Posted by: Marcus Boyd (marcus@hourofdeliverance.net) on Tue Apr 26 11:33:18 2005

> > >>> What gets you to the correct contact point sooner on a inside Fastball: CHP or an A to B extension swing? <<<
> >
> > Hi Scott
> >
> > A swing with CHP accompanied with BHT and THT requires 4 to 4 1/2 video frames (Bonds and Pujols) from initiation to contact for pitches middle-in. During that time, their hands travel about 22 to 24 inches. The hands of the average pro hitters with a straighter hand-path travels 6 to 10 inches farther and requires 5 to 5 1/2 frames.
> >
> > Great hitters use THT to generate early acceleration of the bat-head (first rearward toward the catcher) and then apply BHT to accelerate the bat to contact. This allows them to bring the bat to contact before the back elbow extends out of the "L" position. Average hitters extend the hands (more A to B) to generate bat speed out in front of the shoulder. Their hands and back-elbow are nearing full extension at contact -- 6 to 10 inches past the "L" position.
> >
> > Scott, as the linear (A to B extension) batter's hands are extending out farther and farther toward full extension -- is their swing getting shorter and more compact?
> >
> > >>> What pitch location using a CHP will your hands remain inside the pitched ball? <<<
> >
> > Have you ever seen Bonds' hands go 'outside' the pitched ball? Name me one pro hitter whose hands do go outside any ball in the strike zone.
> >
> > >>> Is there a different CHP for different pitch locations...or is it the same? <<<
> >
> > Scott, I can't believe you are actually asking these questions. Of course the hands take a wider path for outside pitches and a tighter path for inside pitches.
> >
> > Jack Mankin
>
> Equating the hand speed of Bonds with anyone in the major Leagues is unfair, attempting to use his hand path and speed as a teaching model for little league, jr. high, high school and college players is in my opinion is very unsound and wrought with swings that any trained eye will see as long, casty, loopy and filled with holes...what Bonds can do hand speed wise has never been seen or equaled in the history of the game.
>
> Bonds stands virtually on top of the plate, so it stands to reason that a pitch on the inside black with a CHP would at some point (his hands) be outside the baseballs path...? From his starting position on this pitch how far away do his hands get from his chest (especially if his first move is perpendicular to the flight of the ball)...if he is as you say 'never outside' the pitched ball, then this path is by far much more angular (A to B) than rotational or circular.

Scott,

I hear so many people talking about "hand speed." Point blank: so-called "quick hands" have nothing to do with bat speed. I can have the fastest hands you ever saw, but if I drag the bat head it's worthless.

The only thing that matters, and I repeat ONLY THING THAT MATTERS, is bat head speed. We discuss matters pertaining to the mechanics that produce higher bat head speed here. I'm not picking on you, Scott, but you don't seem to understand the problems with your reasoning.

On an inside pitch, it is entirely possible to keep a very tight hand path while the hands remain connected to shoulder rotation. That's how any good hitter (not just Bonds) has the barrel of the bat in position to hit the baseball in front of the plate so quickly. There is no "inside" or "outside" the ball, as the ball is still to be hit "squarely" for lack of a better term.

No child will generate the bat speed Bonds does (or adult for that matter!), but keeping the hands linked to good shoulder rotation makes it very easy to hit the inside pitches. In fact, I teach my little leaguers to crowd the plate to make sure they can cover the entire plate with the bat. I assure you that every one of them is able to hit one on the inside part of the plate using these mechanics.

I understand everyone has a different take on what they see, but I think Jack descibes most accurately the hand path involved in a properly-linked swing. Please take my criticism for what it is...not a personal attack. I just think you are reverbing old adages that need to be erased from the vocabulary of all hitters.

Marcus