Posted by: Major Dan (markj89@charter.net) on Wed May 16 08:10:36 2001

>>> Jack, there is much debate about whether Lau's theory of driving the hips forward starts your hands and your theory that the hands drive the hips forward are neither wrong just misinterpretations. If you observe A-Rod's swing(http://members.home.net/blackhawks12/A-ROD-View.gif)and your sketch of the perfect swing(http://www.batspeed.com/mechanics.html) you'll notice in A-Rod's swing that his back knee is slightly inward towards the front knee as he starts his load (Mark McGwire is an extreme with this style). On the other hand, you'll notice on your sketched swing that the back leg does NOT have the back knee starting inward towards the front knee like A-Rod's. My reason for bringing this to attention Jack is because, try this yourself with the bat in your hands, if the knees are starting towards each other and shift your weight back as you are starting your load with your upper body as A-Rod does ever so slightly that when the stride is taken the bodystays in place for the most part until the hips slide forward a little bit (weight shift) and this allows the torque of the "launching position" to be of greater insensity than if the knees aren't started towards each other like your sketch of the perfect swing. The hips sliding forward naturally occurs and with the shoulders remaining in place the "weight" of the hips has to stop somehow, therefore they open up away from the body and stop. The Result, is weight shift that Therefore, Lau's theory that the hips drive forward isn't incorrect because I feel people's interpretation of his theory is that the hips start the hands after the launching position is achieved when infact, the forward weight shift of the hips is used to develope more a greater potential for torque once the axis is at center and ready to initiate the swing. I hope this helps and that everyone can understand my hypothesis on this matter. Murph <<<
> > >
> > > Hi Murph
> > >
> > > I have no problem with a batter striding forward (soft stride). I would also expect that his hips would also slide a few inches before hip rotation begins. But for the reasons I mentioned in the post above on weight-shift, I think striding is good for timing and rhythm, but I do not believe it adds significantly to rotation or bat speed. I have charted the swings of to many hitters with little or no hip slide that can hit the ball just as hard (if not harder) than A-Rod.
> > >
> > > If a forward stride does add significantly to bat speed, how would you explain the power of hitters like Jeff Bagwell who start with a wide stance and take a short step away (or have their axis fading away) from the pitcher. If Lau’s theory were correct wouldn’t that subtract from his power and bat speed? Would a scout with Lau’s thinking even sign a Jeff Bagwell or similar young hitters?
> > >
> > > Jack Mankin
> >
> > Jax- What about Manny Ramirez who is the 2nd richest athlete in sports history? Or maybee Frank Thomas, Jeremy Burnitz,Raphael Palmeiro,Russell Branyon,Juan "Gone" Gonzalez and even the young studs like Pujols in St. Louis. You are missing a great game...
> > Nobody is perfect and each great hitter has a certain amount of weight shift and rotation depending on a succesfull at bat. Are you suggesting that we all try to hit like Jeff Bagwell? He is the only player in baseball history to get away with an unorthodox approach.
> > As I said once before: Dont make it so confusing....
> > > Who the heck is this Charley Lau dude?

He's a name dropper who usually pontificates some empty phrases that appear to mean something, but he never clarifies what he is talking about so we ignore him.
He may be the hitting instructor whose father was an important hitting guru in the 80's, or he may be some impostor who enjoys making these somewhat provocative posts. The jury is still out.
He also sends nasty email messages to people who post opinions contrary to his.
He once offered my a copy of 'his' latest book so I could educate myself, but I couldn't get him to come through with his offer.
Probably just some get-a-lifer trying to bait people on the internet.
What do you think of the statement that Jeff Bagwell is the only successful unorthodox hitter in Major League history?
If you look at Bagwell's core mechanics, he is very orthodox. But I guess if you only look at surface style and not the underlying mechanics these things can fool you. No wonder the call for keeping it simple. Maybe Jr. couldn't follow the content of the thread!!!