Posted by: Jon (jonwilliams@fuse.net) on Tue Jan 25 20:52:33 2005

I haven't watched much slow motion video so I'm not sure if my eyes fool me on this, but it appears that many major leaguers rotate around their spine and their spine appears to be tilted slightly away from the pitcher.

There are exceptions where the spine axis appears to be essentially straight up (i.e. perpendicular to the ground), while others like Sheffield and even ARod at times seem to have a reverse spine angle that points somewhat toward the pitcher instead of away.

Is there a preferred biomechanical spine angle for rotational hitting to be most effective? Or can, what appear to be "front foot hitters" with an apparent reverse spine tilt be just as effective?

Thanks.
Jon