Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatSpeed@aol.com) on Tue Aug 10 11:50:48 2004

>>> I am a college baseball player and am pretty well-read on hitting and seriously, I've been reading everything about THT on this website, and I HAVE NO CLUE HOW TO APPLY THT...I bought the Video and thought I kind of knew it and watched the video over and over again...but then i read this forum and still no clue...I think its like Jack said...he could show me in 2 seconds, but its a lot harder to understand the written word, and I have read myself stupid on this fantasic website...so if Jack is reading this and you could email me with anything that would put it in laymen's terms or could show me how to swing rotationaly and apply THT, it would be greatly appreciated... <<<

Hi beatingadeadhorse

I understand how frustrating it can get trying to learn how to apply THT. In the e-mail below regarding hitting the outside pitch, I describe a drill I find helpful for hitters to initiate the swing correctly. It also promotes the holding back of the top-hand during initiation, which is the basis of learning THT.

Jack Mankin
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You are correct, most hitters can not hit the outside pitch with any real authority. This is because they extend their hands out away from the shoulder in a straighter path. This results in little bat speed being generated from the hand-path. Therefore, most of their bat speed on outside pitches must be generated from torque – driving the top-hand past the bottom-hand. But this method of applying torque becomes less efficient as the hands are extended away from the body. With most of these swings, the bat-head is lagging well behind the hands at contact. This results in balls hit to the opposite field with little power.

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 a circular path (even on outside pitches).

At the same time, the rotation of the lead-shoulder pulls the lead-arm and hand toward third base. This pulling at the knob also accelerates the bat-head back toward the catcher. 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 generate the bat speed to cream outside pitches.

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.

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 (palm up/palm down) contact position.

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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