Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Wed Sep 9 12:25:42 2009

>>> Again, My stance is there is not a linear or rotational style of hitting. You cannot do one or the other. True the great hitters cited which are only POWER hitters hit with a circular path to pull the ball out of the park. Look at the real great hitters like Jeter, Ichiro, and Gywnn. They do not do this.

My questions/statements to be addressed that would help me understand are: Is there a seperation of the trigger/stride and the swing? The bat head in most videos is lagging behind the hands, this lends towards hitting the inside part of the ball. How do you hit through the ball in a circle? And to me, the path is elliptical...which has more longer straight path to contact. Also, using physics if you get the bat head out away from your body, it going to slow down, there has to be greater force pulling it to the body to keep the inertia of the bat from flying off (casting hands here???) Like rotational movements of ice skaters, they keep hands close to accelerate and hands out to decelerate. <<<

Hi South

Thank you for your patience. The reasons for my question regarding the role of the shoulders was to address your above statement. You state, "there is not a linear or rotational style of hitting." If this were true, then why do most coaches teach mechanics that relies on the arms to extend hands (and knob) in an "A to B" hand-path while rotational coaches teach mechanics that accelerate the hands in a circular path.

These are very different concepts that induce very different bat trajectories. As the video clip below illustrates, a major component of generating bat speed is induced from the swinging of the bat-head that occurs when the hands follow a circular path (like swinging a ball on a string).

'Whip Effect' vs CHP 'Circular-Hand-Path'

I would agree that even if a batter were taught to extend his hands straight, an overhead view would show the hands taking a more elliptical pattern. Meaning, the hand-path starts straight but arcs inward (toward the shortstop) as the arms near full extension. This results in the bat-head trailing behind the hands well into the swing before it is induced to arc outward from the arc in the hand-path. Much of the bat-head acceleration developed from these mechanics occurs after the bat has passed through the optimum contact zone. This is why they have little power to the opposite field and most of the best-hit balls are pulled foul.

With rotational mechanics, the hands are rotated into a circular path right from the initiation of the swing. This induces angular acceleration of the bat-head much earlier in the swing. As the video clips below show, mechanics that generate earlier bat speed allows for greater plate coverage and bat velocity that drives balls to the opposite field with real authority. -- South, you state, "True the great hitters cited which are only POWER hitters hit with a circular path to pull the ball out of the park." -- I think you would agree Pete Rose was a contact rather than a power hitter. Take a look at his hand-path. I have not analyzed and over-head of Jeter or Ichiro, but Gywnn's is about the same as Rose's.

Rose - Keys to CHP

Overhead - CHP & Plate Coverage

Jack Mankin