Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Sat Feb 5 21:03:31 2005

>>> Actally I have questions on 2 types of torque...

1. Pre-swing torque or pre-launch torque. I was reading the "swing mechanics" section and it sounds like you should be creating torque during your inward turn as your hands move back to the rear shoulder. To me, this feels like more of a "drifting" movement before the front heel drops. For this to be torque doesn't the bottom hand have to be pulling in the opposite direction of the top hand? Why would you want to create torque at this point, before the front heel has dropped and the swing has been initiated? It seems like you would get your hand arc way out in front of your hip and shoulder arcs.

2. THT - Like the others that have posted before me I'm struggling with how to apply this concept. Your top hand can certainly pull back toward the catcher at the start of the swing arc but then once the barrel's arc starts moving toward the direction of third base then toward the pitcher, the rear hand can no longer pull unless you want to decelerate your bat. So does the rear hand ride along after the initial pull or does it pull first, then ride along, then push as the barrel approaches contact? I certainly can't teach this to my son is I can't make it work myself. <<<

Hi Jon

Welcome to the site. – Your question (1) on pre-launch torque actually contains many questions. So let us take them one at a time.

Note: It is important to keep in mind that pre-launch torque occurs before the shoulders start to rotate and the swing is fully initiated.

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You stated, “I was reading the "swing mechanics" section and it sounds like you should be creating torque during your inward turn as your hands move back to the rear shoulder. To me, this feels like more of a "drifting" movement before the front heel drops.” – Your reading is accurate for most batters who apply pre-launch torque. The bat-head is accelerated (from a more vertical position) in a sweeping path behind the batter’s head as the hands (as a unit) are pulled toward the back-shoulder.

However, some hitters (like Sheffield) keep the bottom-hand fairly fixed at the back shoulder and use just the push/pull of the top-forearm and hand to cock the bat-head forward and then apply pre-launch torque. I have heard coaches say that only a powerful player like Sheffield could hit with that style. I disagree. I have demonstrated I could perform the mechanic using just one finger of the top-hand. Therefore, your calling it “more of a "drifting" movement” is closer to the truth. I refer to it as a “finesse” movement.
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You stated, “For this to be torque doesn't the bottom hand have to be pulling in the opposite direction of the top hand?” – Not exactly. A definition of torque does say that rotation is induced when forces are applied to an object from opposing directions. However, these are vectored forces. Torque is induced while F1 and F2 are moving in the same direction when there is a vectored difference of F1 and F2.

Examples: If a bat was held vertically and both the top and bottom-hand were pulled back toward the shoulder at the same speed (say 2 mph), the bat would remain vertical --no vectored difference of F1 and F2 -- no torque applied -- no angular displacement of the bat-head.

However, if the bottom-hand is being pulled back at 2 mph while the top-hand is moved at 3 mph – F1 and F2 are different – torque is applied – the bat-head sweeps from vertical to the launch position behind the batter’s head.
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You stated, “ Why would you want to create torque at this point, before the front heel has dropped and the swing has been initiated?” – The reason Bonds, Sosa and etc., apply pre-launch torque to accelerate the bat-head rearward prior to initiation is because an accelerated bat offers less resistance (inertia) during initiation than a static (still) bat. – Why would a runner with a running start have an advantage over a static runner?
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You stated “It seems like you would get your hand arc way out in front of your hip and shoulder arcs.” – I think that has already been explained. Both hands are moving toward the shoulder during pre-launch torque.

This post is getting quite long. We can cover question (2 – THT) in another post.

Jack Mankin