Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Wed Mar 28 10:45:31 2007

>>> Hi, I am having trouble pulling the ball. What are some of the reasons for this? Could it just be timing?
Thanks <<<

Hi Mark

To pull a ball, the bat-head must be rotated past the hands (and knob) by contact. If a batter is consistently hitting the ball to the opposite field, it means that his swing mechanics is leaving the bat-head dragging behind his hands in the contact zone. In most cases, this is and indication the batter is relying to heavily on the back-side (and drive of the top-hand) and not making efficient use of the lead-side to accelerate the bat.

In order to keep the bat-head accelerating in sync with the progression of the hands (no bat drag) requires mechanics that take the hands is a circular path to produce a pendulum effect of the bat-head and is constantly applying torque (push/pull of the forearms). To develop these mechanics is what this site has stressed for years and is beyond the scope of a single post.

I would suggest you start by reading “Mechanics that generate bat speed ” - Ihttp://www.batspeed.com/research10.html - It discusses the forces applied to the bat that generates bat speed (or, eliminates “bat drag”). Once you have a good understanding of the forces that keeps the bat-head accelerating in sync with the progression of the hands, you can better understand the mechanics that produces those forces.

Jack Mankin