Posted by: Shawn () on Mon Sep 3 09:24:36 2001

>>> Mr.Mankin, I was looking at some recent tape that I took of Kate and Marissa before they left for college. What I saw was both of them making contact too far out in front. The outside pitch was being hit at just about their front foot. Their hips were also open too far. On the inside pitch there top arm was extending too much and coming in towards their navel when contact was being made. They understand what they should be doing from tht through bht and we have worked on the bag and everything seems just fine in drills but the tape shows the flaws described above. I told them to hit some balls off the tee. For the outside pitch I told them to place the ball on the tee just inside of their back foot and to get a feel of the contact point. For the middle pitch just forward of the center of their body and for the inside pitch just in front of their lead foot. This as I stated before seems to be a timing issue, but I certainly could be off the mark. As always, thank you for your advice. <<<
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> Hi Larry
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> I think your description of their swings illustrates the point that good hip and shoulder rotation alone will not guarantee a good swing. Good hip and shoulder rotation along with good transfer mechanics (correct hand-path and torque forces applied to the bat) will cause the rate of angular displacement of the bat-head to stay in sync with the body's rotation to produce maximum bat speed in the contact zone. This means that as full shoulder rotation is occurring, the bat is brought to contact (bat perpendicular to the ball's line of flight). I call this, "staying with the power curve."
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> If their transfer mechanics need some work, you will find that at full shoulder rotation, the bat-head is dragging 20 to 60 degrees from contact. In this case, they have fallen behind the power curve and now must now rely on extending the arms to bring the bat-head. This makes for a weak swing to the opposite field because maximum bat speed is occurring well after the bat passes through the contact zone.
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> From what you are telling me, the problem still rests more with their mechanics, rather than timing. The most important problem to address is the back-elbow sweeping in toward the belly button. This is a weak position from which to generate bat speed and results in the need for the back-arm to more fully extend to make contact. The main cause of this problem is poor or loose linkage to the front shoulder and relying too heavily on the top-hand. A tight grip on the bat which causes the elbows to remain closer together (aliened knocking knuckles) can also add to the problem.
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> My recommendation would be to concentrate on these points: (1) Practice holding (or keeping) the back-elbow even with or behind the side (ribs) as the body rotates and the back-forearm lowers to horizontal for contact; (2) Use rotation and the pulling back of the front side to pull the bat-head around to contact -- not the forward thrusting of the back-arm; (3) The lead-arm should become (or remain) fairly straight during the swing. Do not flex the lead-elbow to apply pull to the knob end of the bat - with good linkage, that pull comes from lead-shoulder rotation
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> Having them concentrate on keeping the back-elbow back at their side will also force them to keep the top-hand back during rotation and they will learn to practice using bottom-hand-torque to bring the bat to contact. --- Have them practice this on the bag until your are sure that lead-shoulder pull (back toward the catcher) is bringing the bat all the way to contact. As full shoulder rotation occurs, the bat must reach contact, or they haven't got it right, they are still behind the power curve. Also, the back-elbow should still be at the side at contact (pitches from the middle-in). -- Then go to soft toss and on to live pitching.
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> PS: It's ok to start with an elevated back-elbow for top-hand-torque, but when the elbow lowers, make sure it is held back and not allowed to sweep forward and in toward the belly button. Also make sure the hands are held up near the shoulder as rotation begins. We do not want their hands lowering (back-forearm rotating down and around to horizontal) too soon. --- One last point. - With a light enough bat almost any mechanic can overcome the reduced inertia and bring the bat to contact, but how hard and how far will it drive the ball?
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> Jack Mankin
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Hi Larry,

Wow a real discussion on hitting, :). Try this link for a better understanding of Jack's post and I will add a slower clip showing his back elbow (coming around the rib cage) and hand relationship.

http://www.angelfire.com/games3/s_bell/images/hank1.gif

Also, I want to further touch on this subject. Showing Edgar hitting a inside pitch with more extension and lead arm flex, pull the knob to the ball? What if any is the dangers of keeping the hands in too long?