Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Tue Jan 3 02:10:26 2006

>>> Quoting you:

“Hi Teacherman

We can just talk in circles or you can describe the mechanical difference and show us some clips to backup what you say.”

Pot calling the kettle black.

What’s good for the goose, is good for the gander. <<<

Hi Ray & All

You may be right. So I will try to break the circle and get to the real point behind the “quickness vs bat speed” disagreement. I think we are back to a form of the “rotational vs linear” controversy. From what I have read here and at other sites, some seem to be saying that a CHP (along with THT and BHT) may produce more bat speed but a more direct approach with the hands (“quick hands”) gets the bat to the ball quicker.

It could be that is not what Teacherman was implying. That is why I asked him to define the swing mechanics that he felt generated greater bat speed but was slower to the ball. He, and others, could very well be referring to mechanics and batting principles other than those taught on this site. But just to make sure, I will re-post below the “10 Absolutes” this site finds in the best hitters and ask -- Along with CHP, THT, and BHT, would any of these batting principles cause a batter to be ‘slower to the ball’?

Jack Mankin
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As I pointed out in the "Thu Feb 13 16:04:42 2003" post, good hitters (those that can hit for both average and power) may have different styles in how they setup their swings. But once they come to the launch position and initiate the swing, I found that there are mechanical principles common to the swings of all good hitters. Adhering to those batting principles did correlate to a better batting performance and therefore I refer to them as "Absolute Principles."

Here is a list I found to be "Absolutes" to a good swing and higher batting performance. All good hitters will: (1) Hide their hands at the back-shoulder as rotation starts; (2) Shoulder rotation initiates the acceleration of the hands into a circular path; (3) The bat will be in the plane of the lead-arm as the shoulders start to rotate; (4) If the lead-arm straightens, it occurs early in the swing; (5) The bat-head will first accelerate in an arc back toward the catcher; (6) The back-elbow will lower and rotate at the batter's side (in the "slot"); (7) The swing plane will remain smooth (no dips or rising above the plane of the lead-arm; (8) Other than on outside pitches, the lead-shoulder will be pulling back toward the catcher (105 degree position with lead-leg extended) at contact; (9) In the contact zone, the plane of the swing will be on a 10 to 15 degree up-slope to closely match the descending path of the incoming ball.

And last, and probably the most important, if the batter's swing mechanics are efficient: (10) The bat will come to contact as the shoulders finish rotation. ---NOTE : The farther away from contact that bat is as the shoulders stop rotating, the weaker the swing.