Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Sun Apr 1 17:26:20 2001

>>> In the future I plan on putting clips together for a friendly exchange on batting mechanics.

I believe the side view has 'extra' frames, replay. I have the front view of that swing, somewhere. This pitch was way inside and hit a mile, although with the extra frames and the ball breaking into him gives room for errors on an analysis.

Yes, the bat sine wave is normal. Shows up even more on inside and low pitches. Very smooth on most other locations. He does frequently have this wave, totally different hitter than Mac, Griffey, Sosa (etc.,) when you look at posture. Flatter swing and approach, head and posture drifting forward, or more level rotation. I think the dip is part of his approach or the result (scoops the low ones).

I believe you posted frame 7 as starting top hand torque (front view). This is were I question the 'extra' frames being involved (on the side view). Although, you can see a 'shift' being made from 7 to 9 (hands forward), pulling the hands in/down which would cut down on top hand torque.

The side reveals the bind happens from this 'shift', the barrel brought into shoulder rotation and or even forced (pulled down/forward). Simple the need to get the hands around, quickly.

What is unclear is how much these extra frames play a factor in when the arc (full initiation) takes place. It appears that the entire swing (arc) takes place during front knee extension (front leg brace/pull).

In the future I would like to put together some detailed clips, pitcher/hitter in view, front/back, time of ball flight (timing, reaction time) for a complete discussion.

Do you believe it takes from frame 7 to 13 to complete the swing (counting from frame 7 or 8), 6 or 7 frames to complete top/hand, initiation to contact? Taken into consideration the launch being ballistic vs static. <<<

Hi Shawn

I am sorry for the delay in my reply, had a bout with the flu. -- I agree with your analysis of the views shown. As I mentioned earlier, we would need to review a number of his swings to classify his swing mechanics.

The normal video clip is usually run at 30 frames per second with a shudder speed of around 1/60 of a second. This means we actually see about one half of the motion. Many times the beginning (or end) of the movement you looking for will not show. It occurred while the shudder was closed. --- The side views are usually shown after the batter has hit a HR or important hit. Those are most often in slow motion at around 60 fps.

I think the unbiased frame-by-frame study of the swing, that is now taking place on the web by so many of you good coaches, will cause professional, college and high school batting instructors to rethink many of their long held positions on batting mechanics.

Jack Mankin