Posted by: Mickey (drmick3@cox.net) on Tue Apr 19 10:28:51 2011

Jack,

I want to apologize, somewhat, for an earlier post in which I stated
that I did not see the value of THT from a "practical" point of view,
since I thought the muscles in the forearms were minuscule compared
to the torque created by the hands continuing back AS the lower body
started to rotate back toward the pitcher.

After reading almost everything about THT on the website, I came
across something Jack posted in "Wrist Action or Torque," Then, I got
it!

Namely, "This 'pulling back' of the bottom hand AS the top hand is
being 'driven forward, generates a tremendous amount of TORQUE on the
bat." (Wrist Action or Torque, Jack Mankin)

I discovered that its one thing to just turn the hands back, and its
another to keep the hands backs AS the lower body turns forward. It's
even a second thing to CONTINUE PULLING BACK WITH THE TOP HAND at the
same time as the lower body starts forward.

When I kept pulling back with my right hand, the exact moment my
shoulders started to rotate from an already moving lower body, I felt
a tremendous amount of torque bring the bat down from a 90 degree
angle with the ground into the lead shoulder's plane. Of course, I
also felt the stretch between my upper body gong one way, and my lower
body another.

In my defense, I had a lot of experience with the hands moving back
and the lower body 1) stopping them 2) turning them so that the bat
moved from a vertical position toward a more 45 degree angle with the
ground, and 3) cocking the hands and tucking the right elbow down into
the slot.

I thought, and continue to think that moving the lower body first,
before the arms/hands, is many times more critical than THT; however,
I do now acknowledge that THT, as Jack described it in his quote, is
indeed, an extremely important discovery for many reasons.

The one with which I am most impressed is that it greatly aids in
overcoming the bat's inertia, and is a major factor causing a faster
acceleration of the bat EARLIER in the swing. I'm also impressed with
the SIMPLE cue of "pulling back with the right hand," which not only
adds a significant additional force, but does so at a critical, and
quite fleeting, moment in time.

Jack, I really appreciate the research you did, and particularly the
necessity to develop new labels for new discoveries you made. I also
want to thank you for sticking to it as people criticize your
discoveries and taking a true scientist's commitment to "publish your
research," so that a great number of people can test your findings.
Many would just keep their discoveries private and only reveal them to
each individual for a fee. Baseball hitting will be better for your
diligent work. Thank you!