a wider arc to contact. With these mechanics, the great hitters can cream outside pitches.
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> Bill, I would suggest your son practice the following drill before changing his timing. The drill works best when practiced with a heavy bag (or tire) before hitting off a tee or soft toss. --- There are two keys to efficient rotational transfer mechanics. (1) Do not drive the top-hand forward at the start of the swing. (2) Make more productive use of the lead-side.
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> To help a student accomplish these keys, I have the student take their normal launch position – with one major change. I have the batter lift the thumb of the top-hand away from the bat and point it toward their back-shoulder. As the batter initiates the swing, the thumb should be touching the shoulder. The batter should try to keep the top-hand pulling back so that the thumb is touching the shoulder as far into the swing a possible. The bat-head is accelerated back toward the catcher by lead-shoulder rotation pulling (through the arm and hand) on the knob-end of the bat. The accelerating trajectory of the bat will cause the top-hand and forearm to rotate and lower to the horizontal contact position.
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> In order for the batter to pull the thumb to the back-shoulder during initiation, he must pull the back-elbow back toward the third base dugout. He is now learning the basics of how to apply Top-Hand-Torque while maintaining a good CHP.
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> Bill, If your son holds the bat more vertical, you may find some good points in the following post from the discussion board archives.
> ##
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> Re: Re: Re: Components--for Jack
> Posted by: Jack Mankin (mrbatspeed@aol.com on Thu Feb 5 12:43:45 2004
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> >>> Need a little help on the exact sequence of the THT. here's what i see happening.
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> You're in your stance and you pull the hands back to the armpit area for launch. this is accomplished by pulling the top elbow backwards.
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> The hands can continue their path back toward the armpit by pinching the right scapula towards the spine(RHB).
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> Now here's where it gets tricky, so let's set the sceen so we have some reference points. you're sitting at your keyboard right hand palm down. turn your hand so your thumb is pointing towards the ceiling and palm facing left. put a pen(the bat) in your right hand. it is now pointing toward the ceiling. cock your wrist back so the pen is pointing toward your right shoulder. is this the first movement of THT?
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> If you loosen your grip and pull the top of the pen down it will now be pointing at the middle of your bicep. inorder for this to happen your fingers had to loosen, but not the ore lock(thumb and forefinger). it appears that with this small movement we've gained some potential bathead displacement for the BHT to take advantage of??
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> Now with the pen pointing at the bicep muscle rotate the thumb so the palm is facing up. don't uncock anything. is this part of the THT?
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> Is the uncocking of this sequence what you call BHT? and does it happen during the hook or is it uncocking the moment the forearm is parallel to the ground? the uncocking is what throws the bat at the ball... the longer we wait the more momentum from the shoulder rotation to assist?
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> Just a few thoughts as i look at my daughter's swing. thanks, Rich
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> Hi Rich
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> Describing these types of mechanics is where the written word is so inadequate. What I could demonstrate in two seconds could take volumes of writing. But here are a few key points to keep in mind.
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> Thinking of accelerating the bat-head back toward the catcher by the cocking and un-cocking of the wrists can lead to problems. The forward cocking and then un-cocking of the wrists will result in the bat-head being accelerated back in an angle that is too vertical to match the swing plane. This action would cause your “pen” to point toward your back-shoulder as you stated.
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> If we use Sosa’s pre-launch mechanics as an example, we would note that he does not accelerate the bat-head by un-cocking his wrists. As he brings his hands toward the shoulder, his wrists remain straight but roll so that your “pen” would arc from vertical to sweep toward his right ear (not back toward the shoulder). This will cause the bat-head to sweep behind his head and into the swing plane.
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> I have asked my students to extend their right thumb straight out (vertical to the bat) when practicing pre-launch torque. The thumb should make a circling motion. First back toward the ear and then as the bat-head sweeps behind the head into the swing plane (palm has rotated from vertical downward), the thumb should rake along the collarbone as the shoulders start to rotate. If the batter starts with the bat in the launch position instead of vertical (no Pre-launch Torque), the thumb would just brush across the end of the shoulder when applying THT.
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> Torque (hands applying force from opposing directions) is being applied throughout the entire swing. I broke the torque into three parts according to the most active hand in that phase. --- Pre-Launch Torque (mostly top-hand and arm generated) is used to accelerate the bat-head into the swing plane before shoulder rotation starts. Top-Hand-Torque is applied once shoulder rotation starts until the back-elbow lowers to the batter’s side. - Bottom-Hand-Torque, the bottom-hand being pulled around the top-hand by lead-shoulder rotation, is being applied once the back-elbow lowers to the side until contact.
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> Best regards,
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> Jack Mankin


Doug,

I think Jack's following comment is a good description from what I've observed watching some video clips of some of the more well known pros at http://www.youthbaseballcoaching.com/swings.html

"This is more of a low-energy finesse action used to accelerate the bat-head to the swing plane"

While trying to observe/understand THT, I've noticed that the THT movement can vary greatly from batter to batter and from pitch to pitch. But in all cases it appears that it is the batter's attempt to get the hands/bat on the swing plane BEFORE the swing starts. If you observe numerous swings frame by frame you'll see the batter's hands moving forward then back (pumping) on some swings or the bat just rotating back on others. Once the bat is on the swing plane it just explodes through the swing plane. Hope this input helps. - Tom Waz
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