Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Mon Jun 18 10:14:12 2007

>>> I hit two home runs today over 370' the last week i've practice using top hand torque with a old metal bat and swinging it into the pool building as much early batspeed as I can, it seems to be paying off so far, i've added about 15-20 feet so far to my long ball <<<

Hi Hitman

Generating great bat speed to hit the ball hard is highly important. However, as you practice, keep in mind that to be a great hitter you must also make consistent solid contact. Making consistent hard contact requires both bat speed and a clean swing plane. Therefore, as you practice using THT to increase your bat speed, make sure that as you initiate your swing, the rearward force of your top-hand is in-line with your lead-arm. This will accelerate the bat-head into a clean swing plane.

As the swing is being initiated, if the rearward force of the top-hand is not in-line with the plane of the lead-arm, the resulting trajectory of the bat-head will wave above and below the plane of the lead-arm (like a sine wave). As I mentioned earlier, regardless of how much bat speed a batter generates, he cannot make consistent solid contact without a clean swing plane. – A flawed swing plane is the root cause for many of the games best hitter’s batting slumps.

Jack Mankin