Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Wed Jan 25 21:08:03 2006

>>> Hi Jack,

First of all I want to thank you for your program and your website, just received program 10 days ago.

Before I bought your program I checked out Charlie Lau Jrs. site along with going back to Epsteins. Epstein had made a few adjustments for the lower part of the body, hitting more balanced, not sitting on the back leg. But the thing that intrigues me is you all use the same hitters to prove your point. Lau says that he's been coaching A-rod since he was 15, but when you watch A-rod it looks rotational. Many of the top hitters say they are linear, but the way you and epstein explain it, they look rotational. So my question is are these pros trying to hide something (tht) or do they really believe they are going from A to B? Or is it a misconception of what is actually happening, like Epstein says, do we teach what we actually see. On this point when you see a good hitter from the pitchers veiw it does look like from when the hands go flat (tht) that the knob of the bat goes from A to B until the hook, but its the front shoulder rotating that makes it look that way. How do the linear proponets explain the hook in the same hitters that you are talking about.

I have been coaching my son for 7-8 years(he's 14)and linear hitting just never made sense to me. About 4-5 years ago I bought epsteins product and I liked it and made more sense to me then Lau's, but felt something was still missing. My son had some success with it but his biggest problem was he dropped his hands dramatically. So we went back to a more linear movement. Last season he had a very good year, he led our team in doubles, triples, HR's, rbi's, and had the 2nd highest b.a., but for the most part the ball didn't jump off the bat, it coasted. In my opinion it was his strength and luck, 40% of his hits found the gap in right-center and 25% hit the left center gap (right-handed batter). As he moves up those same balls are going to be caught. My sons a pitcher but next year when he plays high school ball he wants to play every day. So I told him he had to become the best hitter he could be and make the coaches have to play him when not pitching. I think your program will help.

Ten days into the program his biggest problem is getting his hands to his shoulder. He must have monkey arms, with his front arm across his chest and a slight bend in the elbow the hand/fist is about 8" past his body/shoulders and having problems with the top hand and getting it to feel remotely comfortable. On a previous post I read, you said to have the back elbow point more towards 3rd so I'll try that. Another hurdle we have to overcome is our new select baseball team hitting coach is clearly and emphatically a Charlie Lau fan along with the two different high school coaches my son may play for. I am hoping my son can pick this up quickly and look like one of the great hitters on tape so the coaches won't screw with him. <<<

Hi Kurt

You raised a number of questions in your post. I will select a couple and give you my take on them.

>> “Many of the top hitters say they are linear, but the way you and epstein explain it, they look rotational”<<

The best way to study the angular displacement in the hand-path is from an overhead clip. I have a hundred or so of these clips I taped from games in the old Astro Dome. Three things were evident from that viewpoint regarding hitters who hit for power as well as a high average. (1) They all attained greater rearward acceleration of the bat-head through the lag position (THT). (2) They all keep the angle of the lead-elbow in a fixed position to contact (more pronounced CHP). (3) They also exhibited a more pronounced hook in the hand-path just prior to contact (BHT).

I am sure that most of these hitters would say they are linear and take their hands to the ball. They would have no clue of what you were talking about if you brought up THT, CHP, or BHT. And, even if you explained these terms to them, they probably do not believe that is what they are doing. Maybe Mike should ask another question – Do these hitters actually say what they exhibit?

>> “He must have monkey arms, with his front arm across his chest and a slight bend in the elbow the hand/fist is about 8" past his body/shoulders and having problems with the top hand and getting it to feel remotely comfortable.” <<

As any shirt manufacturer can attest to, arms come in a variety of lengths. While some good hitters can barely reach the opposite shoulder, some, like Williams and Griffey Jr., can reach well past it. Therefore Kurt, I see no problem with your son’s hands extending past his back-shoulder. Remember, for a given rate of angular displacement, the wider the radius of the hand-path, the greater the bat speed induced from the pendulum effect. That is one reason why some hitters, like Big Mac, moves back a few inches from the plate and addresses most pitches as outside pitches.

The important thing for your son to remember is, in order to generate a CHP and obtain the maximum pendulum effect of the bat-head, he must keep his lead-elbow in a fixed position during rotation. If he starts with the lead-arm fairly "straight" position (Griffey Jr.) – then keep it straight. If he initiates the swing in a more “boxed” position (Bonds) – then keep it boxed.

Note: What straightens out the hand-path and kills the hook effect is when the batter initiates the swing with a “boxed” lead-arm and then extends (or straightens) the arm to contact. Or, he allows a straighter arm at initiation to flex and then un-flex to contact. -- You can not have the bottom-hand hooking back if it is being thrust forward.

Jack Mankin