Posted by: Shawn (mariner0324@yahoo.com) on Sun Jan 8 15:57:44 2006

> Jack Mankin. A few years back, Mike Schmidt spoke of a combined system that used rotational with some aspects of linear in order to produce a swing that used a slight upswing with a somewhat level finish. Are you familiar with his theory (book "The Mike Schmidt Study") and if so, what is your take on his findings. Besides Schmidt players who may have used a combined approach were probably Cal Ripken Jr., Dave Winfield, Gary Sheffield and Hank Aaron. Their finishing point appears to be more forward rather than pulling through and having a slightly backward finish like a Fred McGriff, Jim Thome or Ted Williams who had a complete rotational finish.

Hi,

In the book it's not so much about the finish. While the finish might play a small role, it was reall about the weight shift seen in hitters. That is why he called it a combination system, linear (weight shift) and rotation.

He did spend some time on the finish, such as the pure weight shift. He explained the difference between pure weight shift and Lau's weight shift into a firm front leg. Then he explained the weight shift into rotation.

www.baseballandfastpitch.com