Posted by: rql (RLOWERY13@tampabay.rr.com) on Wed Aug 1 13:35:32 2007

> >>> With Griffey he has a long swing[pretty flowing swing]his body style and long limbs allows him to get off the plate and pull balls well away from him and therefore he must have extension forward in his lead arm as he hits ball well out front. On a ball he goes the other way that is outer 3rd of plate he must have extension but the lead arm is more perpendicular to ball that those he pulls, nevertheless he still carries linkage and chp to create batspeed. Bonds is opposite, close to plate shoeter arms and bat and more flex in lead arm on many balls pulled. i think the flexing of lead arm is the adjustment made for the barrel to go out to the balls away[straight lead arm] and bent more for inside pitches drawing the hands inside the ball which allows ball to stay fair and not hitting around the ball. <<<
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> Hi Rql
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> I agree with your analysis of Griffey’s and Bonds’ swing. However, it does raise the question of how one defines “extension.” To me, extension is when a flexed elbow is straightened to extend the hand farther out (like a boxer’s jab). Therefore, if the batter’s lead-elbow remains at a fairly fixed angle during the swing, the arm is not being “extended” to hit the ball out in front. The lead-arm has just been rotated farther around past perpendicular to the pull position.
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> Jack Mankin
>Jack the longer I study hitting the more I find that the same words can have different meanings based on there being different styles,the linear meanings for extension are a source of power for the swing,while in rotational before contact extension is the adjustment to set barrel radius for different pitch locations .After contact, extension happens [powerV]as a follow thru and wrist roll.We can pick apart so many words and drills that have different applications and meanings based on the style that we adhere too,and for the novice can become quite confusing.We both have the same general idea on the swing ,sometimes I read anothers question at a possible different view in what he is asking or how to come across to it.