Posted by: Bobby Tewksbary (bobby@abathletics.com) on Mon Feb 15 01:04:02 2010

Thank you again for your response. Your videos seem to be more "non-linear" in approach rather than an explanation of what is really happening. You failed to acknowledge rear hip action and barrel movement in relation to the shoulder rotation. The relation is critical. You don't acknowledge the rear hip and barrel movement because you start your clips after this happens in all except the Rodriguez clip. (The Rodriguez clip exhibits the least shoulder rotation.) Also, clips are from the front preventing actual view of the hands which should be interpreted as deceiving.

In your four hitters video, when you said the hands were not moving, the barrel was moving. Your clips start when the lead shoulder rotation begins. The problem with this is it is after the rear hips has already fired and after the barrel is starting rearward. The Alex Rodriguez video starts earliest and it is different than the other three. What you say does not match up with what is happening in this clip and it is because of when you start and finish the clip. In fact when you stop his clip, the shoulders have hardly rotated and Rodriguez is not at contact while the others are. (Pujols is only 1 frame from contact.) With Rodriguez, I will argue that the hips have rotated more than the shoulders in what you show and the front shoulder is resisting rotation much more than it is causing rotation. The barrel is moving fast and rearward. This is closer where you start the other clips. Rodriguez has the shoulder more cocked inward because you start his clip sooner.

Because all of the videos start late (except for Rodriguez where you can watch this happening) I do not see the hands staying back. I know that the hands were not moving in relation to the body with initial hip drive because the hands and shoulders are back and the rear hip has already begun. In your clips, I saw hip drive causing the shoulder rotation, hip drive moving the hands forward while maintaining equal spacing/distance in relation to the body until they release at or just before contact. Side view would help confirm this. Hand torque, if that is the wording you prefer, has already happened before you start the clips (except Rodriguez) to cause the rearward barrel movement.


You talk a lot about the pendulum effect. Pulling with the front side (lead arm and/or lead shoulder) delays the pendulum effect, it does not enhance it. The fulcrum or pivot point of the pendulum moves forward toward the pitcher when you pull with the lead arm and/or lead shoulder. It causes the bat to whip (achieve maximum bat speed) further in front compared to no lead-side pull. Also, with lead side pull the lead side is powering this pendulum effect - specifically the lead arm and lead shoulder. You cannot pull from the front side with adequate leverage without first shifting to the front side. (Try it.)

Is the goal of what you teach to have the lead side shoulder and/or lead arm powering the barrel to the point of contact? I do not see MLB players doing this.