Posted by: Mark (mjury@amgen.com) on Tue Nov 24 11:15:25 2009

Thanks for the advice and encouragement, RedDog.

We have been doing what you explain, so it is good to hear that it is helping your son. I think it is simply a matter of reps, reps and more reps to burn the main rotational mechanics into the muscles' memories, while keeping the hands "quiet", as you explain. My only concenr with keeping the hands quiet is that you would not seem to generate any torque from quiet hands. In the Final Arc 2 video, Jack demonstrates THT by "throwing" a golf club away/backwards with the top hand, while pulling it forward with the bottom hand/arm/shoulder. You can see the extra speed that is generated with such forces, and it makes complete sense to me. However, I can't figure out how to explain what is happening with the forearm and wrist of the top hand when attempting to "throw" the bat backwards to get the same THT effect, and the subsequent additional batspeed... thus I am reluctant to tell my son how isolate the mechanic to encode his muscle memory with THT. Is it as simple as suggesting that my son "throw" the bat away/backwards by applying top hand pressure back toward the catcher with a push from the tumb, or pulling with the fingers? Is the pulling of the fingers simply a result of the elbow lowering and rotating to the slot?

Jack Mankin mentioned in another post that if you can envision the swing you want, the body can make it happen. I know this is true, and I have used that same approach in teaching basic throwing mechanics to youth players. So, I know (and my son knows) that you want the bat to accelerate backwards in an arc, toward the catcher, using THT, before pulling it forward/around your axis in the CHP. The only way I can think to describe this is to tell my son to envision smacking the catcher in the head with the bat with only his top hand on the bat... not clubbing on top of the head, but more of a slap to the side of the head... obviously, I'm not suggesting that anyon ehit anyone else with a bat. I'm just trying to come up with a visual that might unlock the mechanics that the body applies when executing THT.

Any ideas????