Posted by: Shawn () on Mon Aug 30 19:46:04 2004

>>> Hi Jack,
>
> I'm getting no decrease in speed when I bring the hands forward a short distance ahead of the rear shoulder. There's a strong case that can be made that this increases the late uncocking which increases the arc later in the swing (you will have a greater arcing from around the rear shoulder to contact, the arc will be covering a greater distance from frame to frame).
>
> There are lots of ways to apply physics in the swing. The late uncocking holds up just as well as any other way we apply physics.
>
> In the late uncocking there is a force transferred down the length of the bat. There is a forward force in the swing, it might be the arms and bat being pulling forward by rotation.
>
> Here's Chipper Jones showing the bat coming off the tip of the shoulder, after the hands have moved forward ahead of the shoulder, with the bat and wrists still cocked. After getting to that position the hands begin to uncock turning the bat over a greater distance out infront of the body.
>
> http://members.aol.com/bellshw2/Chipper01.mov
>
> I would take that swing any day. There's nothing wrong with swinging forward, it just depends on the mechanics of the individual.
>
> Shawn <<<
>
>
> Hi Shawn
>
> At this time you may develop your top bat speed while starting your hands forward. But I would not quit practicing keeping the hands back as you initiate your swing. It may require many hours (or months) to gain the timing and rhythm required to reach your full potential. If your goal is 85+mph, I would say that keeping the hands back and generating a CHP at initiation is your best bet. At least that has been true for my students.
>
> So that we understand your point regarding Chipper’s swing, other than viewing two swings (Jones and Sosa) from different perspectives (Jones down the first base line – Sosa from up the line), what differences should we see in Jones’s mechanics as compared to the Sosa clip ( http://www.youthbaseballcoaching.com/mpg/Sosa01.mpeg ) regarding initiation.
>
> As you pointed out earlier, swings viewed from different viewpoints give different impressions of a hitter’s mechanics. I have also found this to be the case. To best compare two batters mechanics they need to be observed from the same angle.
>
> Jack Mankin
>

Hi,

The major difference is where they start the hands. Chipper has his hands back, he can't pull back from that position because it would take his hands further away from the shoulder. He holds the bat in a somewhat vertical position with the back elbow up, as he start to rotate the elbow lowers, and the bat. From that position, elbow lowered, rotation pulls the arms and bat forward (there is some bat head arcing) ahead of the rear shoulder. The bat comes off the tip of the shoulder, where the hands are still cocked even though the bat has already started to turn prior to reaching that position.

Sosa is starting the bat vertically and accelerates it downward at initiation. Most of his early arcing is actually the bat dropping at approx. a 45 degree angle back behind his shoulder. It stops dropping as the rear elbow slots and doesn't really start to arc out until his hands approx. get ahead of the rear shoulder. It's a little tricky to loop your top hand back away from the shoulder as Sosa is doing. He has alot of late uncocking as the bat comes of the tip of the shoulder, gets in the same plane as the body.

Of the two swings, I think Chipper has smoother transition from early bat arcing, top hand starting to turn, to where the hands come slightly ahead of the shoulder, and continues in a smooth arc off the tip of the shoulder. There is more actual early arcing as he doesn't have the amount of downward acceleration Sosa is showing. It might just be the smoother transition as it doesn't have the downward acceleration.

How that? Can you follow what is see between the two swings?

Shawn