Posted by: Rich (Holland608@cs.com) on Sat Dec 18 19:38:30 2004

There has been alot of discussion for a long time about the hands in the swing from[they are the main proponent of the swing to they are just along for the ride]Other than connecting the bat to the body or something like that can anyone suggest what they think is the prime function that the hands are doing in the swing.

Hey RQL,

My background is in personal training back in the 70's before it became popular. i did alot of research back then to develope the quickest method to enhance strength and fitness.

Now i'm teaching the quickest method to enhance batspeed...actually i should say, i'm in the process of developing a method to swing the bat quickly.

I also believe that ideally you want to expend all the energy you have at your disposal prior to or at contact. that being said there is alot of energy in the forearms that can be transfered though the bat.

I don't get the hands involved in the swing until the student has mastered the fundementals. 1)full hip rotation in proper sequence. 2)full shoulder rotation in proper sequence. 3)head and spine remaining in a constant axis of rotation. 4)proper launch position. 5)front upper arm remaining on plane with the bat from launch through contact. 6)front arm barred to the chest from launch to contact. if all of these come together in a loose, smooth fashion the student will have a quality swing...

Next i would concentrate on getting the most out of the Bottom Hand Torque or the final hood in the hand path. this can be accomplished by keeping the front shoulder rotating past 90 degrees. and it can be facilitated by the uncocking of the top hand wrist... this uncocking begins as the top hand is lowered from back shoulder to the palm up position at contact. the last bit of uncocking before contact will force the knob of the bat under the wrist of the bottom hand which is being pulled back by the front shoulder. at this point you will have expended all the energy of the top hand's forearm.

Next i work on the energy of the bottom hand's forearm. this is accomplished by uncocking the wrist of the bottom hand as the lead shoulder is beginning to pull the knob of the bat toward the pitcher. this facilitates the supination of the top hand which is still cocked. it is in my opinion at this point in time that this along with other factors is helping to create the ever elusive THT...

The problem with involving the hands is you run the risk of interfering with the natural flow of the bat... so the natural flow must be memorized first before this should be taught. it has to be memorized in the cage to make sure that the plane of the bat remains on plane with the front upper arm. if the force created from the uncocking of the two wrist in sequence throws the bat out of plane you have a disaster. if it can be memorized and utilized then you have more batspeed and quickness.

Sit in a chair with a bat in launch position with the bottom wrist cocked back toward the pitcher. start the front shoulder turn and back elbow drop and watch the bottom wrist automatically have to uncock. why not facilitate that uncocking by consciously aplying force from the forearm muscles....as you continue you'll see the top hand wrist begin to uncock naturally. why not assist the uncocking? this assumes that at launch you've brought both wrists to the cocked position(another possible vairable)

At some point in the swing the bathead will out race the uncocking to contact. ideally i suspect we should shoot for that to happen at contact, inorder to have it be a smooth operation.

To some people it's a teach, to others it's a non-teach... i suggest each person try it and determine which approach they FEEL the most comfortable with. like i said it's the last thing i put into a swing. and some never make it that far and still have a wonderfully powerful swing...

Does that make any sense? regards, Rich