Posted by: The Hitting Guru (Is THT actually a hitch) on Sat Mar 31 23:29:27 2007

> >>> Jack,
>
> From this camera angle I cannot tell whether or not Bonds applies forces to his bat that moves his bat barrel in a negative direction.
>
> The following are my observations from this clip:
>
> 1. I noticed that Bonds bends at his waist so that his upper body is leaning toward home plate. I believe batters can rotate with more velocity if their upper bodies are vertical.
>
> 2. I noticed that, while the ball is in flight, Bonds moves his bat barrel from a vertical position to a more horizontal position before he begins to rotate his shoulders. I would recommend that he eliminate this movement by starting with the bat horizontal.
>
> Hi Matt
>
> You have presented your case for “Disputing Top Hand Torque.” Let us just agree to disagree and let the readers draw their own conclusions on the worth of your statements.
>
> Jack Mankin

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Jack. With regard to the THT debate I believe that Barry Bonds because of his great skills and ability is able to use his version of THT to his advantage. He produces greater batspeed because of elasicity created by pulling the bat barrel toward the pitcher. He like Darryl Strawberry and Gary Sheffield use the THT as a timing mechanism.

But for lessor talented players that THT could be looked upon as a hitch. Granted every hitter does not use the same level of the 3 men mentioned some variation of THT may help others who do not possess their same level of ability/quickness to the ball.

HItters such as Robinson Cano and George Brett use a different form of THT which is not as dramatic and helps more of the Lau top hand release type hitter. Their fluid style helps the hitter who does not not rely as much on strength to get the bat going. Rafael Palmeiro is also an example of this smooth type hitter.