Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Mon Dec 7 10:46:06 2009

>>> Just watching a clip you used to illustrate THT but I believe it also shows more of what I said in my earlier comment. http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=MrBatSpeed#p/u/18/k1Q7kJUfOWo

You seen here while the hips rotate a slight delay in the chest. Meaning the hips will have opened while the chest has remained behind and more square towards home.

I mention this because sometimes hitters get confused if I teach them the connection you have explained between the hips and the shoulder(torso. I've found that many cannot disconnect the hips and chest rotation like seen in this clip and tend to rotate everything at the same time. What I get is hands that come forward at hip rotation instead of rearward to create THT. Hope this makes sense. <<<

Hi Nate

I have also had students exhibit the problem you describe. Their shoulders rotate with their hips with little or no separation. Although their hip and shoulders fully rotated open, video showed their bat still 90+ degrees from the contact zone. This indicates their mechanics allowed their hips and shoulders to basically free-wheel open with little load to offer resistance.

You state, "What I get is hands that come forward at hip rotation instead of rearward to create THT. Hope this makes sense." -- Yes, you make a good deal of sense. Mechanics that accelerate the bat rearward produces a much higher load to shoulder rotation than a static bat. Therefore, the angular rate of hip rotation will be greater during the initiation phase than shoulder rotation.

Jack Mankin