Posted by: tom.guerry () on Thu Dec 21 09:29:28 2006

Jack-

As usual, you have hit the nail on the head :

This cue (“avoid early "casting") seems to advocate delaying the acceleration of the bat-head until later in the swing.

and

I find the best hitters are constantly applying force to attain maximum acceleration of the bat-head (casting around the plane) from launch to contact

The "paradox" or somehat "nonintuitive" truth is that avoiding casting REQUIRES torquing the handle/accelerating the bathead from early in the swing until contact.

The "early batspeed" is perhaps best "visualized" in the context of the "swing plane idea" similar to golf.

A slicing swing plane has late batspeed and a poorly lined up collision.

The desried inside out or inside/square plane has earlier batspeed and a well lined up collision.

In addition to thinking of the arc of the bathead as it fires from launch to contact as lying in a 2D plane, there can be further "earliness" of batspeed the further back in the arc/plane the bathead launches and the quicker it gets to escape velocity/contact.

"good timing" is tantamount to consistently getting to max velocity at contact. A good swing plane means one that makes for an effcicient well lined up collision that works with timing error to be most likely to result in a solid hit kept fair.

The typical thing about human motor solutions that have evolved to work the best, such as the mechanics you describe well of the best hitters is that everything gets better at once - better power, better average,etc.

The seeming "paradox" comes in figuring out how to reconcile these 2 requirments:

1- bathead must accelerate early, and

2- hands must stay coked late

These are actually NOT in conflict IF you understand how the swing works. Most people, however DO interpret this in a way that conflicts/forces a "linear" swing.

Torquing the handle/accelerating the bathead early optimizes body coil AND transfer mechanics, so you have to 1000 hp engine AND you tranfer it efficienly into bathead quickness with good timing and aligment.

BUT, the uncocking of the hands STILL does not happen util right before contact IF by uncocking hands you mean "wrist adduction".

The question then becomes how mechanically is the bathead accelerated during the easrlier loading and unlaodeing while the wrists remain "coked" or abducted AND wrist bind is avoided.

Grip and arm and forearm twist and shoulder action are all involved as you have pointed out - how grip may have slippage, how shoulders shrug and unshrug, how top hand works to avoid pusching handpath, hoe back forearm twists as it goes from vertical to more horizontal,etc.

So interpreting the "wrist uncocks late" cue as anything that interferes with early and constant handle torque/bathead acceleration WILL degrade the swing.