Posted by: George () on Sun Apr 22 13:06:30 2007

For those who are interested, MLB.com shows the side views most homeruns hit during each game on their website. I found this of interest because though most hitters use rotational swing, the relative hand/launch positions vary widely. Some hitters have the bat wrapped behind the head while others hold the bat almost perpendicular to the ground while almost never cocking the wrists to load. Some hitters take the hands back in unison while others uses pre launch torque. But all the homeruns have timing that meets the bat with the ball for the most part out in front of the plate.

Some hitters like A. J. Perzynski and Jermaine Dye do not have the best THT application, but it is likely more to do with using their physical strength and keeping it simple rather than intentionally using inferior technique. For the smaller hitters like a Rob Mackowiak who went deep in Thursday's game, his technique has to be better to make up for have less physical strength. He actually looks like a smaller version of Jim Thome from his side view.