Bat Speed -- Baseball Hitting Forum

Posted by: rql () on Thu Nov 26 11:11:57 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????
>
>
> ok I will try to put into words what I feel when I see myself applying early tht,when you load by pulling the rear elbow back towards the dugout behind you the hand action is that the bottom hand works under the top hand and the front elbow works down and in.
>
> Now here is where the feel comes in,in tht the lead elbow must work up and the bottom hand controls the direction of the knob it is the dominant hand and it must be in control of the swing plane.However what is important is that as the back shoulder tilts and the rear elbow drops and the top forearm rotates back the top hand pulls back.What this produces is a flattening of the hands and they stay pretty much still behind the body or should i say they are working hard at flattening while not traveling forward much.
>
> this flattening of the hands causes the bottom hand to work forward in front of the top hand,so you have 2 hands working in opposite directions applying torque at the handle.this helps the bat fly backwards though it is the lead arm/hand in control of the bats swing plane.
>
> What i see hitters do that are not applying it well,is as they do the bottom hand correctly ,they do not flatten the hands behind them rather,forcing the top hand forward somewhat along with the top hand and the flattening ends up a little later in the swing thus losing the early batspeed and early linkage with the shoulders.
>
> So work on the lead hand in control but flattening the hands behind the body as the hips begin to f

Jack the video shows well what I was trying to explain,how the bigger muscles and different body parts work to flatten the hands back early behind the hitter causing the larger angle of acceration rearward of the bat,RedDOG,good point I may have said flatten the hands 1 too many times.The key is how they flatten and what causes them to ,I think of the hands as a result of what other body parts do,similar of the hip drive causes the rear knee down and in.So we have actions and reactions,get the actions right and the reactions will follow.

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> > > 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????
> > 
> > 
> > ok I will try to put into words what I feel when I see myself applying early tht,when you load by pulling the rear elbow back towards the dugout behind you the hand action is that the bottom hand works under the top hand and the front elbow works down and in.
> > 
> > Now here is where the feel comes in,in tht the lead elbow must work up and the bottom hand controls the direction of the knob it is the dominant hand and it must be in control of the swing plane.However what is important is that as the back shoulder tilts and the rear elbow drops and the top forearm rotates back the top hand pulls back.What this produces is a flattening of the hands and they stay pretty much still behind the body or should i say they are working hard at flattening while not traveling forward much.
> > 
> > this flattening of the hands causes the bottom hand to work forward in front of the top hand,so you have 2 hands working in opposite directions applying torque at the handle.this helps the bat fly backwards though it is the lead arm/hand in control of the bats swing plane.
> > 
> > What i see hitters do that are not applying it well,is as they do the bottom hand correctly ,they do not flatten the hands behind them rather,forcing the top hand forward somewhat along with the top hand and the flattening ends up a little later in the swing thus losing the early batspeed and early linkage with the shoulders.
> > 
> > So work on the lead hand in control but flattening the hands behind the body as the hips begin to f
> 
> 
> Jack the video shows well what I was trying to explain,how the bigger muscles and different body parts work to flatten the hands back early behind the hitter causing the larger angle of acceration rearward of the bat,RedDOG,good point I may have said flatten the hands 1 too many times.The key is how they flatten and what causes them to ,I think of the hands as a result of what other body parts do,similar of the hip drive causes the rear knee down and in.So we have actions and reactions,get the actions right and the reactions will follow.

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