Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Sun Nov 13 11:49:30 2005

Hi Tom

I am sure that what Jones wrote is excellent advice for the golfers and particularly true for his style of swing mechanics. However, as I stated before, the demands of correctly striking a golf ball placed on the ground between the feet requires very different lower-body mechanics than accelerating a ‘heavier’ bat on a higher plane to contact 12 to 18 inches farther out.

As an example; Jones states, “To hit a golf ball correctly, the player must move toward the ball [linear "shift" of body mass along/prallel to target line], not away from it as his club gathers speed.” – This means that for the golf swing, the lead-hip is shifting forward (not rearward) “as his club gathers speed.”

But for the baseball swing, this clip of Bonds (
http://www.youthbaseballcoaching.com/mpg/bonds600.mpeg ) shows his lead-hip is being driven ‘rearward’ as his ‘bat’ gathers speed – I am sure Jones would be horrified if one of his golf students wound up in a Bonds contact position with his lead-toe pointing skyward. – And the same would be true for a pitching coach if one of his pitcher’s release position looked like Bonds contact position. That is why I have stated that comparing golf and pitching principles to the baseball swing is problematic at best.

Jack Mankin