Posted by: Dave (cdpaetkau@telus.net) on Thu Jan 19 10:04:09 2006

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> > Hi Jim
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> > 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.
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> > 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.
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> > Jack Mankin
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> Jack,
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> Two points to clarify my post.
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> 1. As Candrea demonstrates extension, most of it is completed AFTER contact without stopping rotation or being disconnected from rotation at contact.
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> 2. Extension does not eliminate hook unless it is overdone. Extension demonstrated by Candrea simply elongates hook. It is also tends to be a variable that occurs more as the middle/away pitch is hit to the opposite field, and less as the middle/in pitch is pulled.
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> Jim

Hi Jim

The extension after contact does slow down the bathead speed as you can not extend and rotate at the same time. Now remember that contact takes about 1/2000 of a sec so trying to time the extension after contact is extremely hard to do. What candrea's swing analysis does is creates more of a singles hitter then a power hitter in my hubble opinion. His national team however is not a bunch of singles hitters and they score the majority of their runs off extra base hits (75% of their runs at the last olympics off extra base hits) so what he teaches and what the top players do are different.

I am a firm believer that in the girls game that 2 doubles always scores a run but it can take 4 singles to score one run when you cann not drive the ball deep. At the higher levels it is easier to put together two doubles in three outs then 4 singles. Again this is my opinion but if you watch the top teams you will see this more often then not.

It is very difficult to change a swing for an outside pitch or an inside pitch as you descibe. By the time your brain can read pitch location it is too late to make a decision to change your swing to that location. It is not bad to teach one swing stlye or another just realize that when you teach extension that you lose the ability to hit inside pitches consistanly hard and will hit more balls the other way which leads to more singles and less extra base hits.

Candrea is not wrong or right but his approach is different then Mankin when it comes to bat head speed and resulting hit speed. I also believe that if you have a team of hitters that hit Candrea's method that you can beat them with pitchers that throw in and with Mankin's methods they are beatable with change ups away and rise balls in. No swing can hit every pitch with the same success but when a player is taught when to use the swing and how to get the pitcher to throw their pitch then either way can be successful in their own way.

Just my studied, tested and analyized opinion.

Dave