Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Mon Jan 24 18:00:21 2005

>>> After changing my daughter to the rotational swing ( it took almost a year (because of knob to the ball type teaching for years) before she incorporated most everything, quick shoulders being the last obstacle to over come). I still am having a problem with that last part of the swing which you call "hooking the bat". To me it just seems you just follow through naturally, but you seem to indicate that it is something more than that. I want to incorporate this into my daughter's swing but since I can't seem to feel it I need help in teaching it. Any suggestions.
(By the way she did this in her senior year in high school and now is playing college ball- she went from weak ground balls to line drive doubles- Jack--Thanks for your intelligent study of the swing) <<<

Hi BMill

Congratulations to your daughter and thank you for the kind words. – You are correct in thinking that the “hook” in the hand-path occurs naturally with good rotational transfer mechanics. The rotation and “un-shrugging” of the lead-shoulder back to the 105 position will pull (or hook) the bottom-hand around the slower moving top-hand -- if the back elbow remains back at the batter’s side during rotation (the “L” position).

The mechanics used by most hitters do not promote the hook in their swing. As I mentioned earlier, the hook occurs as the bottom-hand is being pulled back around the top-hand (BHT). Average hitters attempt to accelerate the bat-head to contact by extending the top-hand past the bottom-hand. Many of them also extend their lead-hand by un-flexing the elbow at contact. These actions result in the hand-path sweeping in a wider arc instead hooking as the bat is brought to contact.

Note: To those not familiar with why the “hook” in the hand-path is important to generate bat speed – it is that point in the swing just before contact where the radius of the hand-path decreases and the rate of angular displacement of the hands (and bat) peaks.

Jack Mankin