Posted by: Brian (support@batspeed.com) on Thu Jun 2 22:16:27 2005

> > >>> The left arm needs to blast off the chest during the pivot. Putting the towel under the left arm ansd swinging hard is a good way to break a rib. As VJ Singh did doing this sort of drill. <<<
> >
> > I disagree. For pitches middle-in, the lead-arm should not “blast off the chest during the pivot” and unless the towel is rolled into a big hard knot, this drill could not cause a rib injury (VJ Singh included). Many of my students have performed this drill (using a heavy bag) with great success.
> >
> > Mjb, there are countless clips of good rotational hitter’s lead-arms remaining across much of their chest during rotation on pitches middle-in. As with Ken Griffey Jr., http://www.youthbaseballcoaching.com/mpg/griffey_ken.mpeg , the towel would not fall until after contact.
> >
> > Jack Mankin
> *****************************************************************
> Bonds at full extension.
> http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/mlb/features/2001/bonds/images/large/hr_36.jpg
> Why would anyone want a towel under their arm when the front arm has blasted off the chest.



This picture was taken about 5 frames after contact. At the point of contact, a towel would be firmly pinned between Bonds arm and body.

It sounds like you are talking about "loose linkage" and a linear swing (i.e., shoulder rotation stops and the hands extend toward the ball). With this type of swing, there is certainly a separation between the arm and the body.

However, the better hitters keep the lead arm tightly across the body so that when the lead shoulder rotates, the arms will be able to transfer the force from shoulder rotation to the bat through the circular hand path. If there is loose/sloppy linkage, the shoulders will rotate but the bat will drag (Jack's example of a 1000 horsepower engine with a slipping transmission).

Brian