Bat Speed -- Baseball Hitting Forum

Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Mon Feb 6 23:28:33 2006

>>> My thoughts can be summed up with one question: What is the downside of extending the back elbow at the very last moment of the swing in order to create that last boost of torque (as opposed to simply rotating with the elbow tucked)? What is detrimental about extending the back arm? <<<

Hi Yesisbest

There would be little downside of extending the back arm if torque was the sole factor in generating angular acceleration of the bat. However, as Tom points out in his posts, the angular acceleration induced from the pendulum effect of the CHP is of equal, or greater, importance than torque applied. Maximum bat speed is attained when the batter’s mechanics applies torque to the bat that does not diminish the pendulum effect of the CHP.

Later in Big Mac’s career, he moved a few inches farther away from the plate and addressed most pitches as outside pitches. Therefore, he sets up to take his hands in a wider path. The wider the hand-path, the more the back-arm must extend to bring the bat perpendicular to the flight of the ball. When rotating the bat-head further to pull the ball (as in the clip you showed), the arm must extend even further.

Note in the clip that with his wider hand-path, he was able to get more extension of the arm without altering his CHP. That is not the case with most batters who "keep the hands inside the ball." They set up to keep the hands in closer. When they attempt to drive the top-hand past the bottom-hand, they straighten the hand-path and gain little acceleration from the pendulum effect. They are left to rely mainly on torque to bring the bat-head. Torque alone cannot produce great bat speed.

This clip of Griffey Jr. ( http://www.youthbaseballcoaching.com/mpg/griffey_ken.mpeg ) shows that back-arm extension is not necessary for pitches middle-in. His top-hand is being driven by body rotation. Pulling rearward with his lead-shoulder applies torque that works with the pendulum effect rather that straightening the CHP.

Jack Mankin

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> >>> My thoughts can be summed up with one question: What is the downside of extending the back elbow at the very last moment of the swing in order to create that last boost of torque (as opposed to simply rotating with the elbow tucked)? What is detrimental about extending the back arm? <<<
>  
> Hi Yesisbest
> 
> There would be little downside of extending the back arm if torque was the sole factor in generating angular acceleration of the bat. However, as Tom points out in his posts, the angular acceleration induced from the pendulum effect of the CHP is of equal, or greater, importance than torque applied. Maximum bat speed is attained when the batter’s mechanics applies torque to the bat that does not diminish the pendulum effect of the CHP. 
> 
> Later in Big Mac’s career, he moved a few inches farther away from the plate and addressed most pitches as outside pitches. Therefore, he sets up to take his hands in a wider path. The wider the hand-path, the more the back-arm must extend to bring the bat perpendicular to the flight of the ball. When rotating the bat-head further to pull the ball (as in the clip you showed), the arm must extend even further.  
> 
> Note in the clip that with his wider hand-path, he was able to get more extension of the arm without altering his CHP. That is not the case with most batters who "keep the hands inside the ball." They set up to keep the hands in closer. When they attempt to drive the top-hand past the bottom-hand, they straighten the hand-path and gain little acceleration from the pendulum effect. They are left to rely mainly on torque to bring the bat-head. Torque alone cannot produce great bat speed.
> 
> This clip of Griffey Jr. ( http://www.youthbaseballcoaching.com/mpg/griffey_ken.mpeg ) shows that back-arm extension is not necessary for pitches middle-in. His top-hand is being driven by body rotation. Pulling rearward with his lead-shoulder applies torque that works with the pendulum effect rather that straightening the CHP. 
> 
> Jack Mankin

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