Posted by: Brian (support@batspeed.com) on Tue Sep 14 19:42:29 2004

>>> Jack, with this device which is endorsed also by Paul Molitor it appears that there is no pre- launch Torque, only THT. Which leads me to the question Do all great hitters wait to see the pitch before applying tht as hard and fast and controled as they can while maintaining a smooth chp ?
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> > Jack, you don't have to comment on the device but could you please comment on the concept ?
> > TDS <<<
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> > Hi TDS
> >
> > Welcome to the Board. I am not familiar with Molitor’s device and therefore, have no view how it relates to the timing of THT. – Pre-launch torque is applied to accelerate the bat-head before the “go – no-go” decision to fully initiate the swing. Although some bat-head movement may occur before the pitcher releases the ball, most of the acceleration takes place after release.
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> > As I discussed in earlier posts, pre-launch torque is a low energy movement to overcome some of the bat’s inertia to acceleration. THT is a high-energy initiation movement. THT is applied as shoulder rotation and the swing is being fully initiated. The decision to fully initiate the swing (“go”) is made when the ball is about 20 feet from the plate.
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> > It should be pointed out that the batter does not necessarily have to cock the bat-head forward in front of the head to apply pre-launch torque. Many good hitters (George Brett as an example) cock, or wrap, the bat-head well past the launch position. These hitters also accelerate the bat-head back toward the launch position by pulling the forearm (and top-hand) back before shoulder rotation.
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> > TDS, I would need to study Molitor’s swing further to evaluate how much he accelerates the bat-head (pre-launch) before fully initiating his swing with THT. It is harder to see pre-launch torque taking place when the bat stays in the swing plane.
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> > Jack Mankin
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> Jack if you were to go to quickswing.com there is a demo of the process. I don't own this device but find it interesting that this forces one to wait till the last second and then apply tht. The stride is just something that may or may not happen.

Hello,

Thanks for the website link. Molitor claims that this product develops a "short, quick, compact swing," but in my opinion this product could cause a tense, jerky swing. Essentially, a ball is fed through a pipe and then suddenly drops vertically into the hitting zone. This product jumps up on a hitter much like hitting from a pitching machine set at a high speed. The hitter is unable to see the wind-up or flight of the ball, and would likely become caught off guard by the ball suddenly dropping into the hitting zone, causing a quick, jerky, "slap hitter" like movement toward the ball.

I think that a player would be better served with soft toss or hitting off a tee, which would allow the hitter to apply pre-launch movements and then begin the swing with the fluid, smooth application of THT torque and circular hand path. I would also bet that the batter using Jack's rotational mechanics would have a much higher bat speed than the hitter using Molitor's "short" (slap hitter) swing. I haven't reviewed Molitor's swing in a while, but I wouldn't be surprised if he used slap hitter mechanics since he typically hit only 5-15 hr/year with a high of 22.

Brian