Bat Speed -- Baseball Hitting Forum

Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Wed Jan 3 15:37:21 2001

>>>I have two brief questions for you.
My first query concerns your philosophy that the whole body should be relaxed to make rotational mechanics work. However, won't snapping on the legs and the pelvic structure HARD by each legs in OPPOSING directions maximize rotation, Jack. Therefore, my first question is do you believed in a relaxed lower body, or both legs SNAPPING and DRIVING the hip structure into rotation?

Question two: Do you believe in a hard weight shift first, with the back leg opening the hips 45 degrees first. THEN using the front leg later, but with EQUAL force to open the front hip 45 degrees more into 90 degree of rotation. OR must both legs push on the HIP STRUCTURE at the same time.<<<

Hi BHL

Yes, I am concerned about batters being to tense and rigid during the swing. Whenever I feel the arm and shoulder muscles of hitters in their launch position, I will usually find them far to tight to accommodate mechanics that can generate great bat speed. This is mainly caused from the batter's use of faulty transfer mechanics.

You are correct in stating that the legs applying force from OPPOSING directions maximize rotation. Add to this the even greater shoulder rotation from the large muscle groups in the torso, and you will find a force that can overwhelm the smaller muscles in the arms. So the arms become ridged and tense in anticipation of the swing. This is especially true for hitters who plan to use the arms to DRIVE the hands.

This is why I am opposed to terms like "explode." The connotations surrounding this type of term lead to Hard, Jerky, Explosive, tense, and ridge movements. We should be thinking in terms of Smooth, Loose, Powerful and ever accelerating motions. - Exploding the hips and SNAPPING the legs would be similar to - Revving the engine in your car and letting your foot slip off of the clutch. -- The same is true with batting mechanics. It is better to add power as you accelerate.

BHL, I will try to answer your second question tomorrow.

Jack Mankin

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> >>>I have two brief questions for you. 
> My first query concerns your philosophy that the whole body should be relaxed to make rotational mechanics work. However, won't snapping on the legs and the pelvic structure HARD by each legs in OPPOSING directions maximize rotation, Jack. Therefore, my first question is do you believed in a relaxed lower body, or both legs SNAPPING and DRIVING the hip structure into rotation? 
> 
> Question two: Do you believe in a hard weight shift first, with the back leg opening the hips 45 degrees first. THEN using the front leg later, but with EQUAL force to open the front hip 45 degrees more into 90 degree of rotation. OR must both legs push on the HIP STRUCTURE at the same time.<<<
> 
> Hi BHL
> 
> Yes, I am concerned about batters being to tense and rigid during the swing. Whenever I feel the arm and shoulder muscles of hitters in their launch position, I will usually find them far to tight to accommodate mechanics that can generate great bat speed. This is mainly caused from the batter's use of faulty transfer mechanics. 
> 
> You are correct in stating that the legs applying force from OPPOSING directions maximize rotation. Add to this the even greater shoulder rotation from the large muscle groups in the torso, and you will find a force that can overwhelm the smaller muscles in the arms. So the arms become ridged and tense in anticipation of the swing. This is especially true for hitters who plan to use the arms to DRIVE the hands.  
> 
> This is why I am opposed to terms like "explode."  The connotations surrounding this type of term lead to Hard, Jerky, Explosive, tense, and ridge movements. We should be thinking in terms of Smooth, Loose, Powerful and ever accelerating motions. - Exploding the hips and SNAPPING the legs would be similar to - Revving the engine in your car and letting your foot slip off of the clutch. -- The same is true with batting mechanics. It is better to add power as you accelerate.
> 
> BHL, I will try to answer your second question tomorrow. 
> 
> Jack Mankin

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