Posted by: tom.guerry (tom.guerry) on Wed Mar 27 08:22:25 2002

>>> jack
> ive been trying your techniques for a while and bought the video but I am still not hitting the ball consistently hard. I will send you in my video in a week or so but i was wondering where the hands should start at launch. I know the hitman and he tells me backspin is good. To get backspin you have to swing one or more degrees below the ball. Yesterday I hit my first homerun and it seemed as it just sailed, not extreme backspin but just enough as to which I hit it solidly and also got it to carry. Today it seemed as my shoulders were working wonders but i kept getting topspin and the farthest i could hit it would be about 225 ft, but coming to a rapid stop after that. It didnt seem to matter how hard i hit it but it always just died after going a fair distance. Do you want backspin or to swing exactly level with the ball? Thanks <<<
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> Hi Nick
>
> From what you have described, your bat is on a downward angle in the contact zone. Regardless of what you have heard (or who said it), none, 0, zero, of the better hitters (especially power hitters) have their bat angling downward at contact. Thousands upon thousands of frame-by-frames have proven that to me. --- The first thing I would suggest is that you forget about backspin. Backspin will occur naturally when you get your swing plane more inline with the ball’s flight. A pitched ball is angling downward in the contact zone at about 10 to 15 degree depending on the speed. So you’re swing-plane should start on a downward slope back behind you, then level out and be on a 10 to 12 degrees up-slope (inline with the balls flight) at contact.
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> Forget about swinging below the ball, think about hitting it square. If you swing for the center and are a ¼ inch low, you will get all the backspin needed for long ball flight. If you hit the ball square, you get a hard liner over the infielders head. A ¼ inch high produces topspin for a digging grounder. --- Nick, it will save time if you practice enough to correct your swing-plane before sending me a video – look forward to working with you.
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> Jack Mankin
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>

Hitting is timing.The faster you swing,the more consistent your timing will be(the magic of motor learning)If you are early you will hit topspin grounders.If you are late you will hit underspin flies.Always try to swing all out in practice.If you don't you will mess up your motor learning.This doesn't mean you will be wild.You will learn a certain tempo that produces max batspeed with balance.Every swing you take,your body is reprogramming itself.Don't confuse the body with different levels of effort and different mechanical styles.Give yourself reliable feedback with the batspeed meter and heavy bag(or a knowledgeable coach if you can find one you trust-pretty rare commodity).