Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Fri Jul 28 07:56:25 2006

>>> Actually, this clip of Frank Robinson is probably not the best one to demonstrate because his timing is clearly off a little. His swing actually becomes somewhat linear at the end, but not by intent. If you watch closely, you will notice that in the last few frames, his shoulder rotation stops completely and he has to use his hands to move the bat to the ball. This happens to the best rotational hitters, when their timing is slightly off. Although he may have hit this ball well, he is not making contact at an ideal time in the swing and probably lost some power. If you look at clips of hitters when they hit for power, you will always see that shoulder rotation continues through the point of contact.

Usually the answer to the shoulder pulling out is very simple. When the shoulders begin to rotate, the angle of the lead arm should stay consistent to the point of contact. This ensures the arms and hands rotate with the shoulders. Usually when hitters seem to be pulling their front shoulder out, the front arm will straighten as the shoulders begin to rotate. This is bat lag. The arms become disconnected from the main axis of rotation and usually just before contact, you will see the shoulders stop rotating and the arms move the bat to the ball for contact because they need to catch up. <<<

Hi Tony

That is a keen observation and analysis of the Robinson clip. However, the Rose and Robinson clips are the only two Internet over-head views I have found. You may have noted that I only commented on Robinson’s THT during initiation. I did not comment on the quality of his BHT because BHT requires the lead-shoulder to be rotating rearward at contact. As you pointed out, that was lacking in this swing.

Tony, you state, “Usually the answer to the shoulder pulling out is very simple. When the shoulders begin to rotate, the angle of the lead arm should stay consistent to the point of contact. This ensures the arms and hands rotate with the shoulders.” – I fully agree.

I would like clarification of your next point. You state, “Usually when hitters seem to be pulling their front shoulder out, the front arm will straighten as the shoulders begin to rotate. This is bat lag.” – I have found that many good hitters have their lead-elbow well flexed during pre-launch and them straighten the elbow as they initiate rotation. Straightening the arm early in the swing (during initiation) does not appear to cause disconnection or bat lag.

As I stated earlier, I agree that in order to stay connected to rotation, the angle of the lead-arm must remain constant once the swing has been fully initiated. However, it may be straighten during initiation. Look at Jeff’s lead-arm during pre-launch and during initiation in this clip -- http://www.youthbaseballcoaching.com/mpg/bagwell1.mpeg -- Your thoughts.

Jack Mankin