Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Tue Apr 4 01:19:46 2000

>>>I have just finished reading your articles and I am still confused as to how far back the top hand goes when initiating the swing. <<<

Hi Marshell

It would depend on how much “cock” in the bat the batter has. Gary Sheffield cocks his bat forward till the barrel points at the pitcher. The bottom hand is keep stationary near the armpit and acts as a pivot point. To get the barrel pointing at the pitcher, Gary must push the top hand well past the bottom hand. As the pitcher releases the ball, he starts pulling the top hand back toward the catcher. This action accelerates the bat-head back toward the normal launch position.

It is important to note that he will not initiate body rotation until the bat is back near a normal launch position. But he will have already developed bat speed as he initiates his swing. The pulling back of the top hand will continue until the back elbow in fully lowered to his side.--- I use Gary’s exaggerated mechanics because it is easier to point out top hand torque that it is with batters with less cock in their bat like Sammy or Big Mac.

Marshell, I will get to your second question later.

Jack Mankin