Posted by: stevie p (placeks@ix.netcom.com) on Wed Mar 1 11:00:49 2000

Hi Bob
>
> Hope you don't mind. I combined my reply in Zack's post above.
>
> Jack Mankin

Jack:

I am posting for the first time, but I have a long-time admiration for your contributions. I think the question of body position at follow-through is extremely interesting (balance all the way through). I strongly emphasize rotational mechanics for my hitters. As we do dry swings, ball toss, and tee swings, I often state that a slight falling over the plate, approximately one second or two after the swing is completed, is a consequence of torque. I believe on videos and game clips, you will see that good hitters, after making contact, require a movement of their back foot over the plate in order to keep balance--often before running to the base. My assumption was that the body has a slight forward lean over the plate to begin with, and that the rotational movement of the swing results in distributing weight behind the shoulder at the end of the swing--thus the slight "fall-over." In fact, sometimes I ask hitters to lean a little over the plate with their trunk slightly to facilitate a rotational swing. Now that I think about it, I can't articulate a biomechanical reason for this, except that it often seems to allow a hitter to "turn on it" quicker with less arm extension.

Judging by your previous responses, you seem to say that the only way to judge balance is by simulating and analyzing the position of the body, bat, arms etc at contact. And so you recommended the punching bag method. I agree with this. But would you say that I am OK in demonstrating to hitters that a slight "fall-over" after the swing is OK? I do agree that prolonged casting and lunching during the swing is bad mechanics. The "fall-over" I am talking about is slight. Look forward to your reply.