Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Sat Dec 27 23:41:25 2008

>>> As a teaching tool for young hitters or hitters who have been hitting the wrong way their whole lives, the vest is great. It teaches hands in, doesn't allow you to cast and promotes muscle memory conducive to successful hitting at all levels lower than professional baseball!

Are we talking Major League hitters or high school/college players? The top 5% of major league hitter ALL TIME who is I would consider great but that is not the audience this vest helps. Those guys could hit in their sleep but you could take a 12 yr old kid that casts and drops his hands and actually show him where his hands should be in 5 minutes using the vest. It allows a kid to swing repetively in somewhat the correct swing path without thinking about it! Great product IMO! <<<

Hi Coach SS

A few day ago I received an e-mail asking if I knew of the vest and my opinion of it. I will place my reply below and would appreciate your thoughts.

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Thank you for the e-mail and please excuse the delay in my reply. I think I may have seen the Power Hitting Vest you refer to. I have often considered developing a similar vest but used very differently from the way it was shown. The vest I saw had an attached loop that kept the "lead-arm" pinned down to the front side during the swing. However, the lead-arm and elbow must be allowed to adjust up in the plane of the swing. Pinning the lead-arm down would lead to the premature rolling of the wrist and other mechanical problems.

I would use the vest to pin the back-elbow to the side during body rotation. Once the back-elbow lowers to the side, it should remain back (in the slot) during rotation until after contact. Using a heavy bag and the vest used in this manner should aid in forcing top-hand dominant hitters to make more efficient use of lead-side rotation.
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Jack Mankin