Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Sun Mar 29 16:32:41 2009

>>> Thank you for the reply. The repackaging I was referring to was Charlie Lau's theory, which is what his son continues to teach. Unlocking the hips, pulling with the arms (and for all that is holy, NOT THE SHOULDERS), hands inside the ball, snap the wrists through with flat hands, and finish with a high swing which facilitates a nice extension through the ball. ARod credits Charley Jr. openly with perfecting his swing -- a nice one indeed. Larussa, if you recall, insisted the White Sox bring Charlie Lau on board as their hitting instructor when he was hired as Manager ans subsequently went on to lead the league in hitting. Larussa, to this day refers to Charlie Lau as the greatest hitting instructor he has ever come across. The question shouldn't be posed to me as to why I think Pujols is not what he says he is... a Lau disciple, but why you disagree with Pujols own statement and suggest he is something else. George Brett credited Charlie Lau for getting him into the Hall of Fame. I don't doubt that you are trying to help hitters improve their game, but telling kids to pull with their shoulder is just bad, bad, bad on so many levels. You cite Bonds, Ruth, Williams, and Sosa as great hitters to model. First, three of them were left-handed, two played a LONG LONG LONG time ago, and all of them were dead pull hitters. Side-note: I am so sick of everyone pointing to Ted Williams as a hitting source; one shouldn't take exceptions to the game and apply their style to the masses. Then there is Sosa... are you kidding? Sosa in the same breath as the other three? My idea of rotational hitting would be Rose, and perhaps I am misunderstanding your interpretation of what rotational is to you. <<<

Hi Rick

In your opening post regarding Lau's theoy, you listed "top hand release" as one of his key principles. I assumed you were referring to Lau Jr. and I have not kept up with his theories. However, I am familiar with Lau Sr. and concur with Ted Williams assessment of his batting theories. Ted stated that Lau's teaching did more to stall the advancement of young hitters than anything he could think of.

Therefore I can assure you I would not put Lua Sr.s' "repackaged" theories on this site. Take for example the first Lau theory you mentioned, "Unlocking the hips, pulling with the arms (and for all that is holy, NOT THE SHOULDERS)" -- This raises a good question. How does the energy from "Unlocking the hips" get to the bat if the 'shoulders' stay locked?

As Jerry's post above points out, for the hip's rotational energy to be transferred up the kinetic chain and out to the bat, it is the rotation of the shoulders that transferres that energy - Note: The arms, wrist, hands and bat are connected to the shoulders - not the hips.

The post below from the Archives adds more information on this topic.

Role of the hips in the swing

Jack Mankin