Posted by: () on Mon Feb 14 12:11:32 2000

Jack-

It sounds like you use the punching bag as both an analytical tool and a drill.As a drill,I assume it reinforces the feel of the rotational swing you describe,similar to your section on the"Illusion of Power".The feel should be one of the bat pulling you into the bag or one of the body being relaxed at contact with the bag as opposed to feeling you are punching the bag hard with arm/wrist extension.This lead me to review the BLAST system(Schwanke/LSU) tape with the description of a drill to build strength by swinging hard and feeling the power of the arms/wrists deforming the tire.In retrospect,even though body rotation is stressed to initiate the swing,they teach finishing the swing from the "lag" position(bathead starts out from hand circle/last 90 degrees of bat rotation before contact)to contact by extending the arms and wrists and specifically recommending against letting the shoulders get overactive.They also demonstrate the fence drill in a way that encourages dragging the bat.Thanks for pointing out ways to tell what kind of mechanics are being taught used in these various styles.I wonder if the bat technology in college(-3,-6,aluminum)is what allows the extension method to still be successfull.It must be much harder to succed with wooden bats in the majors,and hard to change styles.