Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Sat Feb 4 13:16:07 2006

>>> One question about the Swing Mate, I have been putting it directly behind the ball about 2 1/2 feet when hitting off a tee. I am consistantly 88-90. When I place it as described on this website (a little off to the side), the speed s tend to read much slower. Why is that?

I know I am covering a lot, but I am still struggling with top hand torque. What is the timing of it? I understand the concept, but when I really try to add top hand torque (or what I think is tht) I tend to top the ball and hit a chopper to short or third off the end of the bat. Infact a lot of the balls I pull tend to have over spin. What do you think is going on? Thanks for your time. <<<

Hi Andrew

The SwingMate will give readings within 1% accuracy when the bat is moving straight at or away from the unit. I find you get the same reading up to about 8 degrees off that line. When I moved it 10 degrees off line, the readings were 1 to 2 mph lower. At 15 degrees off line, the readings were about 6 mph lower.

For exact contact speed-readings, you should place the unit so that at contact, the bat is moving straight at or away from your SwingMate. Most batting schools place the unit about 24 inches behind a heavy bag. A piece of tape is placed on the bag as the aiming or contact point alignment for the SwingMate’s radar beam (about a 4inch diameter). The end of the bat extends 2 or 3 inches past the bag so that the radar beam sees it coming directly at it.

Andrew, I will address your questions on THT in another thread.

Jack Mankin