Bat Speed -- Baseball Hitting Forum

Posted by: BHL (Knight1285@aol.com) on Wed Mar 28 06:28:20 2007

Hi Jack,

I notice that you continuously stress upper body mechanics, and argue that they either enhance or diminish power. In numerous posts, you have opined that it is beneficial to allow the bat-head to swing in an arc, rather than a linear fashion. However, while I am not concerned with the example itself, I take issue with just focusing on the upper body in order to develop more bat-speed. This claim contradicts what you state in your research, where you state the following in "Rotation and the Stationary Axis":

"Rotating around a stationary axis (neck and spine) is a "ground-up" movement where the muscles in the knees, hips and torso are all fired in unison to drive rotation. The lead knee and leg rotate and straighten to drive the front hip in an arc back toward the catcher at the same rate the back leg rotates the back hip around toward the pitcher. Both hips rotating evenly allow the axis to remain stationary. Using the large muscles of both legs will maximize the power of rotation."

Also despite the fact that you admit that the lower body is stronger than the upper body, you continuously speak about the upper body, when the lower body actually powers the swing. If I speak correctly, you used to advocate "just simply turning" with the lead arm extended against the chest, which "The Final Arc" emphasizes. Although the shoulders do turn, this ensuing action is caused by hip rotation, and not the other way around.

Furthermore, you tend to believe that envisioning the upper body arc in the swing will automatically allow the lower body to do its job without too much emphasis. The problem here, though, is you believe that all neurons will fire when one thinks about this single cue. Jack, people think differently. I do agree that a brain wired to react to this singular cue will do so. However, a brain that is not set up to "fire all or none" when thinking about this cue will not. Simply put, while the former attains results, the latter will hit the ball with substantially less power, and feel that they are using "all arms."

There are other logistic holes in promoting upper body mechanics to the degree that you do, but I will leave them for another post.

Best,
BHL

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> Hi Jack,
> 
> I notice that you continuously stress upper body mechanics, and argue that they either enhance or diminish power.  In numerous posts, you have opined that it is beneficial to allow the bat-head to swing in an arc, rather than a linear fashion.  However, while I am not concerned with the example itself, I take issue with just focusing on the upper body in order to develop more bat-speed.  This claim contradicts what you state in your research, where you state the following in "Rotation and the Stationary Axis":  
> 
> "Rotating around a stationary axis (neck and spine) is a "ground-up" movement where the muscles in the knees, hips and torso are all fired in unison to drive rotation. The lead knee and leg rotate and straighten to drive the front hip in an arc back toward the catcher at the same rate the back leg rotates the back hip around toward the pitcher. Both hips rotating evenly allow the axis to remain stationary. Using the large muscles of both legs will maximize the power of rotation."
> 
> Also despite the fact that you admit that the lower body is stronger than the upper body, you continuously speak about the upper body, when the lower body actually powers the swing.  If I speak correctly, you used to advocate "just simply turning" with the lead arm extended against the chest, which "The Final Arc" emphasizes.  Although the shoulders do turn, this ensuing action is caused by hip rotation, and not the other way around. 
> 
> Furthermore, you tend to believe that envisioning the upper body arc in the swing will automatically allow the lower body to do its job without too much emphasis.  The problem here, though, is you believe that all neurons will fire when one thinks about this single cue.  Jack, people think differently.  I do agree that a brain wired to react to this singular cue will do so.  However, a brain that is not set up to "fire all or none" when thinking about this cue will not.  Simply put, while the former attains results, the latter will hit the ball with substantially less power, and feel that they are using "all arms."
> 
> There are other logistic holes in promoting upper body mechanics to the degree that you do, but I will leave them for another post.
> 
> Best,
> BHL

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