Posted by: tom.guerry (tom.guerry@kp.org) on Tue May 7 16:15:34 2002

>
> Tom you added "(instead of arcing out)".
> If you are espousing 'arcing out', does that include waiting longer on the pitch, or positioning farther off the plate....?
> Does not 'arcing out' create hitting the outside of the ball on an inside pitch, and creating foul balls to sooner approach a behind in the count problem?
> Perhaps I misunderstand the 'arcing out' concept? The expression suggests to me that the hands are extended closer to the plate. Or is the more arc directed "out" to the opposite field?

Dick-

I think you may be asking about a statement in the unsigned post below which I did write in answer to grc and forgot to sign.If this is wrong,please ignore.

The title of Jack's groundbreaking video is "The Final Arc" with a compelling description of the swing as a series of arcs-the body as it gets the torso turning,the hands as they are moved in a circular handpath by tight connection to the torso(not by arm extension) and the bathead/sweetspot swinging out with good transfer of energy-as long as the handpath does not straighten/extend/disconnect.

I was trying to explain a little bit about how the fence drill(as with most drills)is a double edged sword.Instructor and student-beware!

The premium on power rotastional hitting is on timing.To maximize the chance of timing error producing a fair ball,you would want to aim/intend to make contact perpendicular to the path of the pitch.Early and you hit outside the ball a little with a pull.Late and you hit inside the ball to opposite field.To minimize timing error itself,you want the path of the sweetspot to be as short as possible.This can be accomplished by the bat tip getting as far away as it gets from the body at contact.Timing error is also minimized by maximizing batspeed over this path since this allows the body to most accurately predict the duration of the swing to contact.

If we take the example of the middle in location,contact may be made before the "L" comes out of the back elbow.In this case,the bathead/sweetspot does not swing out until the hands/handpath has started hooking in front of the body.For an example the first clip that comes to mind is Pete Rose.Overhead clips are needed.

http://www.setpro.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000538.html.

This is a grainy clip,but you can measure the length of the bat and see that in this swing,the tip of the bat will not get significantly further away from the body than the length of the bat from the belly button in the stance-just off the outside of the plate.Again,this is because the bathead does not swing out until the hands hook in front of the body-the handpath arc has started away from the plate before the bathead arc has extended much.This bathead extension is not from the "L" coming out of the elbow in this case,just from the bat swinging out from centrigufalforce/ball on string type physics(as long as the handpath doesn't extend/disconnect).So,think of multiple sequential arcs.As the handpath arc moves away from the plate,the bathead(third and "final" arc moves out to contact).If instead you conceptualize the bathead as going out because the hands go out(opposite of what happens)all is lost.

Hitting outside the ball with sound rotational mechanics just comes from being early with respect to the goal of making contact perpendicular to the pitch.

This middle-in approach is what Jack calls Bottom hand torque.If you can rotate as tightly as possible around the spine,you can command the inside half of the plate,be as quick to the ball as possible,hit with power and keep the ball fair,even if you are a little early.This allows you to be closer to the plate so you don't have to dive for outside balls.You have to turn quick on these inside pitches,not let them get deep.

Jack's theory is to not let anything get deep in terms of where contact is actually made.In the case of the outside pitch(top hand torque/less torso turn/"L" out of elbow before contact)a "high load" situation is created while still maintaining a circular handpath and tight conection.This may feel(associate with a cue) like what you might describe as letting it get deep,but that should not be confused with aiming/intending to make contact deep-this is the fallacy of the "pinball analogy".Letting it get deep or thinking of the pinball may be cues associated with "going out and getting" the outside pitch.However,if these cues are associated with waiting on the ball so the reality is you make contact deep and hit it somewhat weakly to the opposite field,then this can degrade the attempt at rotational mechanics.This will then prevent command of both sides of the plate for the hitter.