Posted by: Major Dan (markj89@charter.net) on Mon Apr 29 08:28:22 2002

>>Yes, that pretty well describes what's happening. What do you advise? <<
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> I didn't post that last post. Don't know what the person's intention was in imitating my "swb" name.
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> Re: Joe A.'s post, he really opens a new topic. I asked for radar timing speeds for comparison to my own kids, especially with kids of similar height and weight. I appreciate those who responded here and by Email.
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> Joe: The "slight upper cut" is covered on this site and others (Mike Epstein", and the path of the bat must always be addressed relative to some baseline. "uppper cut" versus the path of the ball, the ground, the hitters shoulders?? Without that context, discussion of a upper cut is irrelevant. As to your questions about the path of the bat in relation to the hands, since the hands generally start at about shoulder height, and the path of the ball (i.e. strike) is lower than the hands, the hands will have to come down. Since the path of the ball is generally going to be descending, the bat will probably up moving upward at some point in the swing to meet the ball. It depends on the hitters style of mechanics. With traditional "inside-out" ("Linear" hitters, by Jack M's description), the bat will probably be contacting the ball with a downward stroke. With rotational mechanics, the "top hand" torque is going to drive the bat head down and back towards the catcher early in the swing, and the bat head will probably be level with, or slightly under the path of the oncoming ball at impact.
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> Regards.. Scott
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> (a.k.a. "batspeed@integritycorp.com". BTW, I'm not connected with this web site in anyway. I just use the "batspeed" alias with my corporate URL so I can track and terminate junk mail.)
>
> PS: And, please use your own "Name" when you respond to a post. Thx.

17 yr old fps player 5'1" ??lb (she won't say!) 70-75 mph avg with 32" 23 1/2 oz bat
14 yr old 5'1" 115 lbs 70 mph average with a 31" 28 oz bat
11 yr old 4' 4" 55 lbs 50 mph avg with a 28" 19 oz bat

Also on my AAU U14 team the players are mostly 5'5" to 5'9" and athletic/strong in build.
best is 85 mph avg with highs in 90's on dry swings.
Most are in the 70's avg, some in the 80's.
all with -3 bats.
The best guy, using a very light 18 oz training bat (overspeed training) had 5 swings in a row of 102, 105, 108, 115, 114.
several others hit 100-101 with the light bat on dry swings.