Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatSpeed@aol.com) on Mon Aug 9 22:37:45 2004

>>> Don't feel bad, dude, I play for a D-2 team. Neither my coach nor any of my teammates have ever heard of the term. I searched the internet and I find it used only at this site and some other site (although they think it is a myth).I find no scouts who have heard of it, I have never heard any comentators talk about it, I see nothing in any videos, books, literature, nowhere except her. And I don't mean just the term, I'm talking about the concept. I guess if people think they know what it is and think it's helping them personally, that's great.Whatever works for the individual is fine.Personally, though, if a concept that has not been discussed by pro players, pro scouts, pro instructors, college coaches or college recruiters, I think it's obvious that this concept exists only in the minds of a few. <<<

Hi Nate

Welcome to the site. – I doubt that many of the players and coaches (about 25000 per month) who visit Batspeed.com are surprised at the findings of your search. But why stop with THT? You would probably get the same results if you asked the same people what they know about rotation around a stationary axis or the importance of a circular hand-path.

I am proud and gratified at how high the people posting to this board have raised the bar on discussing swing mechanics. Here we are discussing the intricate details of a complex mechanic used only by the top hitters in professional baseball. When only a few short years ago, Ted Williams, Mike Epstein and myself were trying to convince these same people you refer to that the power for the swing came from body rotation and not from weight being transferred forward during the swing.

Remember the rancor Ted received from the baseball community when he published his book, “The Science of Hitting.” To this day, they have not forgiven him for daring to confront the accepted weight-shift and extension teachings. Robert K. Adair, consultant on technical affairs for the National League stated that any batter who would use my “Stationary Axis” model, “could not hit a ball past second base”.

However, the resistance we received from the “stationary axis” was mild compared to what I experienced when I proclaimed that bat speed was generated from the angular displacement rate of the hand-path. At the time (about 1990), every (and I mean “every”) known batting authority agreed that a straight (from A to B) quick extension of the hands were the mechanics that should be taught to all hitters – Major League included. --- Popping the hips at contact was fine, but Lord help anyone who mentioned “shoulder rotation” as a source of power.

Now, just five years after I opened the site, a stationary axis, CHP, the “hook” in the hand-path (term coined by Paul Nyman) and even BHT are understood and accepted by most coaches. Most of our discussions are now based on how to prefect the mechanics that will best deliver these batting principles – We are now working on THT. With some progress I might add.

Nate, I think the reason so many coaches, including myself, question the old linear method of teaching hitting stems from a thought expressed by Mike Epstein, -- Are we actually teaching the swing mechanics we see exhibited by the top hitters? With an open mind, closely study frame-by-frame some clips of your favorite hitters and ask yourself – Am I being taught the mechanics I see?

Jack Mankin