Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Thu Jun 28 11:00:53 2007

Hi All

My son, Brian and I just recently returned from the College Baseball World Series in Omaha, Neb. The people of Omaha and the eight teams that made it there provided us with some of the best baseball you will ever see anywhere. The talent exhibited in the defense, pitching and hitting highlights would rival those we see in the best pro clips.

Only three of the top-rated twenty teams made it to, and through, the regional tournaments to Omaha. We saw this same trend in the Women’s College Softball World Series. This indicates that over the past few years the pool of talented players has grown so that more and more teams have reached parity with the top recruiting schools. It also indicates coach’s player development techniques, especially with hitting, is also improving. – Having said that, from my discussion with a well known pitching authority, I can assure you that the teaching of linear principles is still alive and kicking.

Now that I am back in the office, I will (as previously promised) post those clips showing A-Rod’s swing-plane and how it contributed to slumps in his batting performance. They will be posted in the near future.

I thought it would be interesting to start a thread on “Who’s Hot & Who’s Not.” We have all studied clips of the top hitters many times. This thread would show clips of hitters performing close to the “Mendosa Line.” Are they just poor hitters? Or, would a frame-by-frame analysis of their swing reveal a mechanical flaw that prevents them from making consistent hard contact? – Your thoughts would be appreciated.

Jack Mankin