Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Mon Sep 3 11:27:29 2007

>>> i was thinking about the rotational swing and it seems as if I think about the knob touching my rear shoulder at initiation it helps somewhat. The knob starts at the rear shoulder and for it to get it there you have to load your elbow back (scap loading). You really see this in Vladimir Guerrero. This position with elbow back in 3rd base dugout (right handed batter) puts your hands at your shoulder (hiding hands) at initiation. The key is holding it there. Just think rotate bat head from initiation to contact. I can completley understand why linear mechanics are not good for bat speed. It's ALL about the bat head. The illusion of power is then you swing with your arms and then flick your wrists at the end in order to get that bat head out in the plane. When in reality that bat head didn't start picking up bat speed until much later in the swing. It's all about early bat speed.

Just kind of rambling here but those are my thoughts as of right now. <<<

Hi Dave

You’re not just rambling. In fact, you have described the key to a high level swing – ‘Keep the knob back and accelerate the bat-head around the swing plane’. -- Your cue, “think about the knob touching my rear shoulder at initiation,” is similar to the cue I use “Thumb to the Shoulder.”

Below is an e-mail I wrote regarding this drill.

Jack Mankin

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THT & the THUMB

Thank you for your purchase of the DVD. --- Most hitters cannot hit the outside pitch with any real authority. This is because they extend their hands out in a straighter path (linear mechanics), which means less bat speed generated from the hand-path. Therefore, most of their bat speed must be generated from torque – driving the top-hand past the bottom-hand. But this method of applying torque becomes less efficient when the hands are extended away from the body. With most swings, this leaves the bat-head lagging well behind the hands at contact which results in balls hit weakly to the opposite field.

One of the main differences between linear and rotational mechanics is with rotational transfer mechanics, the batter keeps his hands back during initiation and accelerates the bat-head rearward before he rotates and directs his energy toward the ball. When the top-hand is pulling back (or just holding the hands at the shoulder - resistance) during initiation, shoulder rotation will accelerate the hands into circular path. At the same time, the rotation of the lead-shoulder (through the lead-arm and hand) accelerates the bat-head by applying torque at the handle. Now the bat-head acceleration can stay in sync with body rotation as the hands cast out in a wider arc to contact. With these mechanics, the great hitters can cream outside pitches.

Bill, I would suggest your son practice the following drill before changing his timing. The drill works best when practiced with a heavy bag (or tire) before hitting off a tee or soft toss. --- There are two keys to efficient rotational transfer mechanics. (1) Do not drive the top-hand forward at the start of the swing. (2) Make more productive use of the lead-side.

To help a student accomplish these keys, I have the student take their normal launch position – with one major change. I have the batter lift the thumb of the top-hand away from the bat and point it toward their back-shoulder. As the batter initiates rotation to start the swing, the thumb should be close to or touching the shoulder. The batter should try to keep the top-hand pulling back so that the thumb remains at the shoulder during initiation. This will cause the bat-head to accelerate back toward the catcher by lead-shoulder rotation pulling (through the arm and hand) on the knob-end of the bat. The accelerating trajectory of the bat-head will cause the top-hand to separate from shoulder as the forearm rotates and lowers toward the horizontal contact position.

In order for the batter to pull and keep the thumb to the back-shoulder during initiation, he must pull the back-elbow back toward the third base dugout. He is now learning the basics of how to apply Top-Hand-Torque while maintaining a good CHP.
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