Posted by: Chuck (jcsherwood8458@sbcglobal.net) on Sun Dec 6 08:41:32 2009

> Hi Jack,
>
> >>> In your recent video presentation on THT you illustrate major league hitters and the 100 to 110 degress of bat travel they get by the time their back elbows are down. Do most great hitters have a common starting point in terms of the number of degrees that their bats are angled forward from vertical? Obviously, if you start with the bat tipped farther forward, 110 degrees of travel doesn't get you as far along into the swing. What is a good starting point? <<<
>
> Hi Chuck
>
> Good hitters start with their bats in a variety of positions in their stance. Some, like Sheffield, have it in front of their head pointing at the pitcher, others have it parallel with the ground above their head. Then there are various positions in between. However, regardless of where they start from, they all bring their hands and bat very close to the same position to initiate shoulder rotation.
>
> Therefore, in the clips you referred to, the first line was drawn when the batter initiated shoulder rotation and then the second four frames later. As you point out, some hitters may attain angular bat displacement during the PLT phase of the swing. However, it would require overhead video of the swing to tell how much (if any) impact it had on the angles shown.
>
> Jack Mankin

Hi Jack,

I think that I was not precise enough in my wording. When I said "starting point", I meant launch position. I was interested in knowing the "typical" angle between the first line you drew (bat at initiation of shoulder rotation) and a vertical line. As you say, most great hitters get very close to the same position at the initiation of shoulder rotation. I thought it might be helpful when looking at swing videos, to compare the angle of the bat at the initiation of shoulder rotation to the typical angle of the great hitters. As you know, many young hitters do some "funky" things with the bat during their pre-launch mechanics, and in some cases they end up with the bat angled greatly (possibly too much) towards the pitcher at launch. So I'm really just looking for a good reference point. Is this logical and feasible from video?

Thanks,
Chuck