Posted by: Jeff (kidd@islc.net) on Thu Dec 30 20:28:58 1999

Hi Jack,

A few days ago in a discussion regarding the transfer of energy from the hands to the bat, you argued against the notion that the slowing of the hands created a "tripping" effect that sped up angular velocity.

It took me a little while to absorb it, and though I'm still not entirely convinced that a "tripping" effect could not play some part, I do understand your point about the slowing of the hands being a byproduct and not the cause of the sudden surge in bat speed that occurs shortly after the hands clear the front edge of the body.

A simple illustration demonstrated the point I believe you were trying to make: Stack a baseball on top of a basketball and drop the two so that they remain in contact as they fall.The basketball will shoot the baseball over your head as it bounces off the ground. Obviously, the baseball has bounced higher than it would if you dropped by itself. The basketball, however, doesn't rebound nearly as high as it would if it were dropped by itself. That's because it has given its energy up to the baseball.

It didn't slow down to transfer its energy; it slowed down BECAUSE it transfered its energy.

Like I said, I don't think this proves definitively there is no tripping effect, however, it is clear to me that even if there were, you wouldn't want or need to consciously slow your hands at some point in the swing. (State another way, even if I weren't confusing cause with effect and the tripping phenomena took place, it's clear that it happens on its own and does not need to be reenforced with a swing cue.)

At any rate, I've been reconsidering your previous point and find it to be quite convincing.

One question -- Would the hands slow because they begin to move a bit further from the swing's axis (the whole conservation of angular momentum thing)?

Regards,
Jeff