Posted by: Chris O'Leary (chris@chrisoleary.com) on Mon Mar 5 13:13:09 2007

"I am glad you are rethinking the torque issue. Understanding how torque is applied in the swing is key to understanding swing mechanics. – Here is a clip where I explain torque and how it is applied in the swing. -- http://www.batspeed.com/media/TorqueHigh.wmv"

One of the things that has made me uncertain about the relevance of torque is that I think it may not be employed by every hitter (or to the same degree).

Since I live in St. Louis, I spend a lot of time thinking about and studying Albert Pujols. The thing I've found in studying his swing...

http://photos.imageevent.com/siggy/hitting/pro/APujols2005STL_G5HR_FView.gif

...is that he seems to get the bat to whip out into the path of the ball by abruptly stopping the rotation of his shoulders. Watch how his shoulders stop rotating just before the point of contact in the clip above.

You can see the same thing going on in this clip...

http://photos.imageevent.com/siggy/hitting/pro/PujolsAlbert3.gif

His shoulders seem to stop rotating short of the point of contact and then start rotating again. This is partiuclarly evident in the rear view down the 3B line.

Contrast this with a clip of David Ortiz...

http://photos.imageevent.com/siggy/hitting/pro/DOrtiz2002MIN_Double_SView.gif

...whose shoulders never seem to stop rotating and who might be said to have more of a torque-based swing.

Have you noticed these two patterns before?