Posted by: Dave (dgagnon29@yahoo.com) on Mon May 8 11:51:27 2006

I've read the site from top to bottom and I must say "Great work!" I mispent my youth trying to conform to the instruction of many little league coaches. Later on, after my first couple of years in adult softball, I was convinced that I was not a power hitter, and could not be one (even though I am as big and strong as guys who can put it over the fence). I analyzed each of my at bats, and decided to think out of the box so, I could swing for more power. I decided that none of the truisms were made of cement and I was going to try to develope a swing that generates bat speed. Over the last couple of years, I am now cosistently hitting the ball very hard and I am within a few feet of clearing the fence. Your site put into print many of the things that I found for myself using hip rotation and push/pull force while swinging.

My question is about the top hand pullback at the start of the swing. When you pull the top hand back, do you hold the bottom hand firm causing the bat to angle back? Is this done to enhance (pre-load) the oposite action when making contact? Is this what Gary Sheffield is doing when he is moving the bat back and forth on delivery, is he setting into motion the action of pulling the top hand back?