Posted by: Scott Handler (geminvest@erols.com) on Mon Sep 6 10:20:02 2004

Thanks for your responses. I'll address them in turn....

Teacherman said:

> > > > You mean they didn't say he has great THT?.............or the best circular hand path they'd ever seen? They didn't even mention BHT????
> > > >
> > > > Those guys must be lost.

First of all Teacherman, no need to be snide. If there is one thing I've learned from this process, it's that you can tell very little about how someone generates power without video tape. As proof I'll relate this story....Justin worked on his hitting the entire fall of 2001 & 2002 with the National Crosschecker for a Major Leagur franchise. This guy makes his living assessing swings and works with youths during the off seson. He has looked at literally hundreds of thousands of at bats in his pro career. Last winter after three months of working on a rotational style, I took Justin to see him so he could take a look. Even though his swing was now radically different from what he had been taught by this gentleman, he thought it looked "great" and complimented him on continuing to work on the fundamentals he had taught him over the years......until.......he looked at the tape! It blew his mind!
If anyone in the world could have seen the difference in real time than this fella should have. Your suggestion that the folks at PG or anyone else could identify the subtle differences that make for a successfull swing (when watching in real time) says more about you and your inherent insecurities than anything else. I suggest you reprioritize as you seem to have gotten caught up in some sort of battle of egos. SH

Dave said:

> >
> > I was also at the National Academic that your son attended. I'm curious as to if he had hit any home runs in BP or in game competition. I'm curious because I went 4-4 in my first game with a double. I also was the 5th fastest at the event. Trying to find out what your son did that I didn't. I have been practicing Jack's principles since slightly before January. I also have a similar stature compared to your son.

Dave, I wish I could tell you more, Justin did not hit any out in the bp or the game but his swing did look beautiful and I noticed (At least I thought I noticed ) that the PG guy at the head table during BP kinda locked his concentration in on Justin after he watched a couple swings, more so than I had seen him do on some previous batters. That said, trust me, your speed is going to get you a ton of attention from college scouts. You'll notice I did not say anything substative (relating to college) had come of this or any other showcase experience for Justin. When you're small, you'd better have wheels and Justin does not (that explains PG's ref to 3b/C even though he's a mid-inf). It seems no matter how well he performs in games, under pressure, coaches are quick to close the book on small guys who can't run fast. On the other hand I've seen kids with "projectable" bodies (who I personally have watched for years and know can't play a lick "when it counts") get big time offers from surprisingly high level schools. In other words, don't try to figure it out, just keep pounding away!. SH


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