Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Thu Oct 4 20:45:16 2001

>>> The archer reference is to Jack's top hand torque as I understand it. Here is an excerpt from Jack's Truisms and Fallacies section under "Quick Hands". You can refer to there for the complete quote.

"When referring "Quick Hands", I am mainly concerned with the perceived role of the top hand in the development of bat speed. Hitters are taught to accelerate the bat by driving and extending the top hand back in the direction of the pitcher. But, far from driving the top hand forward, great hitters like Williams and Sosa initiate the swing by pulling with the top hand back toward the catcher. This would be very simular to an archer pulling on a bowstring. The force of the rotating body against the lead arm will quickly accelerate both hands in an arc toward the pitcher. Thus, to maximize the torque that is applied to the bat, the direction of the force of the top hand should not be initiated in the same direction as the bottom hand."

Once again, these are Jack's words not mine. If I had not read Tom Guerry extensively AND read all of Jack's reference material on here before I started reading the discussions, much of the references in the discussions would have made no sense. Mark H. <<<

Hi Mark

Thanks, your interpretation of the site material is right on. I would only add to the discussion that torque or rotational energy is not saved, or stored up, to be release just before contact. In order to produce that loose, smooth and ever-accelerating swing, the great hitters are constantly applying bat speed generating forces to the bat from initiation to contact. Allowing the bat-head to remain back and attempting to explode at the end produces that tense, jerky look.

Jack Mankin