Posted by: Teacherman (schenck5@swbell.net) on Sat Aug 18 11:27:29 2007

At one time, I believed the body centered the barrel's arc. The spine was the center of the barrel's rotation.

It is not.

The body's movement, in the swing, more resembles the drill adaptor that bends that allows you to get to a screw that is in a difficult spot around a corner. The body twists and turns and rotates and creates energy "along side" of the barrel, not within the barrel's arc.

If you are within the arc you have late batspeeed and low adjustability.

If you use the body's ability to generate this energy while you remain "along side the arcing barrel", you then will have learned to create early batspeed which can be adjusted to all the different locations a pitcher can throw to. Still not easy. But you have the ability to do so. If your body is "within" the arc, you can not hit the ball hard consistently. It takes too long for the barrel to get up to speed and it offers literally no adjustability.

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Take a look at this picture.

http://www.hittingillustrated.com/library/Vaultdoor2.jpg

A proper swing will simply turn the handle. Maybe it's not completely vertical like the vault door handle, you have to factor in the hands will move forward in a real swing, but the technique of turning the vault door handle is almost identical to turning the bat handle.

Your technique will not turn the handle, it will yank the handle off the door.
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Two swings. Same kid. One demonstrates what you preach...mostly. The other demonstrates turning the barrel at "go".

The results are unbeliveable with the swing technique described above.

http://www.hittingillustrated.com/Brndn/brndn010506a.gif

http://www.hittingillustrated.com/Brndn/Brndn072607a.gif

Teaching shoulder rotation as the source of transfer mechanics does not work in the batters box. It may make sense on paper. It may make sense to scientists. It may make sense to coaches.

It does not work in the batters box.

The Second Engine combines what every mlb hitter talks about.....his hands....and everything else the internet guru's "see" on video.

The lateral tilt of the shoulders, lead elbow jut, the forearm rotation, and the handle torque are the big differences that "look" like what YOU think you see in video. But when you actually swing a bat competitively you "see" better....you "see" different. You learn how slow that shoulder rotation swing develops. You see how the bat drags as you foul off pitches you should kill. You see how difficult it is to cover the zone.

When you get your hands involved, in the proper fashion, those things go away.

And it produces.
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Jack,

By eliminating the push/pull of the hands you create bat drag.

Plain and simple.

You are absolutley correct about the nature and direction of the hand torque....it is rearward. The barrel's first move is rearward. I believe you have missed the target when you say it is not part of the actual swing and that it just directs the barrel rearward and is later taken over by the lead arm and the shoulders rotation. It is much more than that. It IS the swing. The rotating forearms create instant energy to swing/turn the barrel, after all they are what is holding the bat, and then they get a huge boost from the body as it has prepped itself and gets a running start to create and deliver it's energy to the rotating forearms.

I could convince you in person within 15 minutes.
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IF a hitter gives the right "goal" to his body, the body will organize itself to do the job.

IF the hitter tells the body to rotate, and direct all it's energy into rotating the hips/shoulders, so as to allow the bat to "fly off the merry go round", it will do so. You will have good shoulder rotation.

IF the hitter tells the body to "torque the handle at go" so as to turn the barrel immediately, it will do so. The body will "prep" itself for the upcoming task. Video will show the loading and the hips opening early...all the necessary preparation, all as part of "readiness" or the "getting ready for" the upcoming task....which is turning the barrel with the hands at go.

These are two different patterns....two different looking swings. One suffers from constant bat drag. The other does not. One suffers from late batspeed the other does not. One suffers from little adjustability the other does not. One has the barrels' rotation centered in the spine. The other has the barrel's rotation centered in the hands yet energized by the body's rotation. One is a long swing the other is not. One is the mlb pattern....the other is not

One is usable, the other is not.

Mlb hitters fight the circular nature of the hand path so as to keep their rotating barrel, the barrel swung in the diagonal swing plane, (done by the hand's forearm and later energized by the body/hips) in line with the ball. That is why you see Rose's hands turning and that is why you see Justin's lead elbow "jutting" upward. These are the proper transfer mechanics. As these things happen, the rotating barrel can be kept or put in alignment with the ball. The arms are free to move the barrel where it needs to be without degrading the quality of the barrel's rotation.

That is also why Justin and Rose (and all high level hitters) do not rotate their shoulders. Shoulder rotation degrades the hitters ability to make consistent solid contact. Shoulder rotation pulls the hitter's hands out of the hit zone. Instead they laterally tilt their shoulders at "go", which is a much more leveraged move, much more explosive move, they "jut" their lead elbow, and send the body's energy into the forearms which are what really turn the barrel. Not alone....but they are what control the barrel.
All of the body's movement gives instant energy into the already rotating forearms.

The barrel's rotation is centered in the hands. It has to be. Their are no other alternatives.