Posted by: The Hitman (ahsnumber3@aol.com) on Sun Sep 15 12:18:59 2002

On Friday I asked a question on bottom hand torque. My son's coach has never heard of the term and I don't see much if any explanation at your site or on your tape. I thought that since you all frequently use the term you could answer my question.I'll repeat what I asked Friday:
> > > I have enough trouble understanding what you mean by top hand torque. I think I understand the concept, but I have seen several reference at this site to bottom hand torque. I have not seen a clear explanation in Jack's tape or materials on this subject. Can someone please explain exactly what is bottom hand torque, how it differs from top hand torque, etc? I think I even recall someone saying some hitters are top hand torque hitters and some are bottom hand torque hitters. A thorough explanation would be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much
> > >>Brett,I would say that bottom hand torque is designed to be used best on middle in pitches,as the lead shoulder pulls around it begins to pull back near the end towards the catcher,at same time rear shoulder is driving towards pitcher.this pull/push effect puts torque on bat allowing it to accelerate.The power is supplied by large muscle groups but transferred through the forearms and hands to the bat.
>
> Thank you, RQL, I'm glad someone thought my question was worthy of a response.But I still do not understand what the difference is in top hand torque and bottom hand torque. You said that for middle in pitches "as the lead shoulder pulls around it begins to pull back near the end towards the catcher,at same time rear shoulder is driving towards pitcher.this pull/push effect puts torque on bat allowing it to accelerate.The power is supplied by large muscle groups but transferred through the forearms and hands to the bat". Are you saying that for bottom hand torque this "pull/push effect" puts torque on the bat but not for outside pitches? When do you use top hand torque, just for outside pitches? Are you saying that top hand torque and bottom hand torque are mutually exclusive? Also I have seen people at your site equate top hand torque with rotational mechanics and bottom hand torque with linear mechanics. For example, Hitman (and if I am misinterpreting him I hope he will correct me) made such an analysis. He also said reggie Jackson uses top hand torque and cited other pull hitters as well. But these hitters thrive on middle-in pitches, the pitches you are saying are designed for bottom hand torque. I would appreciate some clarification. Thank you

Brett
Great Hitters, such as the ones I listed use top hand torque on all pitch locations. They also use good bottom hand torque. That is the pulling action of the bottom hand. While the top hand starts pulling back at initiation, it is pushing foward through the rest of swing, while the bottom hand is pulling at the same time. I think what Rql was reffering to was that Lesser Hitters-ones that don't use top hand torque are able to handle the middle-in pitches is because the bat-head has farther to travel til contact point and are able to generate enough batspeed, but on outside pitches, hitters that don't use top hand torque can't generate early enough batspeed to hit with any authority.
The Hitman