Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatSpeed@aol.com) on Sat Sep 4 13:32:17 2004

>>> Sorry for the bad post, clicked the wrong button. I was wondering if you see any benefit from the way Vlad really gets that back arm pushing back towards the camera in the view from his back. Is that what people consider "scap loading"? And does it have and direct effect on performance.. It seems Aaron had something similar going on. His upper body mechanics tend to remind me of Vlad. Bonds and many other greats don't really do that. Is that somewhat of a substitute for getting a really raised back elbow? It seems his elbow is up but not up as much as a guy like Pujols. <<<

Hi Dave

As I understand “scap loading,” I would agree with you that Vlad does load the scap considerably more than Bonds. Personally, I have never thought of the “pulling back” of the forearm and top-hand as a “loading” process. I think more in terms of how efficiently the mechanic accelerates the bat-head back into the swing plane. There is no absolute rule for how far back the back-elbow must be adducted to generate great bat speed

Dave, I have found that most THT hitters will pull the elbow back toward the third base dugout (right hand batters) more on inside pitches than on outside pitches. --- We should not forget that Vlad’s power and bat speed depends as much on the “shrugging and un-shrugging” of the lead-shoulder as the adduction of the back-shoulder. This clip of Vlad exemplifies great lead-shoulder mechanics.

Jack Mankin