Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Mon Sep 10 08:59:24 2001

>>> Jack points out in his tapes and on this site that the top hand's fingers pull back toward the catcher while the bottom hand remains stationary (doesn't pull forward). This starts the bat barrel arcing so it can have momentum when it arcs into the swing plane itself.
Jack and I have discussed in the past the relationship of the back elbow to tht.
It is my belief that the back elbow pulls down toward the ribs and this action causes the fingers to exert tht on the bat handle.
In working with my students, I refer to this as the 'power elbow down' technique. I don't think Jack agrees with this.
Make your own judgment. But watch Barry Bonds, Carl Everett, Gary Sheffield, etc. The hitters who 'rock' the bat in some way, or point it somewhat toward the pitcher, end up pulling the barrel back as their back elbow comes down toward their side.
It is my impression that hitters do not intentionally pull back with the fingers of their top hand, ie, it is not a conscious action. But the bat waggle and elbow down action combine to do what they don't realize they are doing.
Just my take on it. <<<

Hi Major Dan

You explained the purpose of applying tht very well and our views of how it is applied are not that far apart. I recommend that the batter thinks, "accelerate the bat-head back toward the catcher by pulling back with the fingers of the top-hand", instead of accelerating the bat-head by, "pulling the elbow down", for a couple of reasons.

All batters with raised elbows do not have the same position of the hands. A-Rod and Bonds both cock the bat-head forward toward the pitcher, but A-Rod starts with his hands up above his shoulder while Bonds has his hands lower and in front of his shoulder. So, unlike A-rod, Bonds can not just lower his elbow to his side, he must at the same time pull the top-hand up and back toward the catcher as the elbow lowers. But, both did pull the bat-head back with the fingers of the top hand.

Another reason for teaching the batter to pull with the fingers of the top-hand, is because the elbow does not always come straight down to the batters side on all pitch locations. As Melvin points out in his post, the elbow sweeps out in a much wider path for outside pitches. In some cases the elbow never comes to the batter's side. --- Below is a post I made earlier on this subject (Mechanics and the Outside Pitch).

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I think one of the main reasons the torque and chp hitters are leading the performance stats is because they do not need to change their basic swing mechanics due to pitch placement. They are able to use the same mechanics regardless of where the pitcher throws to them and still hit the ball hard. The only adjustment they need to make is a slight change in how they initiate the swing. Once that change is made - their mechanics for the balance of the swing is on auto -pilot regardless of where the pitch is.

The change in the batter’s initiation that programs the swing is controlled mainly by the direction of pull of the top hand. In other words, the direction of pull of the top hand at initiation sets up trajectories (of the bat, limbs and body) that control the balance of the swing.

As an example - say the pitchers mound is at 6 o’clock and the plate is at 12 o’clock - On an inside pitch the direction of pull of the top hand is in tight, say at 11 o’clock, the back elbow will come almost straight down to the batters side with little rotation of the shoulders. The pulling back of the back-arm keeps the lead-arm across the chest and generates a tight hand-path and thus a low-load resistance to shoulder rotation. The back elbow coming fairly straight down with little body rotation means less top-hand-torque was developed and the batter finishes the swing with a lot of lead shoulder pull and bottom-hand-torque.

On a pitch more in the middle 2/3’s of the plate, the pull of the top hand is more straight-away - or at 12 o’clock. With a more straight-away pull, the shoulders rotate a few degrees as the back elbow lowers to the batter’s side allowing a greater amount of top-hand-torque to be applied. This direction of pull also causes the lead arm to cast slightly away from the chest and generates a somewhat wider hand-path. A wider hand-path generates greater bat speed and a higher load resistance to rotation. Less shoulder rotation means less bottom-hand-torque. So on the pitch in the mid-part of the plate, what we wind up with is greater bat speed from a wider hand-path and more balance between bottom and top-hand-torque being applied.

On recognizing an outside pitch, the batter's pull of the top hand is more away from center - or at 1 o’clock. This direction of pull causes the back elbow to sweep some distance before full body rotation begins and the elbow lowers. This allows top-hand-torque to be applied over a much greater portion of the swing. This direction of pull also causes the lead arm to cast out farther and develops a wide hand-path and thus a heavy resistant load to rotation. The greater load limits shoulder rotation which equates to less bottom-hand-torque being applied. So, on the outside pitch the swing produces a wide hand-path with a lot of top-hand-torque and little bottom-hand-torque. – With less shoulder rotation on outside pitches, the lead leg may not be fully extended while the back-arm becomes more extended.

Jack Mankin