Posted by: Major Dan (markj89@charter.net) on Mon Jan 14 05:32:40 2002

While working with the hitters on our team this weekend, I noticed something I hadn't thought about before.
We've worked on rotational hitting. The kids know the difference between pushing the hands and turning the shoulders. Last year's veterans use their lower body mechanics well to power the shoulder turn. The new guys need some work, as usual.
One of our best athletes has a 'natural swing'. He is a good golfer and we've used those golf mechanics. He generates a strong, fast swing with a seemingly easy motion. He has crushed some balls in competition.
When he turns through a swing and finishes his shoulder turn he is Williams'esque.
He was getting swings with a -3 bat anywhere from the low to high 70's MPH.
What we noticed was that in his 'slower' swings, the circular hand path was widening during the swing. In effect, the bat was pulling itself out of the circle created by the shoulder rotation.
He was not pushing his hands, the weight of the bat was pulling itself out.
When he worked to keep his hands in, he was in the high 70's.
My deduction is that the mechanics of a good rotational swing tend to throw the bat out of the circle and that the hitter has to work to keep the bat 'in' to avoid bleeding energy from the swing by letting the bat pull itself out.
Has anyone seen this? Am I thinking in the right direction here?