Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Wed Jul 2 10:17:14 2008

>>> Jack often the written word is hard to see,what exactly is the hands extended back toward the pitcher mean for a visualization,what is the top of the circle.Do you mean the point when the hands first start to move after being pointed back and down toward the catcher in the load.I agree with the knob going perpendicular absolutely,can you name or post pics of these guys not doing this,seeing the wrong can be just as beneficial as seeing the right way,anyways i have been thinking about posting on the stay inside the ball,and though I can interpret positively while doing rotational,I dont think my way is the way it was intended.My thoughts were instead of focusing on keeping the hands inside the ball,the cue of putting the barrel on the back of the ball seemed to be a better way to image the swing.the goal is to quickly get the barrel square on the ball,and if you train to acquire proper mechanics and the foundation or initiation of the swing is paramount just like a footer in constructing a building,then you can put all that out of your mind when things are good and focus on just putting the barrel on the back of the ball,by doing this the hands will stay inside the ball though they will adjust to in and out locations the hands should be on autopilot along with the rhythm of the swing to adjust the barrel in or out to the back of the ball.The degree of back of the ball can be discussed my thoughts are to strive for 530 to 630 if using the clock method with 6 oclock being the back of the ball which is facing the catcher and 12 oclock facing the pitcher,when we start hitting 4oclock on the ball[lefty] we get bat drag and 8oclock would be hitting around the ball,which to me is what hands inside the ball is suppose to prevent,so barrel to the back of the ball is the cue I am trying to play with ,your thoughts. <<<

Hi Rql

I agree that describing a productive hand-path is difficult at best. My description is actually very similar to yours. I am referring to an overhead view of the hand-path where the “top of the circle” would be at 12 oclock and the contact position about 6 oclock. When the hands are hidden from the pitcher’s view in the launch position, the lead-forearm is pointing more toward 1 oclock. Therefore, rotating the lead-arm and hands from 1 oclock toward 12 oclock takes the hands fairly perpendicular to the path of the incoming ball.

It is almost impossible to evaluate the hand-path from a frontal (pitcher’s) view. From that view, productive and non-productive paths appear about the same. Since we seldom have overhead views, the next best view is from across the plate. From that view, the first movement of the best hitter’s hands is more toward the camera (1 oclock to 12 oclock). The path of most average hitters in more toward first base than at the camera.(1 oclock toward 9 oclock). Both appear about the same from the frontal view but the difference in the results is substantial.

The problem is, TV broadcast seldom show across the plate views of average MLB hitters swings. Across the plate views are almost always of the best hitters home run swings. This is why I have spent a good deal of my time lately filming this view of less productive MLB swings at games here in SO CA. I plan to present my markup analysis of these hitter’s mechanics to a few MLB organizations in the near future.

Jack Mankin