Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Tue Jun 5 01:22:22 2007

>>> How do these 2 swing so much alike? I've been trying to swing like them in games and practice but it seems I am using my arms to accelerate the bat. Where are there hands located in the swing ( in front of shoulder, behind shoulder) Also when do there arms extend? So basically what im asking is how do their swings look so smooth and how do their hands and hips finish at the same time. <<<

Hi Connor

At this time I do not have access to a frame-by-frame of Fielders’ mechanics to show you. However, I am in the process of recording MLB games to acquire swings of the best hitters for our discussions. They are being recorded on HD DVD for the highest quality. I should have a good number of these swings available for side-by-side comparison by the time I get back from the College World Series.

For now, I can assure you that a side-by-side of Fielders and Griffey will show the same basic swing mechanics. Let’s take a look at this clip - http://www.youthbaseballcoaching.com/mpg/Griffey01.mpeg – to see just how much the muscles of the arms are used to accelerate the hands in a high level swing.

Advance the swing forward frame-by-frame to the initiation of the swing – hands starting to be accelerated. Note that Griffey’s lead-arm remains almost straight from initiation to contact. If the muscles of the lead-arm were used to accelerate the hands, the elbow would need to flex and un-flex. However, his elbow remains at a fixed angle. Note that it is the rotation of the lead-shoulder that pulls the bottom-hand around. -- Therefore, the main role of the lead-arm in a high level swing is to serve as a firm “linkage” from the knob end of the bat to the rotating lead-shoulder.

Now, let’s examine the role of the back-arm from initiation to contact. – Advance forward to the frame where the back-elbow is lowering down to his side. Note that Griffey’s elbow remains back at his side as his hips and shoulders rotate. His forearm lowers to adjust for elevation but note that at contact, his elbow is still back at his side in the “L” position. The forearm is being driven forward, but it is driven by shoulder rotation – not the extension of the arm. The arm does not extend until after the ball is well on its way.

The larger muscles of the legs and torso rotate the body and shoulders. High level swings look so smooth and powerful because they use the mechanics discussed above to make efficient use of the larger muscles of the body rather than the smaller muscles of the arms. Connor, the more you use the muscles of your arms to accelerate the hands, the weaker the results will be.

Jack Mankin