Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Wed Jul 12 10:45:56 2006

>>> Jack,

The video shows that at the point of contact (for a right handed batter) the right arm show be bent (in the shape of an L). My daughters softball coach consistently tells her that this is wrong and that she will not get any power unless her arms are fully extended at the point of contact. Do you have any links to pictures of major league batters show their right arm bent at the point of contact??? <<<

Hi Softball Dad

Below is an exert from a post I wrote on the most efficient position of the back-arm at contact. The post contains a clip of Griffey Jr swing. Study the clip frame-by-frame. His contact position is representative of the position you will find in most of the best hitters.

Jack Mankin
##

Grand Slam Man, let us concentrate on getting you to understand why practicing making contact with your back-arm in an “L” configuration is key to your maximizing your potential as a hitter. You stated in your question, “Arn't you supodsded to PuSH with that back arm,”. -- This is a common misconception of most batters. They feel that for their top-hand to drive forward requires them to extend the back-arm. That is simply not the case.

In high quality swings, body rotation supplies most of energy that powers the top-hand to contact. Professor Adair has calculated that it requires about 3 torque HP to hit a ball 400 feet. He states that the arms can contribute about 1/3 HP. This means that with efficient transfer mechanics, the larger muscle groups of the legs and torso must be allowed to supply most of the energy.

With that in mind, consider the sport of boxing. Would you rather be hit by an opponent’s “jab” (extension of his arm) or his “hook” (arm remains in the “L” shape and powered by shoulder rotation)? – Now let's see how this relates to the baseball swing with this clip of Griffey Jr. -- http://www.youthbaseballcoaching.com/mpg/Griffey01.mpeg

Advance the swing forward frame-by-frame and note that although the top-hand moved in an arc about 24 inches from his launch position to contact. Note that his back-elbow remains back at his side during rotation and is still in the “L” position (like the boxer’s hook) at contact. The arm did not extend until well after the ball was gone. This is the contact position found is most of the best hitters for pitches middle-in.

It should be obvious that if the batter is swinging at an outside pitch or his bat has rotated more to pull the ball, his back-arm must extend out more to rotate the bat to that position. This is why in my study, I placed great importance on a batter's position when his bat had rotated to perpendicular (ball would be hit straightaway) than to the pulled contact position.

They make the centerfield fence the deepest part of the park for a reason. The batter is in a more powerful position hitting the ball straightaway than when hitting down the foul lines.

This post is getting long again. I will cover the heavy bag next.

Jack Mankin