Posted by: Chris O'Leary (chris@chrisoleary.com) on Fri Mar 2 11:46:15 2007

"I think the difference maybe that throwing a ball mainly requires shoulder rotation for accelerating one limb. Whereas, swinging a bat requires shoulder rotation for apply force to both limbs."

Jack,

Could the concept of torque be relevant here? Maybe it's the difference?

With a pitcher, torque isn't an option since you've only got one hand on the ball.

But with a hitter, torque is possible since you've got two hands on the bat. Could it be that the torque provided by the hands, wrists, and arms allow you to get away with a slightly less efficient movement pattern when it comes to the torso?

I have to say that, up to this point I have thought that you were wrong about the concept of torque (I thought the whip just happened automatically), but now I'm not so sure...