Posted by: JJA (jjanagnost@worldnet.att.net) on Wed Oct 20 19:20:16 2004

>>> I can define it........I'm just not going to give it to you.
> >
> > Setpro.com <<<
> >
> > Hi Teacherman
> >
> > If you do have the knowledge and ability to define the term and are truly interested in advancing coaches’ and players’ understanding of the baseball swing, one can only speculate your reasons for keeping a clear definition of “bow-arch” behind closed doors.
> >
> > Jack Mankin
> >
>
> >> I have just spent the last three hours reading many, many posts on "setpro.com", and I must say I am appalled at the commentary provided by the "experts" on on what appears to be two sides (or more) on the issue of creating bat speed. I am here for only one thing... to help my son get the most he can out of his swing. I don't care what you call the various mechanics of the swing or even if two body vector mechanics closely approximates a swing or not (and yes, I too have an electrical engineering degree and design control systems). All I care about is understanding the steps involved in creating a powerful swing and being able to translate that into language that my son can understand and execute. If all of you guys can't get off your high horses and explain the concepts in terms that we can understand then everything you are doing will be for naught because no one will listen (even if they understand). Whether Jack's terms are correct or not, or even whether this theories are right or not, I cannot argue since I simply don't know enough. But I do know what I see, and I see my son incorporating elements of Jack's concepts in his swing and getting great results. Time will tell, but all of you (Paul, Brain, "teacherman", Jack, etc.) really need to understand the concept of "who is the customer"... and that's me and people like me that are looking for answers.
>
> Thanks,
> Jerry

Jerry,

Good luck on your quest to learn the swing. Unlike golf research, which is fueled by money from adults who pay money for golf lessons, baseball has no such counterpart. There are a few people here and there who study the swing (such as here and setpro), but as a fellow control system scientist I can tell you that the state of baseball research is very limited indeed. You've basically got to sift through all of the information yourself to understand what you need to know to teach your son. The bad news is that it takes a long time to do it. I'm going on 5 years now, and I now just feel like I have a sound understanding of what constitutes solid swing mechanics.

Feel free to contact me if you want some advice on how to shorten the process.

-JJA