Posted by: Bart () on Sat Oct 5 07:12:47 2002

>>> I was curious to the que that Lau uses, "rotate hips while pulling the knob to the ball" I've tried it many ways and I've figured if you grip the bat lightly with the top hand, and you let the bottom hand "level out" before pulling, than it seems that Tht is created. I'll have to hear from Jack on this but, Can THt be created without a pull from the top hand rather letting the bottom hand level out from a near vertical position before pulling it through, your thoughts?
> The Hitman <<<
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> Hi Hitman
>
> After the back-elbow lowers to the batters side, the knob (and the bottom-hand) rotates around the top-hand. It is the pull from the rotating lead shoulder (through the lead-arm) that supplies the pull on the knob-end of the bat. The knob never moves linearly, it is constantly turning. Because at this point of the swing, the bottom-hand is arcing around the top-hand, I call it “bottom-hand-torque.” --- Note: As you know, torque is when forces from opposing directions cause the bat to rotate around a point (in this case, that point is the top-hand).
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> Jack Mankin
>

"The knob never moves linearly, it is constantly turning"...I think this is the key concept of correct knob-to-the-ball mechanics. From the uncocking motion, all the way to the knob turning inward, allowing the bat to arc out, the knob is ARCING, not moving linearly.

And that's why, in reality, there is only one true moment in time when the knob is actually pointing directly at the pitcher, and this moment in time is the lag position. I think at one time RQL alluded to this, and this is why I'm hoping to get his comments as well.

One final thought: knob to the ball can be misconstrued to mean thrusting the knob straight forward, resulting in a Baker fence drill swing. However, if you think of "arcing" the knob EARLY IN THE SWING, and perhaps do it in conjunction with the BART fence drill, I think the results will be everything Jack, Tom and others want: circular hand path from beginning to end, tight hand path on inside pitches, proper elbow-in-the-slot, knob initially heading toward the catcher, etc......