Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Fri Nov 26 14:39:13 2004

>>> The hands are strong adjustable clamps attaching the bat to the arms for control of the bat. By themselvs they can only drive the ball a relatively short distance. <<<

Hi mb

Obviously, the hands can not move by themselves. As you imply, their main function is to apply grip. Torque is applied THROUGH the hands by the push/pull action of the forearms. The push/pull action of the forearms is mainly supplied from shoulder rotation. – Below is an excerpt from an Archive post or torque and the hands.

>> Similarly, at contact, the lead-shoulder is pulling back the lead-arm and hand (105 degree position) and because the bottom-hand is being pulled around the top-hand, I called this mechanic bottom-hand torque. This does not mean that the top and bottom hands are creating this push/pull action by themselves. Rather, it requires a force supplied through the arms to cause the hands to either push or pull. <<

Jack Mankin
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Top-Hand-Torque clarification
Posted by: Jack Mankin (Mrbatspeed@aol.com on Sun May 23 02:29:30 2004

Hi All

I think Teacherman and a few other readers have a problem understanding top-hand-torque because to them the term means the top-hand is pulling back and applying torque by its own accord. As I have been discussing for years on this board, this is not the case and I hope that my post below will assist them in understanding the role of the top hand.

>>>Teacherman said:
Get in your stance, cock the bat over your head toward the pitcher, do not apply tht, slot the elbow and rotate. What happens to the bat head? <<<

Hi Teacherman

You seem to imply that when a batter applies THT, the top-hand can just pull back independent of the shoulder, forearm and elbow movement. Well it can’t. It should be obvious that for the top-hand to be pulled back and around the bottom-hand, the forearm and elbow must also be pulled rearward.

When most hitters (like Bonds and Sosa) apply pre-launch torque, they start with their hands away from the back-shoulder. Very importantly, good hitters then pull back the shoulder, forearm and elbow (like an archer pulling back on the bowstring) which pulls the hands toward the back-shoulder. The bat-head is accelerated back toward the catcher because the top-hand is being pulled back and over the slower moving bottom-hand.

I think the problem that some are having with THT is that they are assuming that the top hand is moving independently to create THT, but as I stated, it is not. THT is a fluid motion caused by the back shoulder, elbow, forearm pulling the top hand back in an arc toward the catcher. I termed this movement “THT” because in order to accelerate the bat-head back toward the catcher, the action of the top-hand should be pulling rearward on the bat instead of shoved forward during initiation.

Slotting the elbow does cause the top-hand to place torque at the handle; however, I do not prefer using this term in and of itself because merely lowering elbow is not enough. In addition to lowering the elbow, good hitters are also pulling back the rear-shoulder, elbow, forearm and top-hand. This combination creates early bat speed and sweeps the bat-head into the swing plane. With THT, the top-hand is being pulled around the bottom-hand.

Similarly, at contact, the lead-shoulder is pulling back the lead-arm and hand (105 degree position) and because the bottom-hand is being pulled around the top-hand, I called this mechanic bottom-hand torque. This does not mean that the top and bottom hands are creating this push/pull action by themselves. Rather, it requires a force supplied through the arms to cause the hands to either push or pull.

The pulling back of the top-hand continues as the elbow starts lowering down toward the slot. – I think you all should try Teacherman’s example: “Get in your stance, cock the bat over your head toward the pitcher, do not apply tht, slot the elbow and rotate. What happens to the bat head.” – If you keep your bottom-hand at the back-shoulder as you lower your elbow – note that the top-hand MUST arc around the bottom-hand for the bat-head to be accelerated back toward the catcher.

Suppose we performed Teacherman’s example but substitute the top-hand and forearm with a torque wrench embedded in the handle. Do you think we would get a reading as we pulled the handle of the torque wrench down toward the slot? The answer is of course yes. Also, in order to accelerate the bat-head, the pulling back of top hand is applying torque at the handle of the bat (bottom-hand serves as a pivot point) as the forearm rotates and the elbow lowers.

Jack Mankin