Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Tue Feb 28 12:40:13 2006

>>> Hi Jack,

No I don't think the first 90 degrees of bat rotation is a waste. In most causes it works smoothly into the lag position to create an arc.

As the clip you posted shows most of the rapid rotation of the barrel happens from lag position to full extension. The top hand remains cocked until the lag position and he fully releases the barrel. If you look at it from even before the lag position, the barrel start off the tip of his shoulder and really begins to arc. <<<

Hi Shawn

You state, “The top hand remains cocked until the lag position.” – I think you may be confusing ‘wrist cock’ to the bend in Bonds wrists he uses in his fairly unique grip. With his grip, the heels of his hands are almost inline, which bends each wrist about 70+ degrees. His wrists do not straighten until the back-elbow lowers to bring the forearms closer together.

That bending and un-bending of his wrist is quite different than the abduction and adduction (cocking and un-cocking) of the wrist that take place in the swing plane.

Jack Mankin