Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Sun Jan 1 21:05:29 2006

>>> I think that who ever was making the comment was trying to infer that a slap hitter can get the bat to the ball quicker than many hitters who actually have more batspeed. I believe a lot has to do with the player's technique. A lot of hitters that strike out a lot cannot get the head of the bat to the ball at times even though they possess great batspeed. Where as other hitters of lesser ability find a way to meet the ball regardless of how hard some pitchers may throw. EX. Sammy Sosa vs. Rafael Palmeiro Mickey Mantle vs. Ted Williams Mark Mcguire vs. Barry Bonds Frank Thomas vs. Don Mattingly. In each case the 1st player mentioned probably had greater batspeed as opposed to quickness of the 2nd player.<<<

Hi Hitting Guru

I found in my study that the major reason hitters like Sosa and Big Mac had lower batting averages had far more to do with pitch selection and a flawed swing plane than bat quickness. Sosa just could not lay off pitches out of the zone – especially in his earlier years. Big Mac was plagued with slumps where his swing plane looked more like a sine wave. Plus, he froze on many pitches in close – I think that is why he may have moved a few inches more off the plate.

I found that a video analysis revealed flaws in the swing plane when most power hitters are in prolonged slumps (Strawberry, Eric Davis, Bonds, Big Mac and A-Rod to name a few). The main problem was the incorrect application of THT. Some let the hands drift away from the shoulder as they accelerated the bat-head rearward. But the biggest problem was not sweeping the bat-head cleanly into the swing plane. This led to wrist binds and an inconsistent swing plane.

Jack Mankin