Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Thu Jun 20 00:08:34 2002

>>> How about tennis elbow for starters ... I dont think over-under training using the heavy bag is suited for us older ballplayers. That sudden stop on the heavy bag is a bit hard on the joints. <<<

Hi Somebody

The heavy bag should not be used for the purpose you have described. It would not be suited for over-under training at any age. When used properly, there is no strain on the limbs or joints. --- With good swing mechanics the batter should have expended all of his rotational and torque energies before and at contact.

There should be no driving forward of the hands after contact. You will not find a lumberjack’s hands driving the handle forward after the ax strikes the tree. His swing develops maximum ax speed before contact. Any energy applied to the handle after contact would be wasted. The same is true for the baseball/softball swing. The bat moves forward less than ¾ inch while in contact with the ball. So why continue to drive the hands forward - the ball is gone.

If the bag were not there, the follow-through would be powered by the bat’s momentum, not the batter. The tree absorbs the axes’ momentum, the heavy bag absorbs the bat’s energy. Both the lumberjack and the batter should be motionless after contact. We get a still-frame of the batter’s mechanics at contact. If the batter is still ridged and driving after contact, he needs to learn mechanics that will expend his energy earlier – where it counts.

Jack Mankin