Posted by: Mark (mjury@amgen.com) on Mon Nov 30 14:16:51 2009

Jack:

I ran home at lunch to check out the videos. Very helpful. Thanks a million. The side-by-side comparison in particular will be extremely helpful for my son to visualize how to initiate his swing with THT, versus what it looks like and what it might feel like to initiate his swing without THT.

I think he is probably about half way between the bad and the good videos you provided with respect to THT... he has come a long way in the couple of weeks since I bought him the Final Arc 2 (he has now watched it 4 times) and a heavy bag, but he still has some lingering linear mechanics to erase from his muscle memory.

Progress report: My son, now 14, has never hit a ball more than 265 feet, even with the best aluminum/composite bats available. He's been a consistent doubles hitter, but not a home run hitter. I took him out to do some T work and soft toss yesterday, after working the heavy bag drills at home. We've really been working to make his front side dominant instead of his backside. It finally clicked for him yesterday. He hit one ball 290 feet off the T with a 33/30 wood bat. I did some soft toss to him, and he smacked one 312 feet with a 32/29 composite. Also, this was into a reasonably stiff wind - wind blowing in. While I'm happy for my son's progress, I'm more greatful to you, Jack, for doing the research you have done to demystify bat speed for us. You da man!!! I'm anxiously awaiting what good THT will add to his distance/power.

Respectfully,

Mark