Posted by: Shawn Bell (leebell@myhome.net) on Fri Feb 25 15:33:16 2000

Larry,

The knob pointing at the ball at contact or throwing the hands to the ball, don't need to be mentioned to a hitter while using "torque". It happens naturally.

The problem with "thinking about" moving the hands/arms forward and pointing the knob to the ball is you aren't creating bat speed from the launch position. The hip and shoulder rotation can't effectively supply the power in the swing if the arms/hands push forward before "torque" is initiated.

If the hands and arms move forward before "torque" starts to work, bat speed is not created early. Usually when this happens the hands (top hand isn't pulling back, starts to "push" forward), stride and body are moving forward together at the same time.

The "beauty" behind "torque" is that when the top hand is "pulling back" toward the catcher the hitter is taking the stride (if used) and gets into position to develop rotation around a stationary axis.

The top hand is still pulling back when the hips and shoulders start to rotate. This creates the "pull" on the bottom hand and "torque" is well underway. This way rotation or "torque" is being created before the bat actually starts to arc out.

This is how great hitters create so much bat speed at contact. They are creating bat speed much earlier in their motion because they are not worried about "pushing" the hands forward.

Hitters who have the hands moving forward, the body, during the stride or before rotation has pulled them forward, "torque the bat" well after or as they make contact (the bat pivots mostly in the follow through). They are moving toward the ball more with all these body segments as the ball is coming toward them.

Great hitter are pulling the "top hand back" as the ball is coming toward them!

Follow this link to see Sosa "torque" the bat between his hands. The clip shows "torque" well underway (can't see the top hand moving back). It will give you some visual aid on arm and hand position.

http://www.setpro.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000178.html

Also, in this link is a hitter "pushing" the top hand forward before rotation.

Using torque doesn't create a sweeping swing. The arc of the bat from initiation to contact is much shorter than waiting to extend the arms. Jack covers arm positions and the timing involved for torque thoroughly in his material. Following his advice will not create a long sweeping swing. You might see hitters back of the plate more because of superior plate covered while using "torque".

Shawn Bell