Posted by: THG () on Sun Jun 8 17:24:08 2008

> In relation to mechanics how big of a role does the strength of the hands, wrists, and forearms play in a hitters ability to generate batspeed?


They play a huge role and are the reason why BO Jackson could pick up the sport of baseball and make an allstar team so soon. They are also the reason a guy like Gabe Kapler can be successful with an akward robotic type stance, launch position, and follow through.

You do not see power hitters in the big leagues today without strong hands wrists and forearms. Actually now a days conditioning comes before the skill itself. Just watch an old clip of hitters from the 70's and 80's and look at the difference in the size of the players from a conditioning level.

You just do not see the guys with the skinny arms any more. And if Ted Williams had todays weight lifting, he would have hit at least 10 to 20 more homeruns per season.

In a given game, observe how many homeruns are making it over the fence by 10 ft or balls that get caught on the warning track or are off the wall.

Without modern strength innovations, these balls are routine outs which in itself accounts for batting averages that have improved over the years.

Consider that almost all college and highschool kids use aluminum bats which are lighter in proportion to wood bats. As such, they are not getting a true assessment of their big league potential.