Posted by: tom.guerry (tom.guerry@kp.org) on Sat Oct 20 10:38:30 2001

>>> I agree with you that MJ had great potential prior to actually getting in the "game". Lacking proper fundamentals certainly contributed to his poor batting average. Also, I happen to believe in the concept of throwing the bat/hands at the ball. <<<
> >
> > Hi Jeff M
> >
> > Normally, when we think of a "throwing" action, such as throwing a baseball, spear or etc., the arms and the muscles in the arms have a very active role in accelerating the hands and the object. Do you see that same active role for the arms and muscles in the arms in accelerating the hands in the baseball/softball swing? If so, how would you describe that arm action?
> >
> > Jack Mankin
> >
> > Jack ,actually I have read here or setpro that was very knowledgeable of javelin throwing talking of how one olimpic team dominated the event with rather small throwers.The basis was that they had an inward turn and connection before release that used more rotation in the shoulders.I also understand that the rotation of the shoulders in throwing are key to arm speed and the opening of the hips 1st is important.So they seem to all be related with rotation.If I could say one last thing about throwing the hands it would be again that I think hitters at that level think beginning and end,clear the hips then throw the hands are a feeling that comes from torque being applied towards the end,this is what is felt and they either don't feel their upper rotation,though it is their and they do have lead arm connection causing the chp,its the pop of torque that kicks in and felt as throwing of hands.Not literally throwing hands by themselves.Again we see differences in reality and cues sometimes.

RQL-

It is just about impossible to say "one last thing" about throwing the hands.It's too controversial and close to the hearts of many.I think your post is right on,however.Of course,I can't leave it there,I just feel compelled to blather on so be forewarned and put on your seat belt.Don't worry any hitters with this info.

From the reality point of view,your mechanics have to allow the body to consistently and controllably store up and release energy.Creating and transferring momentum from the big muscles to the small ones is the energy source.This is a lower body motor program controlled by the "feel"(kinesthetic sense)of the hips/thigh/upper legs.In reality,you must create separation of upper and lower body(wind the body up),then unwind sequentially.

One of the big mysteries behind the difficulty interpreting cues is why is shoulder turn so rarely used as a "swing key" or "cue" ?
I think the simple answer to this lies on the other side of some very complex understanding of the way things work.The "unwinding" transfer of momentum from the bottom up requires decelerating the hips to maximally energize the torso.Meanwhile the hands("upper body motor program")must stay in andconnected to prevent leaking of energy out of the torso prematurely.The hips must "lead the hands" both in terms of rotating while the hands stay back to create separation, and in terms of decelerating at the right time after the hips have started the torso rotating.The separation part is more on autopilot or more subconscious as opposed to consciously felt.What you mainly "feel" in the hips is moment of acceleration to maximim hip turn velocity plus the "hooking up" to start torso turn then deceleration of the hips.This all happens as a quick transition which must be timed to precisely precede the torquing of the bathead out of the arc of the handpath.In addition to this and at the same time,the body has to begin making posture adjustments to get on the plane of the pitch.

While the hips are doing all this,the upper body program must create the circular hand path and drop the bat into the power plane(roughly perpendicular to the upper spine).Any premature extension of the hand path or dropping of the bat past the plane of the swing will prevent good body rotation or suck energy out prematurely ruining the "lower body program".Energy can not be generated and transferred well,nor can it build up much before release.

So why do the actual practitioners of the desired swing often think "hips then HANDS" or end up focussing on hands rather than other cues? Remember that the arms are used to "connect" the hands and bat to the torso as in Jack's "welded wheel" drill/analogy.The hands,in effect are part of the rotating,energized torso.Furhtermore,the hands are the best ultimate controller of the upper body(and overall swing)program,because this is where nature has built the most circuits for fine and gross motor control-they don't call it hand-eye coordination for nothing.The optimal mechanical model that Jack has documented visually shows that the hands control the swing by connecting to the torso,torquing the bat into the swing plane and establishing a circular handpath of the right radius while allowing the rest of the body to store energy and get on plane.Among other things,this stable relation of hands to torso helps provide control of posture change.As importantly,the hands control the timing of the release of energy by when the batHEAD(sweetspot/center of mass of bat)is swung out of the arc of the handpath.This is the trigger for transferring energy to the bat in a way that is most efficiently converted to angular velocity of the sweetspot(BATSPEED).This is a "ballistic" activity-the "launching" of the bat in projectile fashion.In a few subseconds,the turning bat is pulling the hands,the hands are along for the ride which feels like the hands are being thrown.So one way to interpret or state the cue could be don't throw the hands,but if you do things right it will feel like they are BEING thrown(your students will love that,maybe you should just keep that to yourself).There is more reality to the cue of "throwing the bathead",but this is still inaccurate,specially since you are likely to interpret this as instructions to use mechanics similar to throwing a ball."Transfer mechanics" are entirely different for the arms in hitting(welded wheel/positioning for 2 hand torque) and throwing(sequential extension whipping of a single arm).

This is what we have talked about before as the very complex idea of "top down control of a bottom up motor program".Not only are there these preprogrammed motor instructions,but the upper body and lower body programs are somewhat separate with other programs for how they are put together.

If you do it mechanically right,the hips will lead and the bathead will get thrown(fired)and the hands will feel like they got thrown.And that's the last word(unlikely).