Posted by: Chuck (jcsherwood8458@sbcglobal.net) on Wed Mar 10 14:10:33 2010

> > <a href="http://www.batspeed.com/media/Rose_Keys_to_CHP.wmv">Rose - Keys to CHP</a>
> >
> > <a href="http://www.batspeed.com/media/John_CHP.wmv">Overhead - CHP & Plate Coverage</a>
> >
> > <a href="http://www.batspeed.com/messageboard/380026.html">New video - Lead-shoulder rotation</a>
> >
> > Note: I will address my thoughts on Slaught, Candrea and Enquest in a following post on this thread
> >
> > Jack Mankin
>
> >>> Hi Jack,i
>
> Your clips are very interesting. Thanks for the analysis. I am very interested in your thoughts on Slaught, Candrea, and Enquest. Have you posted them yet or have I missed them? <<<
>
> Hi CDH
>
> In response to your question, I searched YouTube to find video of the coaches you mentioned discussing swing mechanics. I did not find any clips of Candrea that covered the hand path or the role of the hands and arms. I would assume that since he made a hitting video with Slaught and Enquest, he would hold similar views.
>
> Below is a video I found of Slaught and Enquest (two videos) discussing their views of sound mechanics.
>
> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gWihxsj0iI">Slaught</a>
>
> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDPLTjuW3co&NR=1">Enquest</a>
>
> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrKifl0IFeA">Enquest -- Bat Drag</a>
>
> Their presentations follow two main themes.
>
> Theme (1) -- During initiation, the action of the back-arm is similar to skipping a rock or making a side-arm throw. Both Slaught's and Enquest's demonstrations stress the point that the back-elbow should swing under to lead the hands. -- In Enquest's second video (Bat Drag), it appears she is definitely not in favor of the early rearward acceleration of the bat. She advocates keeping the bat close to the neck until the hands pass the center of the body.
>
> Here are two videos from Batspeed.com that discuss the bat's rearward acceleration and the role of the back-arm during initiation.
>
> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/profile?
> user=MrBatSpeed#p/u/1/1f2SwCoFRgI">Early Bat Speed -- Good & Poor examples</a>
>
> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=MrBatSpeed#p/u/2/pQ4wvLnKXug">Principles of teaching THT</a>
>
> One of the main problems exhibited in many young hitters is with their back-elbow swinging under the armpit and in toward their bellybutton as they rotate. With some of my beginning students, their back-elbow swings under the armpit to a point even with the lead-elbow. This is one reason I find the "Like throwing a ball side-armed" cue to be counter productive.
>
> Theme (2) -- In Slaught's video, he states that the lead-arm action is similar to that of "Throwing a Frisbee." He demonstrates the lead-arm starts boxed (or about a 90 degree bend) and then straightens out approaching contact. He believes this action will take the hands in a more direct path and keep the bat in the contact zone longer.
>
> Below are a couple of Batspeed.com videos that address the role of the lead-arm in high level mechanics. Follow the lead-arm of these four good hitters and see if you find their lead-arm straightening out as if throwing a Frisbee.
>
> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=MrBatSpeed#p/u/4/vS3HTHXspmk">Four good hitters -- Lead-elbow</a>
>
> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=MrBatSpeed#p/u/3/_C2qF8d-BAI">Elbow trajectories in lower level mechanics</a>
>
> I have already discussed plate coverage with a CHP (circular-hand-path) in videos at the top of the post. In closing, I think it is important to point out that even if a straighter hand-path did keep the bat in the contact zone longer, the loss in bat speed and "Pop" generated from taking the hands in a more linear path would far overshadow any gain in that area.
>
> <a href="http://www.batspeed.com/media/WhipHigh.wmv">Bat speed and the CHP</a>
>
> Jack Mankin

Hi Jack,

My son has been working hard for a while now on ridding himself of the exact mechanics that Enquest is trying to teach. (She has a lot of bat drag and stops her front shoulder rotation.) Despite his best efforts, in a recent video analysis you did for him, you identified that he still had a significant amount of bat drag. You attributed this to his keeping the hands too much inside the ball and not letting the back elbow unfold, etc. Since then he has worked on starting his handpath more perpindicular to the flight of the pitch and getting his hands away from his body a little more. But, I also made another suggestion to him that seemed to help a lot. Drawing upon your lumberjack analogy which you often apply to the finish of the swing where all energy is spent right after contact and then it's relaxation, I applied the lumberjack methods to the beginning of the swing. I suggested that he think less about the hand position, the elbow position, etc. and think more about the barrel of the bat. I told him to start his swing in a way where he can feel the bat barrel taking off as soon as possible. Granted,he was already swinging within a rotational framework, albeit flawed, and I might not suggest this to a hitter that was still very linear. By focusing on getting the bat barrel going early, he seems to be finding the correct mechanics. The position of the hands and elbow are in a sense, taking care of themselves to a degree. Afterall, an axe is very end-weighted, and a lumberjack swings in an efficient way that throws the blade immediately, not in a way that delays the throw of the blade as in bat drag. In summary, I would much rather see him swing like Pedroia's video than Enquest's video. Thanks for your very inolved posting.

Chuck