Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Mon Aug 4 12:30:10 2008

>>> You describe how torque occurs late in the swing when the lead arm reaches full extension and the top hand has something to push against. My question relates to THT and teaching it. Doesn't THT occur via the same mechanism when the lead arm reaches full extension to the rear and the maximum separation of the shoulders and hips is reached at the maximum point of inward turn? At this point the top hand and rear elbow are the only parts left that can move or hinge freely, applying torque to the bat. From a teaching standpoint, is the best way to incorporate THT simply to make sure that the hitter takes the inward turn to the endpoint (obviously with the top hand pulling as you describe well in many places on the site), where THT will occur naturally due to the forces that are in motion. This would seem to be a more wholistic and easier approach, as opposed to telling the hitter that he has to actually do something specific with his top hand and thus in the hitter's mind separating the top hand from the entire body unit. What are your thoughts on this? <<<

Hi Chuck

I wish the natural movement of my student’s top-hand, even from a good launch position, would apply the torque required to adequately accelerate the bat rearward. However, I have found this not to be the case 99-percent of the time. I invariably find that as their back-forearm rotates and lowers, they are driving forward with the heel of the top-hand. This forward drive of the top-hand induces little torque (same direction as bottom-hand) and results in creating slack in he lead-side. This disconnection from the lead-side cause lead-shoulder rotation to used in taking up slack – or just going along for the ride rather than performing work.

I find the above scenario is the main reason for the low power numbers of the many MLB hitters I have analyzed. Those inefficiencies in their mechanics will not allow for the bat speeds necessary in attaining higher slugging percentages. – Chuck, as I mentioned to Rql, I will be away the few days and not available to respond to posts for a while.

Jack Mankin