Posted by: Jack Mankim (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Thu Jan 24 17:20:27 2002

>>> I've been wondering what is better a pure, sweet swing or a compact short swing. I've seen hitters like Robby Alomar, Bobby Abreu, Mark McGuire, John Olerud, Manny Ramirez, and Ken Griffey Jr. have. But then there is the short compact swing that hitters like Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, Brian Giles, and Bernie Williams have. A pure, sweet swing can also be short, but not compact. But the short, compact swing can be sweet but not likely. So what is better a pure sweet swing or a short compact swing <<<

Hi Mike

I have often wondered what parameters coaches use to determine the length of a swing. Is it the length of bat-head travel – length of the hand-path to contact – or some other length? And, from where to where are the measurements taken? Do we include pre-launch movement - is the follow through included?

If we use the total length of bat-head travel to contact (including pre-launch torque), I would say Gary Sheffield has the longest swing in baseball. If we mean hand-path length from launch to contact, I would say Tony Gwynn’s swing is longer than Sheffield’s.

Jack Mankin