Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Tue Jan 17 00:50:42 2006

>>> There is really only one difference between Candrea and Mankin. Candrea stresses the importance of keeping the bat on the plane of the pitch longer which logically improves most hitters’ chances of making good contact with the ball. This is achieved through keeping the hands inside the ball during the bat lag part of the swing prior to contact, and extending the arms through contact and into the finish. <<<

Hi Jim

The difference you describe is a very key difference. Many poor as well as good hitters rotate around a stationary axis. The defining difference is the transfer mechanics the batter uses to transfer the body’s rotational momentum into bat-head rotation. One of the key components of accelerating the bat-head to contact occurs in the area we call the “hook’ in the hand-path – that area where the angular displacement rate of the hands maximizes.

The “hook” is created as the bottom-hand’s forward progress slows and the rotation of the lead-shoulder starts pulling it rearward. It appears you are saying Candrea wants the hands to continue extending to contact. I agree this would slow the bat-head’s acceleration and possibly keep it in the contact area longer. – I just want to point out this is a very important difference.

Jack Mankin