Posted by: mike28nc (mikelamb68@hotmail.com) on Sat Jul 8 02:14:40 2006

> Jack,
>
> I am a coach of youth baseball players and I have recently come upon your site. I am also an engineer and I think the concepts that you promote are very technically valid, however I am trying to find some way to translate these concepts to teachable methods. For example it does no good to tell a ten year old that he needs to do x-y-z in order to generate more torque, etc... They have a limited attention span and I have found that a few concise pointers will go a long way in improving the swing of a player at this age.
>
> Anyway, that is not the intent of this message. In reading through your articles, messages, etc. you seem to discount the "drive the knob" theory as more of a linear approach to hitting and I have to say that I disagree. I do not see any reason why this theory cannot be combined with the Circular Hand Path (CHP) logic using the principle that the path of the bat must follow the path of the hands. With the hands leading the bat in a circular path, the forces exterted by the rotation of the body and wrists will be transferred out to the bat at the time of maximum rotational speed.
>
> Centrifugal force will be maximized in much the same manner as casting a fishhing pole where the pole is rotated in a circular motion and the line receives the maximum force to be cast as far as possible.
>
> While I agree that instructing a child to drive his hands in a "choppping" motion or linear fashion would not yield the best results, it is not wrong to teach him to move his hands in a circular motion with the hands leading in front of the bat, hence "driving the knob".
>
> Your Thoughts??
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I have a son that is 11. I dont ever say drive the hands. I always talk to him about pull the bat not push. IMO Drive the hands means push the hands A to B. Pull the hands meand to use the body / CHP.

Sorry, I am not Jack just thought I would add that.
Mike